If you have automatic updates turned on on your phone and are an avid Instagram users, chances are that you were subjected to the horrible app update Instagram “accidentally” pushed out to its users (as confirmed by Instagram Head Adam Mosseri).
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
The new Instagram update forced users to view their feed horizontally rather than the vertical scrolling that the users are used to. The idea was to focus on every post and its comments more than what the mindless vertical scrolling accomplishes. This would also allow ads to be given more prominence as compared to the original scrolling. Instagram has been experimenting with the horizontal scroll user experience since October 2018 but publishing the update on the app store got a lot of “interesting” feedback on social media.
Here are some of the reactions from Twitterverse:
rolling out a terrible new instagram update over the week between christmas and new years is purely evil
— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) December 27, 2018
How do I delete the new Instagram update omgggggg no’
— Mark (@MarkFerris199O) December 27, 2018
All I’m saying is if Instagram can undo an update that quickly after they realised people weren’t happy about it, I know for damn sure they can give me a chronological TL by the end of the day
— Call Me By My @ (@NotAgainBen) December 27, 2018
All we can hope is that this “accidental” push is not going to be an intentional roll out in the future.
Did you see the update or did you miss it like DeFranco guy:
I missed the #instagramupdate horror, but I just want to say that all of you who survived it are brave and strong. You didn’t ask for this but you are stronger from it. #Brave #Hero #WorldPeace
— Philip “that DeFranco guy” DeFranco (@PhillyD) December 27, 2018