Instagram is getting rid of one of the app’s main features

Instagram has announced that it’s making major changes to the app, with mixed reactions from users. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, confirmed that the in-app purchases tab will disappear in February “due to a shift in corporate priorities”.

Back in September, The Information reported that Instagram was “drastically scaling back” and shifting its focus from e-commerce and shopping features to ads and short-form videos.

Shopping features were first introduced to the app in 2018 to allow users to purchase products they see in photos and videos. Two years later, the company also added Shop and Reels tabs during the pandemic – signaling a focus on e-commerce on the platform. However, in comparison, the reels seemed to dominate over IGers’ new buy feature.

Now Mosseri has revealed that the downsizing will take place next month. Starting in February, the Instagram homepage bar will look a little different: The button for creating a new post will be in the middle of the page bar, and the Reels button will be on the right.

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The social media giant also said it will continue to invest in the shopping experience for people and businesses, and it will still be possible to run a business on Instagram, and users will still be able to buy their feeds, stories, reels and ads.

Mosseri caught it Twitter to say that removing the shopping tab creates a simpler app design that does three things: it encourages people to express themselves, it helps them discover what they love, and it makes it easier to build relationships.

Users took to Twitter to react to the announcement – with mixed comments. One fan on social media said: “This is the best update I’ve ever seen. Prioritizing creation is a great thing!”

Another person said: “Finally an update I agree with 🤣.”

However, others are not too happy with the change. One commented: “Repost videos as videos, not reels. I don’t care about the reels, it’s nice that they exist, but I just want to put a video on my feed. I don’t use TikTok, so why would I want to post off-brand TikTok?”

Many also criticize how Instagram has deviated from its original mission of prioritizing and chronologically ordering photos. One user wrote: “Awesome. How about making the posts chronological again?”

Someone else wrote: “No. Bring back photos. Kill the referrals. Scrolls are cheap copies of TikTok. Take the necklace. Let me see what people I follow are writing.”

Watch this space!