When was the last time you saw a Boomerang on Insta? Maybe three or four years ago? It’s just so #fetch.
According to TechCrunch, Instagram very quietly and subtly removed the Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps from the Google Play and App Store. The reason? These apps are already integrated into the Instagram main app. So why would anyone still use the standalone apps? Yes, you can delete them now, you little app hoarder.
Boomerang was an app that allowed users to create 1-second looping videos. It was introduced to the Insta-squad in 2014. Hyperlapse came a year later, which allowed users to capture time-lapse videos. A lot of smartphones today have the time-lapse function built into their camera apps. Another reason for the standalone app not to exist. The Boomerang app did well in its day with over 300 million downloads.
IGTV is dead, long live Instagram TV
Instagram announced it was getting rid of the IGTV app in October 2021. The Meta-company rebranded IGTV as “Instagram TV,” because that’s not what we thought IGTV stood for at all. It also got rid of the normal IGTV format. Videos posted to the main Instagram feed can now run for up to an hour. And we thought 10-minute TikToks were despicable.
Despite the focus on Reels and bringing them onto the Facebook platform as well, ads are currently in some sort of Beta. Or Beta 3, by the looks of it.
This allows creators and influencers to earn revenue for what they do on the different Meta-platforms, challenging TikTok once again. Guess we’ll see how this one pans out.
Next on the chopping block
Instagram’s Layout app, which you use to make photo collages or show different angles of the same pic, is still available to download. Although this is yet another feature that has already been integrated into the main app. We think Instagram may eventually phase this standalone app out as well.