How to use IGTV, the new Instagram app for watching and creating long-form videos

By Avery Hartmans

IGTV has arrived. 

Instagram announced its new long-form video app on Wednesday, which is a new way for influencers, celebrities, and anyone with an Instagram account to publish videos for their followers.

IGTV is specifically built for high-quality vertical video longer than 60 seconds. IGTV works as either a standalone iOS or Android app, or as an experience built directly into the main Instagram app. 

Instagram gambles on longer mobile videos as battle heats up with YouTube and Snapchat

The app is available now on the App Store and Google Play store, and if you’ve updated Instagram in the last 24 hours, you’ve likely noticed the new IGTV button within the app. 

So for anyone hoping to launch their video career, or just someone hoping to keep up with their favourite stars, here’s how to use IGTV:

Because IGTV and Instagram work closely together, you don’t have to create a separate IGTV login. As long as you’re logged into the main Instagram app, all you have to do is hit “Continue.”

This is the first thing you’ll see once you’re logged into IGTV. The app automatically pulls videos it thinks you’ll like under the “For You” tab.

The video in the background will autoplay, but don’t worry — the sound defaults to “off.”

When you want to peruse the available videos, just scroll through the tiles along the bottom.

Under the “Following” tab, you’ll be able to watch videos from creators you already follow on the main Instagram app. Under “Popular,” you’ll see trending videos from people you don’t follow.

The “Popular” tab is similar to the “Explore” tab on Instagram, and is Instagram’s way of helping you discover new people to follow.

When find a video you’d like to watch, just tap on the screen to remove the tiles and make your video full screen.

IGTV videos are built for vertical video, not horizontal. Even if you try to flip your phone to landscape view, the video will stay vertical.

Creators have the option to post links and more info along with their videos. To see that, tap on the video title at the top of the screen.

You can also like and comment on people’s videos in IGTV. Just tap the heart or comment button at the bottom of the video.

Instagram also added pre-set emoji reactions. You can just tap on an emoji and it will post it to the person’s video.

IGTV has a lot of the same sharing capabilities as Instagram. You can get a direct link to a video, or send it in a direct message on Instagram.

If you pause in the middle of a video, IGTV will remember where you left off. You can find the video again under the “Continue Watching” tab.

If you’re ready to start your own channel, just click on your profile picture wherever you see it appear. That will take you to your own landing page.

If you click the “+” button, you’ll be able to start uploading videos to IGTV.

You can’t record video inside the IGTV app — not yet, anyway. For now, when you go to add a video, it will pull it from your own camera roll.

But in Instagram’s own IGTV videos, text and images are overlaid on the video, and it looks pretty similar to Instagram Stories. This may be a hint that shooting and editing capabilities will be available in IGTV down the line.

And for anyone who doesn’t want to use the standalone IGTV app, the service lives inside the main Instagram app, too. Look for a small TV next to the direct messages button in the upper right corner.

IGTV is now available to download for iOS and Android devices, or through an update to the main Instagram app.

See Also:
Instagram taking on YouTube now people are watching long-form videos online
Instagram just declared war on YouTube with a new longform-video app
stagram just reached 1 billion users

Read the original article at Business Insider