Instagram has announced that it’s going to now not be supporting the separate IGTV app, saying in a weblog submit that it’s going to as an alternative deal with preserving all video in the principle Instagram app (via TechCrunch). While the writing’s been on the wall for Instagram’s YouTube competitor for some time, the official shutdown announcement marks the top of an period for one in all Instagram’s forays into video.

In its post, Instagram says that it’s eliminating the standalone IGTV app as “part of [its] efforts to make video as simple as possible to discover and create.” The submit additionally says that any movies in the principle app could have a full-screen viewer and tap-to-mute, and that Instagram is engaged on a constant strategy to share the various kinds of movies (comparable to video posts or Reels). The firm can also be planning on “testing a new ad experience on Instagram, which will allow creators to earn revenue from ads displayed on their reels” later this 12 months.

The standalone IGTV app was introduced in 2018, and was meant to go toe-to-toe with YouTube by performing as a spot to submit long-form vertical movies. Less than a 12 months later, IGTV content material was being closely promoted in the principle Instagram app, with movies exhibiting up on the Explore web page, and previews exhibiting up in tales and on the principle feed. In 2020, Instagram eliminated the button that took you to IGTV content material in the principle app, citing the truth that only a few folks used it, and late final 12 months the corporate introduced that IGTV was being rebranded as “Instagram TV,” and that IGTV’s hour-long time restrict can be coming to common movies too.

While the IGTV app goes away, together with the In-Stream ads that had been inserted into movies over a minute lengthy, Instagram has made it very clear that it nonetheless intends to focus closely on video. Monday’s weblog submit saying IGTV’s retirement is titled “Continuing our video investment on Instagram,” and final 12 months Instagram’s lead stated that it was now not a photograph app — as an alternative, it’s going after opponents like TikTok and YouTube in a bid to grow to be a common leisure app.

Since then, we’ve seen Meta supply creators up-to $35,000 bonuses to submit Reels, and there have been loads of new video options added to the principle Instagram app (although lots of them are copied from TikTok).