Instagram Testing New Design to View Stories on Desktop

Instagram is testing a new design for viewing stories on desktop. In the new look, Instagram Stories are expected to appear in a carousel, instead of the current single-tile format that takes up the entire page. A company spokesperson confirmed to a publication that testing of the new feature is indeed underway. The report suggests that navigation will remain the same – users will have to manually click through the Stories or can choose to let them play one after the other automatically. It is not clear yet if and when the new design will be rolling out to more users.

As per a report by Engadget, an Instagram spokesperson confirmed that a new design for Stories is being tested. The new look had been appearing to a “small group” of Instagram users last month onwards, as per the spokesperson. Gadgets 360 has reached out to Instagram to seek further clarity. This report will be updated when we hear back.

The new design for Instagram Stories will make it easier to keep track of where you are in the Stories queue. Up until now, when you check a Story on Instagram for desktop, it takes up the entire screen. There is no option to swipe to the next person’s story, although there are navigation buttons.

If this change rolls out to a wider audience, it will make Instagram on desktop a cleaner user experience and could be particularly beneficial for those who use desktop for Instagram on a regular basis. Users will be able to view the last few people’s stories and the next few in a queue, and one single story won’t take up the entire screen.

If Facebook decides to roll out the new Instagram functionality to a wider audience, it is likely that more users will receive the new design for Stories on desktop before it is officially launched.

What will be the most exciting tech launch of 2021? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.