Instagram Brings YouTube-Like Watch History For Reels: How It Works | Tech News

Instagram reels watch history is coming to let you watch older videos

Instagram is bringing new features and going more Reel-centric for its users in the last few months. The latest update will add a new watch history option on the platform that means you can go back and see the old Reels short videos that you’ve wanted to see but couldn’t before. It is intriguing to see this YouTube-like feature come to Instagram after all these years. 

The platform seems to have heard pleas from its users who had a hard time accessing the Reels people have seen previously but have no option to watch it again. 

Watch History For Insta Reels: How To Use It? 

Instagram users have relied on basic tricks like sharing reels with friends to access the older videos but watch history makes a lot of sense, especially with the platform looking to increase its viewership time and user base. 

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has mentioned that watch history on the app will go beyond the regular history tools and also let you customise the search for older videos based on the recency of their viewing or even looking for the exact date that you saw that Reels. 

In addition to this, you can even search for the videos based on the creator who has posted the Reels. This means you can head over to their Instagram profile and find the relevant Reels that you have been eager to watch again. 

Instagram users will be getting a new update that will bring the Watch History tab probably within the Reels section to keep it relevant for the content. The feature will be free so you don’t need any special plan to get watch history working on Instagram but the update is rolling out gradually so you might have to wait for a few days/weeks to see the changes reflected for your account. 

Instagram is making a new plan to get more people to watch Reels or short videos on its platform. The new update will be available for mobile users in India, which they are called, Reels-first mobile experience. 

The tests have started with a limited group of users in the country which eventually will be available for all the users with the public release in the next few months. Reels has become the core function for Instagram, not only because of the popularity of short videos but also its obvious marketability for ads and other revenue sources.