Instagram is testing a new Picture-in-Picture feature for watching Reels, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Tuesday. This feature allows users to watch Reels in a small, floating window on their screen while browsing other apps, enabling seamless multitasking.
The feature was first spotted by app researcher Radu Oncescu. Users who are part of the test will see a pop-up notification explaining the new feature and how to activate it.
While Picture-in-Picture is excellent for multitasking, it also has the potential to increase retention for longer videos, which is particularly valuable in an era of shrinking attention spans. For example, if someone finds a long Reel, they can have it play in the background while performing other tasks like responding to a text message or browsing another social media app. Other platforms like TikTok and YouTube have supported Picture-in-Picture for quite some time.
Adding a similar feature to Instagram could give creators a better chance of retaining their audience for longer content. For Instagram, this would naturally translate to more time spent within its app.
The launch of this test follows comments made a few months ago by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who suggested the feature could be coming soon. At the time, Mosseri responded to a user question about the feature by saying he would talk to his team to see if they could figure something out.
Instagram is starting the test with a small group of users. As with any test feature, it is currently unclear when or if Instagram plans to roll it out more widely.