The Meta-owned platform rolls out landscape mode support, aiming to bring social media video streaming directly to living room TV screens.
DUBAI: In a direct bid to rival video-streaming giant YouTube, Instagram has announced the launch of a new update allowing horizontal video support for its IGTV feature starting this Monday. This major update marks a significant shift in Instagram’s long-standing vertical-first video strategy, opening up new avenues for creators and viewers alike.
The tech giant’s latest experimental rollout aims to reshape how users consume social media content. By introducing native landscape formatting, Instagram is bridging the gap between mobile-centric social feeds and traditional widescreen setups. The update will allow creators to post content that can be easily viewed without the constraints of vertical cropping.
According to initial reports, the move is highly focused on capturing the home entertainment market. With smart TVs and casting devices becoming household staples globally, the horizontal orientation ensures that IGTV videos can seamlessly fit onto large living room television screens, providing a much more immersive and comfortable viewing experience for families and communities.
Industry analysts suggest that this strategy is designed to attract high-production creators who previously hesitated to format their cinematic or long-form videos into a vertical layout. By accommodating standard landscape aspect ratios, Instagram is positioning IGTV as a legitimate contender to YouTube’s dominance in the digital broadcasting space.
Instagram originally launched IGTV with a strict adherence to vertical video, betting that mobile users preferred holding their phones upright. However, as user habits evolved and cross-device streaming increased, the limitation often alienated traditional filmmakers and corporate advertisers. This pivot reflects Meta’s broader strategy under contemporary tech realities to maximize user retention across both mobile and home entertainment hardware.
