Latest Instagram leaks and tests from January 2020

Instagram is a leader when it comes to the amount of different A/B tests they are running. During this month we spotted more than 10 different small features that were enabled to a limited amount of users and even more of them leaked from reverse engineers.

We published all of them in our @socialapps aggregator channel where you can find them by #instagram tag and in this article I want to list all of them in one place.

Giving a wide range of different news I split them into "Feature requests", "Leaks", "A/B tests" and "Rollouts".

Feature requests

This section is at the beginning because it is the farthest from reality and there is no guarantee that something like this will be ever implemented. In case if you have any feature requests yourself, feel free to drop a comment to this post and we will highlight your requests next time.

• I wish Instagram to have a setting that can configure the order of highlighted stories. As a user, if I have many stories highlighted, I want my followers to see the latest stories first so they will see most relevant of them.
  Source: @testingcatalog

Leaks

This section is exclusive to reverse engineering reports and most likely you won't have these features anytime soon. Normally it takes some time for devs to polish these features before they will appear as A/B tests.

• Instagram is working on the ability to mention everyone in the group chat. Found by reverse-engineering and not available to anyone.
  Source: @wongmjane
• Instagram is working on the ability to share Direct messages to Story after it's approved.
  Source: @wongmjane
• Instagram is working on letting users choose who can mention them. This can protect users from harassments.
  Source: @wongmjane
• Instagram is working on improving the Saved Collection curation UI.
  Source: @wongmjane
• Instagram is working on Map Sticker for Stories.
  Source: @wongmjane

A/B tests

A/B tests are features that may appear for some users, then disappear and reappear after some time for others. Some of them could be initial rollouts (that can be considered as "new") and some of them could be A/B testing waves that reappear from time to time.
Keeping a track of such tests is quite hard and almost impossible without your reports and news tips.

• Instagram is trying out redesigned DMs on Android in its recent A/B test.
  Discovered by a Twitter user @Satyam_sinha, the Instagram app has got a freshly redesigned UI for the DM section that is currently in testing.
  Source: @Satyam_sinha
• New? Instagram prompting you to review “similar” accounts after following a new account.
  Source: @MattNavarra
• Instagram is testing screenshot ⚠️ alert for stories & chat.
  Source: @Satyam_sinha

Rollouts

These features are supposed to be available to everyone or everyone in a specific region.

• Instagram pushing its recently launched layout camera mode for Stories.
  Source: @MattNavarra
• A #fakenews / Fact Check warning on Instagram preview.
  Source: @MattNavarra
• Instagram adds Boomerang effects as TikTok looms.
  Source: @TechCrunch
• Instagram is reminding users to review the name on their profile as it will soon be visible in messages.
  Source: @MattNavarra
• Didn't see that before - Instagram shows a "new" label on suggested sweamlane to highlight newly created accounts.
  Source: @testingcatalog
• Yes. Instagram has removed the IGTV button (usually top right in-app). Instagram also launched a new IGTV-related feature today.
  Source: @MattNavarra

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