Instagram Is Testing 90-Minute Horizontal Videos (“Features”) — What Creators Need to Know

A 90-minute video on Instagram? Here is what is happening

Instagram is testing something it has never really tried before: long, horizontal videos up to 90 minutes in length. The format is called “Features,” and the trial began on October 26, 2026 with a group of select creators in the United States, following an earlier initial trial in Brazil. If the name sounds like a movie credit, that is the point — Instagram wants to be a place where full-length shows, podcasts, and comedy specials live, not just 30-second clips.

This is a genuine shift. For years the platform pushed shorter and shorter — 15-second Reels, then 90 seconds, then a few minutes. Now it is swinging the other way, betting creators will stay on Instagram for the kind of content people watch on YouTube. Every new format comes with a discovery boost for early adopters, so this matters for anyone growing an audience.

What “Features” actually is

Features is a horizontal, long-form video format that supports uploads of up to 90 minutes. It sits alongside Instagram’s existing video surfaces — Reels for short clips, Series for episodic short content, Live for real-time broadcasts, and TV for the older long-form experiment — rather than replacing any of them. Think of it as Instagram’s answer to the YouTube video: wide-screen, built for sustained watching, and aimed at content that needs room to breathe.

The trial is deliberately small — only select US creators so far — and Adam Mosseri says it is early-stage, with the team listening to feedback. Do not rebuild your whole plan around it yet, but this is exactly the moment when paying attention pays off.

Who this format is built for

Instagram has named three creator groups as the natural fit: podcasters, comedians, and long-form creators. That makes sense. A podcast episode, a stand-up set, a deep-dive essay, a full workout class — these are formats that get chopped into unsatisfying fragments on Reels today. Features gives them a home where the full thing can live on the same platform as the audience.

If you are a creator in one of these lanes, the implication is direct: the platform is building the shelf, and early adopters usually get the most prominent placement on it. If you are not — if you make quick tips, dances, or memes — the format still matters, because of the bridge Instagram built between it and Reels.

The smart part: Reels that link into full episodes

Here is the detail that should excite anyone focused on growth. Short Reels can link directly into the full-length Features videos. In practice, that means you can post a 30-second highlight clip as a Reel, and viewers can tap through to watch the entire 90-minute episode without leaving Instagram.

This is the classic funnel, built natively into the app: short-form discovery on the outside, long-form depth on the inside. Reels remain the discovery engine — they are still how strangers find you — and now they can convert that casual attention into long watch sessions, which is the strongest signal you can send to any recommendation system. Creators who master the “clip as trailer” workflow will have a real edge. If your Reels need work first, start with our guide on how to get more views on Instagram Reels — the same hooks that win on Reels will be the trailers that feed your long-form videos.

What Adam Mosseri said — and what he did not

Mosseri’s framing is careful: early days, experimenting, feedback will shape it. That is the standard language of a test that could still change or get shelved — anyone who remembers the original IGTV push knows Instagram does not always commit.

What he did not announce is just as telling. There is no monetization or revenue-share model attached to Features yet. No ad splits, no creator fund details, no paid subscriptions tied to the format. For now, the incentive to participate is reach and positioning, not direct income. That may change — long-form video is far easier to monetize with mid-roll ads than Reels — but until Instagram says otherwise, treat Features as a growth play, not a revenue play.

What this means for your follower growth

New formats get algorithmic love — it happened with Reels in 2020 and every surface since. When Instagram needs a format to look alive, it promotes the creators filling it, and a 90-minute format needs a lot of filling. The discovery boost for early long-form creators could be generous.

Here is how to position yourself while the trial is still small:

• Start banking long-form ideas now. If you have ever thought “this needs more than 90 seconds,” write it down. When Features opens wider, you want a backlog, not a blank page.
• Practice the clip-to-full pipeline. Take one long video and cut five Reels from it, each with a hook that points at the full version. This workflow will be the core skill of the Features era.
• Watch what the trial creators do. The select US creators in the test are effectively publishing the playbook in public. Study their formats, lengths, and how they use Reels as trailers.
• Do not abandon short-form. Reels remain the top of the funnel. A long-form strategy without a Reels strategy is a library with no front door. You can even test your hooks with our free views trial to see which clips pull before you commit to full episodes.
• Grow the audience first. Long-form rewards creators who already have people willing to watch for 20 minutes. Keep building your base — the free followers trial on our homepage is one honest way to kickstart that — so your first Features uploads land in front of real viewers, not an empty room.

Should you change your strategy today?

Not drastically — but directionally, yes. Do not pivot your whole account to 90-minute videos tomorrow; the format is in limited testing and could still change. Do start thinking in two lengths: the 30-second hook and the 30-minute deep dive. The creators who win the next phase of Instagram will be the ones who can do both, with Reels feeding long-form and long-form giving Reels something worth teasing.

Instagram spent five years training us to think short; Features is the first real sign it wants long again. The early-mover window is open now — it usually does not stay open long.