Instagram Testing A New Layout Of Stories For The Desktop Version

Instagram is testing a new layout for Stories on Desktop. As per the reports, a new carousel-style presentation of stories, instead of the traditional single tiles, is in the works. However, the navigation process appears to be unchanged from the mobile app. You can manually scroll through the stories or let them switch automatically.

Currently, users can only see one Story at a time for a specific profile. It sits in the middle of the screen, leaving a lot of space unused. The new design makes Story discovery and consumption a lot better and minimizes the need for extra clicks. It is not clear yet when it will be made available to all the users. Instagram lets users view stories or posts from the desktop view but does not allow new photos or stories from the default desktop view.

Instagram is clearly a winner with Stories on its platform, as the feature is very popular with users. The company is doing its best to continue increasing user engagement with stories, so it innovates it in every different way possible. At least on Instagram, Stories are fast becoming a key feature. Instagram has been allowing several features to the desktop version for several years now, bringing access to DMs early in 2020 and Instagram Live in April 2020.

Apart from this, Instagram is also working hard on Reels, a direct competitor to TikTok. It is also looking forward to implementing shopping features into the reels so that users can directly purchase items while watching the products featured in a reel.