Users angered after Instagram 'bug' briefly changed their news feed

Last night social media Instagram quietly tested a new feature that turned the vertically scrolling news feed to a horizontal one, but the ‘bug’, as the company is now calling it, only lasted for few minutes.

Instagram, which has been testing the feature since few months, started testing a horizontal feed for some users, shifting from the traditional vertically scrolling user experience. Soon after, the social media firm rolled back the update, which it later confirmed to be a bug, since the users didn’t like it.

The Verge explained, the new feature turned all of the news feed posts into a single, huge Instagram story-like display. Instead of scrolling, the user would have to tap to advance and a scrolling bar at the top will show how far user has progressed.

Each photo and ad was given a set time where the user can only view a single post. The comments were also made more prominent, appearing with a flick upward. Also, the horizontal layout only appeared to have been affecting the main news feed, the user’s individual profile appeared the same as usual.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote on Twitter that the horizontal feed was meant to be ‘a small test’ that ‘went broader than we anticipated’. 17 minutes later, the old-fashioned vertical feed reappeared for most of the users that were affected by the test.

Sorry about that, this was supposed to be a very small test but we went broader than we anticipated. 😬

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) December 27, 2018

However, an Instagram later confirmed that the change in news feed was in fact a bug that was later fixed. “Due to a bug, some users saw a change to the way their feed appears today. We quickly fixed the issue and feed is back to normal. We apologize for any confusion.”

Due to a bug, some users saw a change to the way their feed appears today. We quickly fixed the issue and feed is back to normal. We apologize for any confusion.

— Instagram (@instagram) December 27, 2018

The test – or bug – soon started receiving backlash and majority of the users did not like it at all.

thanks, I hate it @instagram pic.twitter.com/bTtlcwyg8R

— Sean O'Kane (@sokane1) December 27, 2018

Old Instagram coming back after #instagramupdate pic.twitter.com/zHXkE2Yi0T

— Jason Lim (@jas0nsg) December 27, 2018

This is unusable

— Lainna Fader 🦋 (@lainnafader) December 27, 2018

Opening up Instagram like... pic.twitter.com/PoDkHC9okq

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 27, 2018

This new Instagram update pic.twitter.com/9rzcn607uF

— Zara Larsson (@zaralarsson) December 27, 2018