Instagram testing early prototype of “Vertical Stories” feed

Avid Instagram fans, prepare for a complete revolution to the way you use the social media platform. The company has confirmed that it is testing a vertical feed for stories, bringing it even closer to TikTok, just a few months after the launch of Instagram Reels.

The new system would supposedly feel more natural for smartphone users compared to the current horizontal swipe mechanism – after all, most of the mobile web is navigated through vertical swipes.

Turning Instagram Stories into a vertical feed would be a notable change for Instagram as it would mean that a greater priority is being given to video posts over static content like photos, to provide better competition to TikTok.

It was Alessandro Paluzzi who spotted the “Vertical Stories” feature in code under development, and shared the discovery on his Twitter account. His screenshot showed a simple User Interface (UI) with text reading, “Now you can swipe up and down to browse stories” and then a big, blue button labeled “Vertical Stories.” Paluzzi’s post went viral in minutes.

Instagram has confirmed to TechCrunch that it is in fact working on this feature, but it is not live yet. A spokesperson said, “This is an early prototype and is not currently testing on Instagram.”

This prototype offers an insight into Instagram’s ideas and methods and how it is hoping to be a better rival for TikTok, which has gained unprecedented popularity among the young generation. The Facebook owned platform had recently introduced the controversial feature “Reels” in the arena, which turned out to be a mere clone of TikTok. Reels is at the top position of the Instagram Explore page; clicking on Reels will take the user is taken to a new user interface where they can vertically swipe through videos. Instagram, it seems, is in sore need of modernizing as the interest of users in the traditional Stories format is declining in proportion to a rise in interest in platforms like TikTok.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri revealed that most people did not understand the difference between the content of IGTV and videos posted on Instagram.

If Instagram does decide to unveil its “Vertical Stories” feature, it would mean an eventual combination of both Reels and Stories videos.