Instagram tests 90-minute widescreen videos with creators in US and Brazil
Instagram's new Features format and linked clips aim to keep longer videos inside the app, while creator ad revenue sharing remains undecided.
Instagram announced a push into longer horizontal videos on October 26, 2026, testing a format called Features with a limited group of creators in the US and Brazil. Videos can run up to 90 minutes, giving creators a way to keep extended episodes and interviews inside the app rather than sending viewers elsewhere.
The limited rollout means most creators cannot yet use the format. Instagram has not announced a general launch date, according to the accounts from Business Insider and The Verge.
How Features connects long videos and short clips
Instagram is testing clips that lead viewers to a longer video. Business Insider reported that creators can link as many as eight clips to one long video. That gives a creator room to publish short excerpts while keeping the full program on Instagram.
The company is also testing a Series label and episode ordering for episodic Reels. Business Insider reported that this test is set to expand to more countries through the end of 2026. The Verge separately reported tests to improve discovery of live videos.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri described the aim as making short and long videos ‘symbiotic,’ The Verge reported. He cited formats such as podcasts and comedy specials that can appear as full videos and shorter clips. Mosseri had previously worried that long viewing sessions could draw attention away from Instagram's role in connecting friends, according to The Verge.
TV viewing and creator payments
The video push extends Instagram's TV app, which The Verge said began as a Reels-focused Amazon Fire TV pilot in the US late last year. Business Insider reported that the app is now available on Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung and Apple TV, and can show a feed based on videos friends like or reshare.
Whether longer videos will bring creators a share of advertising revenue remains unsettled. Business Insider reported that Mosseri told creators Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry Instagram is considering tests of ads before and during videos that could support a revenue split. He said earlier broad revenue-sharing efforts cost Instagram substantially more than they brought in and did not prompt creators to make more content. No payment program or timetable was announced.
In the same interview, Mosseri said Instagram wants to be ‘the most culturally relevant platform,’ according to Business Insider. For creators, the immediate change is narrower: a small test of a long-video format and tools to connect it to the short videos their audiences already watch.
Read in depth: Technology
Apple releases iOS 27.2 with Apple Pencil support for iPhone Duo
The update adds support for the USB-C Apple Pencil on iPhone Duo, expands Siri AI language options and changes several iPhone apps.
Airbnb to bar hosts from requiring guests to wash dishes or take rubbish off-site
The revised house rules apply to reservations booked from November 20. Hosts can still ask guests to put dishes in the sink and sort rubbish into indoor bins.
Sources and context
- Instagram is clearly jealous of YouTube — and introducing a raft of changesBusiness Insider (Sydney Bradley)
- Instagram chases YouTube with a push for longer, widescreen videosThe Verge (Jay Peters)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.