Instagram is reportedly removing shorter daily time limit options from its app

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report from TechCrunch, the social network is encouraging users to update their settings. Users were able to choose a time limit as low as five minutes a day, but the new options start at 30 minutes and go up to three hours.

A popup now appears at the top of an user's feed urging them to set a new daily limit value in accordance with an app update. Clicking the edit button will take them to a preset option, the lowest of which is 30 minutes. The 10-minute value is no longer supported by the app, and the user says they were only able to avoid picking it.

The options currently available are 30 minutes, 45 minutes, one hour, two hours, and three hours. Meta did not respond to the questions sent to it.

The company wanted time on the app to be well-spent, so they introduced the option to set daily time limits. Tech companies received criticism about the effect their products had on the well-being of users, so time limiting features were rolled out.

We want to empower people to make decisions about how much time they spend and how they engage with the app, according to Ameet Ranadive, who lead a user wellbeing team at Instagram. The Take a Break feature on the app allows users to get periodic reminders if they have been on the app continuously.

The decision to remove shorter time limits from the app seems to be at odds with this commitment to empowering users. Adam Mosseri emphasized that you know what's best for you when it comes to using the app. The change indicates that the platform may be more concerned with making sure users are spending their time well than with making sure they are spending enough time on the platform.