Instagram has launched a TV app, bringing Reels to Amazon Fire TV devices in the US. The app organizes short videos into channels, including music, sports, and trending moments. Videos play automatically, so you can watch without having to scroll to the next one. The app also gets a multi-user setup with support for up to five accounts per household.
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Meta is coming for YouTube's crown here, seeking a share of TV viewing time. YouTube now accounts for 12.5% of all TV viewing time in the US, according to Nielsen. And more YouTube viewing occurs on TVs than on mobile devices. Instagram is lagging behind, having had no presence on the big screen all this time. This app seems to be a way to remedy that.
How to Get The Instagram App on Your TV
For now, the Instagram app is only available on Fire TV. So if you want to get it, you’ll need to have a Fire TV device – either a Fire OS-powered TV or a Fire TV stick plugged into any TV's HDMI port. You can get the Instagram TV app from the Fire TV app store and log in with your Instagram account to start watching. For now, it’s only available for users in the US.
Meta plans to add features like using your phone as a remote and having shared feeds with friends. The company says it will expand to more devices and countries based on how this test goes.
I spend way too much time on YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, and honestly, I don't like how much of my attention these apps consume. But if I'm going to waste time on short videos anyway, doing it on a TV somehow feels like a better alternative to being glued to my phone all day. At least you can watch with other people, which is more social than scrolling alone.
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Bottom Line
Instagram for TV is Meta's play to get even more of your screen time. Meta tried the opposite approach at one point with IGTV – bringing longer videos to your phone in the Instagram app. However, with short-form content taking over, this approach seems to be the better way for Meta. YouTube has a massive head start with over 1 billion hours streamed daily on TV globally. However, Meta can put up a solid fight if it does this right.
[Image credits: Instagram, composited by Palash Volvoikar/Techlicious]
