Instagram

Over the last few years, Meta has been shifting the focus of Instagram – which was born as a photo app – to compete with short video apps like TikTok. However, this has left many users upset. And after Instagram reversed design changes that made its app more similar to TikTok, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has now admitted that the platform has been pushing “too many videos” on its users.

Back in 2018, Instagram introduced new shopping features in its mobile app to let users buy products they see in photos and videos. The company even added a new Shop tab to the home screen of its app in 2020 as an attempt to push these features further. However, Instagram is now taking a step back as it will soon remove the Shop tab from its app.

Updated with love annually since 2018…

Despite Meta’s best efforts to tank it, Instagram has remained a population destination away from Facebook and Twitter. There’s something about the constraints of mostly photo and video sharing that just feels healthier. Instagram is also an twelve-year-old iPhone app — it launched the same year as the iPad. As 2023 rolls in, the refusal to make an iPad version that isn’t just the web remains a head scratcher.

Instagram this week rolled out a new feature to users they are calling “Notes,” a way for users to leave a sort of status update – or Away Message – to their followers or to their Close Friends.

It has been a while since Instagram introduced a website to let users access the social network from anywhere through a web browser. Over time, Instagram Web has been updated with many new features. This week, the Instagram website has been completely redesigned to take advantage of larger screens.

Meta on Wednesday announced new features coming soon to Facebook and Instagram that will enhance the experience for creators using both platforms. This includes updates on NFT, Instagram subscriptions, and Facebook Stars. The news comes as the company holds its Creator Week conference with in-person events around the world.

Facebook and Instagram boosts are a popular way for creators to give their posts extra reach by paying Meta to show them to more people. Apple has updated its App Store rules to say that any boosts purchased through the iOS apps must use in-app purchases (IAP), giving the iPhone maker a 30% cut.

Meta has called this an Apple tax on ads, and says that the Cupertino company is growing its own ad business while undercutting competitors …

An Instagram bug that causes the iOS app to crash on opening has been affecting a number of users on Wednesday. On the web, a few users shared their reports of the bug, which doesn’t seem to be widespread at this point – but has still been annoying some iPhone users.

Even more ads will soon start appearing in your Instagram feed, Meta announced today. With these changes, advertisers will now be able to place ads on the Explore homepage as well as directly in profile feeds. The addition of more ads comes as Instagram continues to face backlash for recent changes…

Exposure to a massive amount of self-harm content on both Instagram and Pinterest played a key role in the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, concluded an inquest.

Executives from both social media companies have admitted that the teenager was exposed to material she should not have been able to see, and apologized for the failings …

Earlier this week, a new third-party Instagram app dubbed “OG App” launched on the App Store. This app offered an ad-free Instagram experience, among other improvements. Just a day after its launch, however, Apple removed OG App from the App Store, and we now have more details on the reasoning behind this removal.

This week, a new Instagram client called “OG App” caught the attention of the internet as it promised a better Instagram experience without advertisements or content suggestions from people you don’t know. The app seemed too good to be true, but it has now been taken down – not by Meta, but by Apple.

Instagram has faced a barrage of criticism recently for the growing number of ads, “suggested” posts, Reels, and other content being inserted into user feeds. A new app, cleverly dubbed the “OG App,” aims to make Instagram useable again by giving you an ad-free feed that’s also rid of any suggested posts.

Update: An hour after the outage started, Instagram says it fixed the issue.

Instagram is currently down, according to Twitter users. This information was also confirmed by 9to5Mac‘s staff. The Meta-owned platform is currently facing an outage as users around the world complain about the feed not working, problems with checking DMs, and more.

Meta has confirmed that it is developing a way of allowing users to automatically block nude photos in Instagram DMs. While the nature of the images that can be detected isn’t specified, one hopes it will block unsolicited nude photos to which too many women are subjected …

Meta is facing a class action lawsuit after both Facebook and Instagram were found to be using an App Tracking Transparency workaround to track users on the web, even after they were denied permission to do so.

The company is accused not just of breaking Apple’s privacy rules, but also violating both state and federal laws …

Execs from Instagram and Pinterest have been ordered to appear before an inquest into the death of a 14-year-old girl, Molly Russell. Russell took her own life after using the apps to view extensive material on self-harm, depression, and suicide.

It’s the latest development in growing concerns about the impact of social media platforms on the mental health of teenagers, girls especially …

Instagram for iOS recently made a controversial change to how it handled the sound for Stories. The app used to respect your iPhone’s silent switch and mute Stories when in silent mode, but it recently started playing sound for all Stories regardless of your iPhone’s setting.

Thankfully, an update released today seems to have reverted the behavior back to normal…

Update: In a statement to 9to5Mac, a Meta spokesperson attributed this to an iOS bug and confirmed that the latest Instagram for iOS update fixes it.

“This issue has been resolved with the latest version of Instagram for iOS – please update to the latest version of the app available in the App Store.”

Instagram has received the second-highest fine under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation with a €405 million bill – the highest was a €746 million penalty to Amazon last year. This fine is due to a violation of children’s privacy, including the publication of kids’ email addresses and phone numbers.

Instagram is focusing more than ever on creators. While it had created a few controversies with its video-focused feed that even involved Kardashians, the company is now planning to bring more ways to control what users see on the platform and improve their personal algorithm.