The Reason You Don't Get New Instagram Features At The Same Time As Everyone Else

At the height of the pandemic lockdowns, Instagram surprisingly introduced Reels, a feature that allows users to create short, vertical clips they can pepper with filters, special effects, and music for sharing on the platform. It's kind of like TikTok but with less controversy. While Instagram announced the feature in August 2020, many were not able to access it until several months later. Out of frustration, some even took to Reddit to question why Instagram was seemingly limiting the rollout of Reels to certain accounts. If you had the same experience five years ago, or if you are still experiencing the same thing with every new Instagram update, there's a good explanation for why this keeps happening. Apparently, instead of launching updates for all accounts at the same time, Instagram prefers to do phased rollouts.

The platform gradually pushes out updates to small groups of users across different regions first to test how new features perform and how well they are received before making them widely available. This is not something new in the tech world, with almost every app, game, program, and software company relying on this approach to catch bugs, collect initial feedback, and monitor performance issues without affecting the entire user base all at once. For a big platform like Instagram, which has over 2 billion active users as of 2025, the staggered release of updates helps ensure that when new Instagram features finally arrive on everyone's phones, they are stable and optimized for widespread use.

In addition to phased rollouts, other factors may come into play with each feature release from Instagram. Regional regulations and restrictions, as well as data privacy laws, may slow things down in certain regions, especially in places with strict legal requirements for access to user data, advertising tools, and more sophisticated technologies, like the ever-evolving use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Another reason is device compatibility. Considering not everyone uses the same device to access Instagram, there is always a delay in rollout for some operating systems and platforms with stringent rules about in-app purchases and services, and those with hardware restrictions.

It's also worth noting that older smartphones and outdated versions of Android or iOS may not even receive the latest updates due to incompatibility. After all, Instagram and its parent company Meta, as well as almost every other tech company out there, develop new features with newer operating systems in mind. It's also possible for these companies to simply bring tweaked or toned-down versions of the new features at a later time for older devices. Finally, as with other tech companies, Instagram conducts beta testing with select users to gauge user behavior and response toward new features. If you are not part of this group, it doesn't mean that you'll never be able to access these features. You simply have to wait until they exit beta and become available to all.