Instagram Is Shutting Down Separate IGTV App For Long Form Videos – Here’s Why

Meta-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram is shutting down its standalone app for Instagram TV (IGTV). Instead, it will focus on keeping all videos on the main Instagram app.

This seems like a step back for creator monetization, but Instagram’s looking to replace this with sticker ads for Reels and other options.

Instagram, in its blog post, said that the company is getting rid of the standalone IGTV app as “part of its efforts to make videos as simple and possible to discover and create.” The blog post also says that videos in the main app will have a full-screen viewer with tap-to-mute and that the company is also working on a way to make sharing and viewing videos easier.

Instagram is also planning on “testing a feature that will bring ads on Reels.” Instagram’s parent company Meta confirms the shutdown of the IGTV app. There are speculations that the app will shut completely in mid-March.

Here’s a look at what’s changing on the Instagram IG video.

First of all, Instagram declares that it’s a separate IGTV app that will shut down in the coming months.

The IGTV app was launched back in 2018 when its rival YouTube launches a similar platform for vertical videos. The app comes with an IGTV button that took users to IGTV content on the main app. But in 2020, the company removes that button saying that very few people use it. After that, the company announces that IGTV was being renamed “Instagram TV.” The company also said it plans to bring IGTV’s hour-long time limit to regular videos as well.