Some Instagram app users were flummoxed Thursday morning with the Instagram update as the
photo-sharing app’s timeline feature switched from its familiar vertical scroll
to a horizontal feed.
Instagram app online first tested the alternative feature earlier
this year, as it considered an update that would allow users to tap
horizontally through posts. “We’re always testing ways to improve the
experience on Instagram update and bring you closer to the people and things
you love,” a spokesperson for Instagram told the source.
New Instagram app update apparently chose Thursday to launch
another test of the timeline, adding a notice that read, “Introducing a New Way
to Move Through Posts on Instagram Web and Instagram Update,” and told users to tap through posts the same way they
tap through stories, end gadget reported.
The test, intended to reach a limited number of users,
prompted quick criticism from those who find reading and tapping horizontally
harder to quickly—and mindlessly—go through their photo feeds. They vented
their dislike on Twitter.
The photo-sharing social media site Instagram has apologized
after rolling out a major change to the way users interact with its app to more
users than intended – leading to an online outcry and the system being switched
back within an hour.
The
change meant that instead of scrolling through a feed of pictures from friends,
as the app has worked since its launch in 2010, users had to tap to see more
pictures.
Tapping
a picture in the middle of the image triggered a “like” of the image. But
rather than scrolling vertically, users were required to tap on the right or
left side of the image to advance to the next picture or video, with a progress
bar indicating how far they were through their newsfeed.
Responding to the criticism on Twitter, Facebook’s head of
Instagram app, Adam Mosseri, said the roll-out was an accident and was only meant
to be a small test. “If you’re still seeing it, simply restart the app,” he
explained.
In
a separate tweet, he said: “Sorry for the confusion! Always trying new ideas,
usually with a much smaller number of people.”
The tap-to-advance method to browse your friends’ content more
closely resembles the interaction within the popular “Stories” feature on
Instagram app update.
In September, Instagram’s founders, Kevin Systrom and Mike
Krieger, left the company. It had been acquired by Facebook for $1bn in
April 2012.
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