Instagram refreshes ‘Stories’ layout for desktop

According to The Verge, the company is updating its "Stories" feature so that it opens up to show a carousel of videos, which previews what's cued up next and the content that just played.

San Francisco: Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram has rolled out a new layout for “Stories” feature for the desktop users.

According to The Verge, the company is updating its “Stories” feature so that it opens up to show a carousel of videos, which previews what’s cued up next and the content that just played.

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From this interface, viewers can click on whatever story they want to watch. It’s sort of like if the tiny circles at the top of users’ feeds went bigger and full-screen, the report said on Wednesday.

This is a minor change, but it rounds out the desktop feature and makes it more appealing to use, especially as people are on their computers more frequently while working from home.

The photo-sharing platform started testing this new feature earlier this month.

A spokesperson from Instagram, earlier this month, told Engadget that this feature is being tested and it has begun appearing to a “small group” of Instagram users.

For the most part, Instagram has left Stories unchanged for years. The format is the same as always, with posts being ephemeral.

Most of Instagram’s changes to the format come in the form of creative tools, like stickers for small businesses and new fonts. For now, Instagram’s firmly focusing on Reels, its TikTok competitor, with Stories receiving small updates to keep it fresh.