Instagram says it’ll stop supporting the IGTV app

Image: Instagram

In a post on its website, the company said that it will no longer be supporting the separate app and will instead focus on keeping all video in the main app. While the writing has been on the wall for the competitor, the official shutdown announcement marks the end of an era for one of the services.

The post says that it is getting rid of the standalone app as part of its efforts to make video as simple as possible to discover and create. The company is testing a new ad experience that will allow creators to earn revenue from ads displayed on their reels, later this year.

The app was supposed to be a place to post long-form vertical videos, and was intended to go toe-to-toe with YouTube. In less than a year, videos were being promoted in the main app, with previews showing up in stories and on the main feed. The company decided in 2020 to remove the button that took you to IGTV content in the main app, and late last year announced that it was changing its name to "Instagram TV."

While the In-Stream ads that were inserted into videos over a minute long are going away, the company still intends to focus on video. Last year, the lead of the photo app said that it was no longer a photo app.

Since then, we have seen Meta offer creators up to $35,000 in bonuses to post Reels, and there have been many new video features added to the main app.