Instagram has launched a Watch History feature enabling users to revisit Reels they previously watched, modeled after YouTube’s equivalent. The tool appears in the app’s settings menu and supports filtering by date, range, or author on Android and iOS devices.
Access the feature by navigating to the Profile tab, tapping the three-line menu in the top-right corner, and selecting Settings > Your activity > Watch history. It resides under the “How you use Instagram” tab, providing structured options to locate past content. By default, the interface displays Reels viewed within the past 30 days. Users retain control by selecting and removing individual entries from the list.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri explained that the functionality allows filtering Reels based on a specific date or date range, alongside searching for content shared by a particular account. This setup addresses the challenge of rediscovering viewed videos amid the platform’s vast volume of short-form content.
The interface includes three dedicated tabs for refined navigation. The first tab facilitates sorting options, arranging Reels from oldest to newest or vice versa. This chronological ordering aids users in tracing their viewing timeline systematically.
The second tab expands date-based filtering capabilities. Options encompass All dates as the default setting, Past week for recent activity, Past month to cover the initial default period, and a custom date range. Selecting a specific period lets users target Reels watched exclusively during that timeframe, narrowing results to match precise recall.
The third tab focuses on authorship, permitting searches by the original account that shared the Reel. This author-specific search streamlines discovery when users remember the creator but not the exact timing or other details.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri highlighted the practical value, stating, “So, now hopefully you can find that thing that you were trying to find that you couldn’t find before.” The feature responds to user requests for better content retrieval tools.
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