Instagram launches IGTV app: Facebook to do something similar soon

Instagram has finally launched the IGTV app. IGTV is basically a standalone application by Instagram that allows creators to upload long-form vertical oriented videos. The company hosted an event in San Francisco in order to make this special announcement.

IGTV app allows users to create their own channel which will be named after their username. Users can upload videos that are as long as one hour. Comparatively, Instagram's native app allows only 1 minute long videos. With the new IGTV app, the Facebook-owned company is trying to compete against YouTube and giving creators a whole new platform.

You can head over to the Google Play Store or Apple App Store on your Android or iOS device in order to download and install the IGTV app right now. The app uses your Instagram credentials to log in to your account. However, if you already have the Instagram app installed, the IGTV app will automatically recognise your account.

The interface of the new app is quite simplistic. We did notice that the app currently does not support tall displays like 18:9 by default. Once you are logged in, a video starts playing in the background and you can choose between people to switch the videos. Popular YouTubers like MKBHD, SuperSaf TV and Bhuvan Bam have already started uploading high-quality vertical videos on their IGTV channel.

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The app currently has options like "For You", "Following", "Popular" and "Continue Watching" which are pretty self-explanatory.

The Facebook-owned company has also announced that they finally have 1 billion active users around the world. So, we can see a bright future for the recently launched IGTV app.

Meanwhile, Facebook has also launched the Facebook Watch that will compete directly against YouTube and Netflix. The Watch is currently restricted to only a few countries and it is not available in India.