Instagram’s navigation bar at the bottom will regain the extremely handy shortcut for creating content, front and center, whilst dropping the dedicated Shop tab.
- What’s happening? Instagram head Adam Mosseri says the Shop tab will be ditched from the app while the Create button will reappear in the navigation bar.
- Why care? Remember when Instagram gave shopping its own tab that no one was asking for? Well, the new layout is a marked improvement for the better!
- What to do? On February 1, go to the Instagram page on the App Store to apply the update manually and get the new navigation layout immediately.
Changes coming to Instagram’s navigation bar in February
“The navigation bar is changing in February to make it easier for people to create, be entertained and connect with friends over the things they love,” Mosseri said in a video published January 10 on Instagram.
Putting the convenient shortcut for creating content back into the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, front and center, is definitely a great idea. It’s also an idea that sounds like you were wrong to ditch the Create tab back in 2020, yes?
The updated layout will come into effect on February 1, 2023.
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Shopping features will stay
He explains that the upcoming design change will keep the app’s shopping features. People will still be able to buy products spotted in Reels, stories, ads and Explore.
“You will still be able to set up and run your shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences that provide the most value for people and businesses across the feed, stories, reels, ads and more,” according to a post published on the Instagram Help Center.
But as we mentioned, the Shop section will no longer have its dedicated position in Instagram’s navigation tab at the bottom.
Instagram navigation bar: New vs. old
The new Instagram navigation bar:
- Home
- Search
- Create
- Reels
- Profile
The old Instagram navigation bar:
- Home
- Search
- Reels
- Shop
- Profile
Mosseri says they wanted to simplify the app with this change, but we find that explanation a bit on the disingenuous side.
Instagram Shop hasn’t been a hit with users
The Meta-owned company added the Reels and Shop tabs to Instagram’s navigation bar in November 2020, a significant change to the app’s tab layout in years.
Meta unveiled the Facebook Shop in May 2020 and expanded it to Instagram a few months later. Mark Zuckerberg & Co. wanted to make it easy for Facebook and Instagram users to buy products without leaving the app. This feature is only available to a select number of businesses in eligible countries.
Checkout is limited to customers in the United States.
But alas, shopping features like personalized recommendations, curated picks, shoppable videos and new product collections don’t seem to have been popular with users. Otherwise, Instagram would’ve decided to drop the Shop tab from navigation.
“We’re trying to bring people together over what they love,” Mosseri concluded.