Instagram is enhancing its Reels feature with a new Watch History that enables users to return and locate videos they've seen before. The feature is intended to address a familiar issue — the loss of engaging Reels that users missed liking or saving. Introduced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, the rollout is already underway for users on the most recent app version.
Why is Watch History important to the Instagram users?
So far, users in India and around the globe had to content themselves with little manual hacks such as sharing Reels to themselves or saving URLs for later viewing. Watch History makes all this unnecessary by just letting users scroll through the list of all watched Reels in the app, making it all that much easier.
Features and sorting options
The Watch History feature that's new doesn't only show your watched Reels — it also allows you to filter and sort them. The users can sort Reels by date watched (newest to oldest or vice versa), Mosseri said, or filter by date range. You can even filter by creator, so it's even simpler to find videos from a specific account you're following.
How to access watch history?
It is easy to access your Reels Watch History. Open your profile, tap the three-line menu, go to Settings, open Your Activity, and tap on Watch History. The feature nicely fits into Instagram's current interface for likes, saves, and comments.
Rolling out everywhere
The feature is included in Instagram's latest app update and will automatically be rolled out to users. Although it might prove difficult for some to scroll through a big history, the features of added sorting and filtering tools mean it is an asset and something long anticipated for frequent Reels viewers.
Through this update, Instagram continues its move toward embracing wiser, more user-friendly content discovery for its global users.