Quick definition
IGTV (Instagram TV) was Instagram’s standalone long-form vertical video app and feature, discontinued in 2022 and folded into Instagram video.
IGTV, short for Instagram TV, was a feature and standalone app that Instagram launched in 2018 for longer-form vertical video. It was created to give creators a home for content longer than the short clips the main feed allowed at the time, supporting videos up to an hour for larger accounts. IGTV had its own dedicated app and an in-app tab, and it leaned into full-screen vertical playback designed for mobile. Instagram positioned it as a rival to longer-form video platforms.
IGTV never achieved the traction Instagram hoped for, and as short-form video surged with the rise of Reels, the company reorganised its video products. In 2021 Instagram began merging IGTV and feed videos into a single “Instagram video” format, and in 2022 it retired the IGTV brand and standalone app entirely. Existing long-form videos were folded into the unified video experience. IGTV is therefore best understood as a discontinued feature whose function now lives inside Instagram’s general video and Reels ecosystem.
IGTV’s rise and retirement is a useful case study in how quickly platform features change. Creators who built heavily around IGTV had to migrate as the format was absorbed, a reminder not to anchor a whole strategy to a single feature a platform can rename or remove. The broader lesson is that vertical, mobile-first video remains central to Instagram — the format IGTV pioneered persists even though the brand does not. Today that energy lives in Reels and standard Instagram video.
Where SocialKit fits
Though IGTV is retired, SocialKit still schedules Instagram video, Reels, and Stories — plus 10 other platforms — from a single content calendar.
€0.00 due today · cancel anytime · 7-day money-back guarantee
FAQ
Quick answers to the questions people ask most about this term.
SocialKit posts to all 11 platforms from one calendar and tracks how every post performs, so the numbers explain themselves. Try it free for 7 days.
€0.00 due today · cancel anytime · 7-day money-back guarantee