The company confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday that Instagram is testing a new image feature for viewing reels. This feature allows users to watch reels in a small floating window on the screen while browsing other applications for multitasking.
The feature was first discovered by the application researchers radu oncescu. Users participating in part of the test will see a pop-up to notify them of information about the new feature and how to turn it on.
Although images in images are great for multitasking, it also has the potential to increase retention rates for longer videos, especially in Attention span. For example, if someone comes across a long scroll, they can play it in the background while doing other things like responding to text or browsing X.
Apps like Tiktok and YouTube have supported images for more than a while.
Adding similar features to Instagram gives creators a greater chance to retain longer content from their audience. For Instagram, this means spending more time on its app.
The test post follows a comment posted by Instagram Head a few months ago Adam Mosserihe suggested the feature will be launched soon. At the time, Mosseri said he would “talk to the team and see if we can figure something out” to answer a question asking, “When will iG provide PIP (pictures in pictures), such as TT and YT?”
Instagram is using a small number of users to start testing the feature. As with any testing feature, it’s unclear when or if Instagram plans to launch it more widely.
