The next time you open Instagram, you’ll see two new tabs on your homepage: Reels and Shop. These new additions make it even easier to swap between your feed, the Explore page, as well as the Reels and Shop sections.
Getting Acquainted With Instagram’s New Layout
Instagram has been planning to change up its homepage for quite some time. The app has even tested different variations of the home screen layout, and now, Instagram has finally decided on one.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced the new layout in an About Facebook blog post. The Reels tab appears in place of the new post button, while the Shop section replaces the heart-shaped activity tab.
Both the activity tab and the new post button will find a new home in the top right corner of Instagram’s homepage. While you might miss the old placement of these tabs, it’s likely for the best. The dedicated tabs for Reels and Shop will make it easier to find and navigate to these sections.
Reels, Instagram’s short-form video feature, was previously mixed in with other content on the Explore page. A new tab will help Reels compete with TikTok, and will likely draw more attention to the feature.
And in the Shop tab, you’ll see recommendations, curated products, and even shoppable videos. Instagram is really pushing the shopping feature, as you’ll soon be able to shop on Reels.
The new tabs on Instagram’s homepage is a fairly big change for Instagram, which hasn’t updated its appearance in a while. Mosseri noted that Instagram doesn’t “take these changes lightly,” and went on to explain his excitement about the new design, stating:
We haven’t updated Instagram’s home screen in a big way for quite a while. But how people create and enjoy culture has changed, and the biggest risk to Instagram is not that we change too fast, but that we don’t change and become irrelevant. We’re excited about the new design and believe it gives the app a much-needed refresh, while staying true to our core value of simplicity.
Instagram’s Layout Change Was Necessary
Instagram’s new homepage layout was a carefully calculated, necessary change. As Instagram struggles to compete with the ever-growing TikTok, it needed to make Reels more relevant.
To do this, it had no other choice but to place Reels right in the center of the bottom menu bar. It makes sure that users know the feature exists, and shows Instagram’s newfound commitment to Reels.
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