Instagram is redesigning its home screen for the first time in years, the Facebook-owned social media platform announced on Thursday.
Instagram is adding Reels and Shop tab to its home screen as part of the redesign.
“Today we’re announcing some big changes to Instagram – a Reels tab and a Shop tab,” Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, announced in a blog post.
The social media major is putting its TikTok competitor front and centre by adding the Reels tab at the bottom of the screen replacing the Compose tab, which has been moved to the top of the screen. The compose tab will take users to a redesigned camera experience where they can scroll over to choose from different formats such as Stories or Reels, where they want to post their photos or videos.
The Activity tab (heart icon) will be moved to the top of the screen, besides the messaging icon. The Shop tab will replace the Activity tab at the bottom.
Adding the Shop tab to the home screen is a part of the platform’s recent push to become an e-commerce destination.
Range of new features
This is the first big change that Instagram has made to its home screen in years.
“We don’t take these changes lightly – 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,” wrote Mosseri.
The platform has introduced a range of new features this year apart from the revamped home screen, including a new messaging experience that connects Instagram and Facebook Messenger.