Instagram is Testing Scheduled Posts and Reels on its App

Instagram is testing a handy new feature that will let users schedule posts on the app.

A spokesperson for Instagram’s parent company Meta confirmed the new feature to Mashable on Wednesday, “We are testing the ability to schedule content with a percentage of our global community.”

Users can already schedule their Live videos up to 90 days in advance, but this new update will allow anyone to schedule their grid posts ahead of time. The change was first spotted by a few Instagram users who had the option to try it out.

According to a screenshot posted by Twitter user @WFBrother, Instagram’s in-built post-scheduling option will be added to the advanced options in the post composer flow of the app, with a new element that will enable to set a date and time for the post to go live.

This will reportedly enable users to schedule both regular posts and Reels on Instagram. However, there is no information on whether users will be able to schedule posts on Stories.

To schedule a post on Instagram, creators will first have to first upload their photo on Instagram. Once they have finished editing, tagging people, and adding a location to the post, they need to scroll down to the bottom of the app and click “advanced settings.”

This will give users the option to “schedule this post.” From there, they can choose the date and time and schedule a post.

According to Meta, not all users have the option to schedule posts through the app just yet as the feature is still being tested. If a user does not receive the option to schedule posts on Instagram but would like the ability to do so, third-party apps like Buffer can be used instead.

The ability to schedule posts is one of the most useful new features that Instagram has announced in recent months. Yesterday, it was revealed that Instagram is testing the ability to add songs to profiles.

Meanwhile last week, Instagram announced that it was testing new “Achievement” badges to incentivize creators to make Reels.

The news that Instagram is testing out “Achievements” badges come after internal documents revealed Instagram knows its TikTok-clone Reels is failing. According to the papers published internally at Meta in August that were seen by The Wall Street Journal, Reels have less than one-tenth of the engagement of TikTok videos, and that number is falling.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.