As soon as you are getting acquainted with new layout of your direct message tab, Instagram is introducing a lot of new changes to the layout of the app. Starting in February, Instagram will change app navigation to make it easier to create and share content.
The new navigation layout could mean Instagram redirects its efforts back to being the photo-sharing app it once was, rather than the next big shopping or short-form video app.
From next month, the bar at the bottom of the app will now have a ‘plus’ icon creating content in the middle instead of the Stories icon. That puts content creation front and center of the app, rather than short-form video.
The Story shortcut will be in the bottom right bar of the content creation shortcut, launching the Store tab from the home page. This change follows the tests Instagram ran in the fall that removed the Store tab from the home screen and moved it below the settings.
Instagram says that even though the tab has been removed, businesses can still set up and run their stores on Instagram. People can still make purchases on feeds, stories, reels, and ads.
“The idea here is to simplify Instagram and be more focused on what we’re trying to do,” said Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram in an Instagram Reel. “We’re trying to bring people together for what they love.”
Instagram initially put Stories and Store shortcuts on the home screen in 2020, following the rise in popularity of TikTok. People didn’t like the update because placing the Stories icon in the center clearly highlighted Instagram’s attempt to copy TikTok, with demand from popular users to “remake Instagram on Instagram”.
