Overview

• Instagram began an opt-in experiment that opens the app to a Reels-focused home tab for users in India.
• Reels and direct messages now occupy the first two tabs, and opted-in users get quicker access to DMs from the navigation bar.
• The revised home view keeps Stories at the top, then shifts into a full-screen Reels feed as you scroll.
• Photos from followed accounts remain in the experience, though Instagram has not shown how they appear in the new layout.
• A new Following tab is being added, and Instagram says it will soon let users swipe between bottom-bar tabs; the move follows the iPad app’s Reels-by-default design and growth past three billion monthly users.