Katarzyna Petru
We have another revolution in the way we consume social media. Instagram, which has dominated smartphones for years, is officially moving to the largest screens in our homes – televisions. The platform owned by Meta has begun the global rollout of dedicated Instagram apps for Smart TV systems.
Vertical video in the living room?
The main goal of the new application is to allow users to watch "Reels" format videos on their television. Interestingly, although modern televisions are widescreen (16:9), Instagram has decided to keep the native vertical video format. This means that the recording occupies about one third of the middle part of the screen, while the remaining space on the sides is used for the interface: captions, interaction buttons, and channel names. It is worth mentioning that this solution fits into a trend that was previously initiated by applications such as TikTok or YouTube Shorts on TV.
Samsung anticipated vertical videos on TV. That is why The Sero was created
It is worth noting that the company Samsung anticipated these trends back in 2020, introducing an innovative television from the The Sero series to the market. It is a unique model equipped with automatic motors that allow for the physical rotation of the screen to a vertical position. Thanks to this solution, content from Instagram can be displayed natively, occupying the entire display area. What seemed like a niche experiment a few years ago is now becoming standard.
When will Instagram be on your TV?
The implementation of the new application began with tests on Amazon Fire TV at the end of 2025, and this week the application was made available to users of Google TV (initially in the USA). Meta announces that the service will soon appear in more countries and on other Smart TV platforms. Users can take advantage of ready-made thematic "channels" or search for content of interest using the search feature. This is a response to the fact that more and more people are choosing the television over their phone for watching short video formats.
