Instagram, the social media giant, announced on Monday that it would be discontinuing its standalone IGTV app. According to recent reports, Instagram’s Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps have vanished from the Apple and Google app stores.
Several reports, including those from social media guru Matt Navarra, Techcrunch, and Twitter users KenSchillinger and WFBrother, indicate that the apps were suddenly removed from the stores. The Layout app, on the other hand, is still available on the platform.
In a statement to Engadget, Instagram’s parent company Meta explained that the social media platform wants to “better focus” on its main app, claiming, “We’ve removed support for the standalone Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps to better focus our efforts on the main app. We will continue working on new ways for people to be creative and have fun on Instagram.”
According to Apptopia, a data intelligence platform, the apps were removed from the store sometime after March 1st. Boomerang, which was launched in 2015, had a relatively higher number of downloads, an average of 26,000 per day, before it was removed.
Boomerang and Hyperlapse are still available through Instagram’s built-in camera options. With the social media platform focusing more on competing with rivals such as Snapchat and TikTok, standalone applications made little sense in the long run.
The move is also consistent with Instagram’s strategy of saving users from having to juggle multiple applications in order to create a single post on the platform.
To read our blog on “In Europe, Meta has threatened to shut down Facebook and Instagram,” click here.
