Indian users recently opened their Instagram apps to find the Reels tab front and centre, signalling a quiet but significant shift. The platform, known for pastel-toned grids and curated photo diaries, seems to be reimagining itself as a short-video-first entertainment platform. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is testing this new Reels-first interface in India and South Korea, redefining what the app stands for.

The experiment changes the app’s default behaviour: Stories remain up top, the DM button now sits in the middle of the navigation bar, and Reels have been promoted to the second tab. Users can still swipe between sections, but this subtly signals what Instagram wants to prioritise: attention and watch time.

The reason is simple: Indian brands have embraced Reels with gusto. An

See Full Page