IGTV Now Supports Landscape Format on Alongside Vertical Videos

About a year ago, Instagram jumped into the vertical videos landscape with IGTV. The Facebook-owned company planned to make it big with its new long-form vertical-only format, leaving no room for landscape videos. But after one year, Instagram is changing its policy on vertical-only videos. Users can now upload landscape videos on IGTV which will be played full-screen when users turn their phones sideways. Instagram is evidently hoping this will push more creators to use IGTV.

Instagram has been trying to boost engagement for IGTV for a while now. The company recently redesigned IGTV's main interface, taking inspiration from TikTok and Snapchat. The new design takes help from algorithms to deliver a vertical grid of previews like the ones that appear on Snapchat Discover.

On Thursday, Instagram announced it is adding support for landscape videos on the standalone IGTV app as well as the IGTV hub within the main Instagram app. The company claims it's the latest move is a result of all the feedback it collected from viewers and creators.

The only thing most creators want, which Instagram has refused to add so far, is the ability to monetise content. Without being able to make money, it's natural that creators have shied away from spending their resources on creating videos, especially for IGTV's vertical-only format.

But now, creators have the ability to push out the same landscape videos they produce for YouTube and other streaming services to IGTV. Facebook-owned Instagram might carve out a monetisation policy for IGTV later in the future.

Instagram's decision to add landscape videos will be appreciated by both creators and viewers. While the company's stories format has been highly successful, it's yet to reveal any official numbers for IGTV.

While announcing its latest move, Instagram claims this is 'just the beginning'. The company further added that it will continue to help creators grow their communities, enabling them to build businesses across IGTV and Instagram. It'll be interesting to see how creators react to the new announcement.