A recent update from Instagram is set to enhance the user experience by eliminating a feature that many found frustrating. The company's leadership has announced a significant change aimed at creating a smoother browsing process. Users will now find that the feed does not refresh automatically the moment the app is reopened after a brief pause, which allows them to more easily view the posts that originally appeared on their screens. This adjustment follows the company's practice of optimizing resource allocation for content that attracts a larger audience, which has involved reducing the quality of less popular stories and Reels.
In a recent session on social media, Instagram's lead, Adam Mosseri, addressed a question regarding an update that many users were unaware of. He explained that the platform has eliminated an internal function known as a "rug pull"—a feature that caused the feed to refresh automatically whenever the app was accessed. This was primarily intended to enhance content loading by showing previously downloaded posts and videos before the new content was fully available.
As Mosseri acknowledged, although the intention behind this feature was to boost user interaction, many found it to be quite frustrating. Viewers often noticed that interesting posts would disappear as the feed refreshed, resulting in the need to manually scroll to rediscover engaging content. Fortunately, this hassle is now relegated to history, subsequent to the confirmation of this update.
Now, instead of automatically refreshing, the app will allow for content to be preloaded without making it visible until the user scrolls. This means any newly retrieved posts will simply be added beneath the currently visible ones. While this adjustment may result in a temporary dip in engagement metrics for Instagram, it is expected to significantly improve the experience for everyday users.