Allow me to paint a portrait of a simpler time. The year is 2012, maybe 2013. Your iPhone 5 opens with a simple fingerprint scan. Your Instagram feed will show you exactly the photos posted by the accounts you follow, in the order they were posted. But gold can't stay, can it? In 2016, the social media platform moved to a non-chronological feed, serving you photos based on your likelihood of interacting with them. For years, the chronological Instagram feed seemed to be a thing of the past, despite users constantly complaining about the change.
Then, in January, Instagram announced that the app would be bringing back a time-based feed, as well as a way to see only posts from your favorite creators. The social media platform began testing these feeds earlier this year and rolled them out to all users on March 23. You can now choose between three Instagram feed views: Home, Following, and Favorites, with the latter two showing posts in order.
"It's important to me that people are happy with the time they spend in the app," Mosseri said in a video statement in January announcing a test of the new feed. “I think giving people the ability to shape Instagram in the way that works best for them is one of the best ways to do that.” An email from Instagram noted that people tend to be satisfied with ranked feeds, meaning engagement-based push so they don't have chronological push as the default.
Instagram feed views
Now you have three ways to choose how your Instagram timeline is displayed. The first, called "Home," is essentially how the app has been structured over the past few years: you'll view content based on whether Instagram's algorithm thinks you'll be interested in it. This option will also include suggested or recommended posts, which Mosseri noted in the January announcement will become more common over time.
The second option is called Favorites. Like Close Friends, Favorites will be a list of up to 50 accounts, and you won't want to miss any of them. You can add your real-life friends or cast members from your current reality show crush to this list. (No one will be notified if you add or remove them from your favorites.) Anyone you add to your favorites list will also appear on your timeline, according to an email from Instagram. Earlier location.
The third option is called "Follow." It's just posts from the accounts you follow, in the order they were posted. That's it! Instagram is back to its chronological halcyon days.
View on Instagram
The latest changes come as Instagram rolls out more ways to modify the way you use the app. Last December, the app launched a "Take a Break" feature that sends you notifications when you scroll longer than expected.
The original chronological Instagram feed was scrapped in 2016 in order to make better use of the time users spent on the app. (Let's face it—you don't really want to see every post from your middle school best friend, do you?) But after the change, users complained that the photos they saw weren't exactly up to date. After receiving feedback about this version of the timeline, Instagram released an update to the app in 2018 that prioritized newer posts, although they still appeared in an algorithm-based order.
How to change Instagram feed view
Starting March 23, all Instagram users should be able to change their Instagram timeline view to Home, Following, or Favorites (and switch between them as needed). Just click on "Home" and select your desired source view from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner. You can also add accounts to your favorites here.
Why don’t I have a chronological Instagram story?
Instagram rolled out this app change to all users on March 23. In order to change your Instagram feed view, you need to make sure your app is up to date. You can do this by going to the App Store for iPhone or the Google Play Store for Android and checking for pending app updates. You can also close the app or try restarting your phone to troubleshoot. If all else fails, be patient; changes should be rolled out to you soon.
