After noting that it was exploring picture-in-picture (PiP) playback for Instagram Reels back in March, Instagram has now moved to live testing of its new PiP option, which will enable users to continue watching Reels outside the app.

As you can see in these examples, posted by app researcher Radu Oncescu, Instagram is prompting some users to try out the new picture-in-picture option, while there’s also a new toggle for PiP in the playback settings.

To be clear, this is PiP related to video playback, not creation. There are ways to create PiP type videos within IG, but this is a functional option for viewing content, not creating it.

Both TikTok and YouTube already offer PiP functionality, which gives users another way to expand their content viewing beyond the app and can be a good way to continue watching while multitasking. Given the attention spans of modern audiences, this is probably a significant addition, and considering that it is already available in these other apps, it makes sense for IG to follow suit.  

As noted, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri was asked about the possibility of a PiP option back in March, as part of his weekly Q&A session. Mosseri said that he would look into it, and clearly, that has led to the development of the functionality.

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It could help you increase retention rates and get more people watching longer clips, as they’ll be able to switch them to, essentially, background play as they do something else.

Or maybe it’ll just be a handy option for viewing TikTok. Either way, IG’s PiP option looks to be coming soon, and testing is now underway with some users.

Instagram has confirmed to SMT that it is currently testing this with a small number of users.

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