Instagram tests 90-minute widescreen videos in a push at YouTube

Instagram is testing a widescreen video format called Features that supports uploads of up to 90 minutes, a clear step into territory YouTube has long owned. As reported by The Verge, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and VP of product Tessa Lyons announced it on 26 October in a video on the platform. After testing in Brazil, the format is expanding to a small group of creators in the US. Nothing has been announced for the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Egypt.

What Features does

Features is a horizontal video format that supports clips up to 90 minutes long. Instagram pitches it at podcasts, vlogs, interviews and series episodes. For comparison, Reels are typically about three minutes or shorter.

The format is tied to Reels rather than replacing them. Creators can publish up to eight short clips from a Feature as Reels that link back to the longer video. Lyons said viewers can “click and keep watching or watch the full video.” The idea is that a clip of a podcast or comedy special works as the trailer, and the full episode sits one tap away.

The test is tightly controlled. Engadget reports that only a few creators who have struck individual deals with Meta can make longform content for now. The Hollywood Reporter says the company is targeting comedians and podcasters. Mosseri said many of the related features will roll out in testing over the next month.

Why Mosseri changed his mind

For years Mosseri resisted this. In the announcement he said he had been against longform video on Instagram “for a long time”, and his worry was keeping the app about connecting with friends, not only entertainment. His reasoning: someone who spends 10, 20 or 30 minutes on a single video sees fewer Reels, photos and carousels they might send to a friend. His revised view is that short and long video can be “symbiotic”. People who watch a few clips from a podcast or comedy special as Reels may want to watch the full episode on their TV.

That TV angle explains the timing. Instagram introduced its first TV app last year with a Reels version for Fire TV, and it’s now adding an Apple TV app to a lineup that includes Samsung and Google TV devices. The Apple TV app is available in the US. The TV apps are also expanding to support Stories and live streams, and Instagram has been testing “series”, which lets creators link several short videos together. Dawn Images reports that series has reached some creators in the US, India and Mexico, with more countries expected. Heise adds that Instagram plans to let users control the TV app from their phones and save Features and series to watch later on a TV.

The money question

The weakest part of the pitch is pay. Heise reports that, unlike YouTube, Instagram doesn’t share ad revenue with creators. A spokesperson told TechCrunch it’s too early to share a long-term monetisation model, though Instagram is exploring ways for creators to earn through brands, fans and the platform itself. In its report on the announcement, Archyde says an Instagram representative confirmed the company is directly funding longer-form content with some creators for now. For most creators, then, brand deals remain the main income route, and BusinessOutreach says Mosseri has acknowledged as much.

Instagram has also tried this before. It launched IGTV in 2018, a standalone app for longer videos that never gained much traction and was shut down in 2022. That app was built around vertical video, not widescreen. Comic Basics notes that the effort this time sits inside the main app.

What it means for UAE, Saudi and Egyptian creators

For now, very little changes. The test covers select creators in the US and Brazil, and the company hasn’t given a date for a global launch. Creators in the region who publish podcasts or long interviews on YouTube have no way to join, and the lack of a revenue share gives them little reason to move their main uploads even once it arrives. The more immediate effect is on viewing habits: if Features and the TV apps expand, clips that circulate as Reels could point to full episodes inside Instagram instead of sending people to YouTube. We’d treat that as a watch item until Instagram names more markets.