Instagram has launched IGTV, a new app that supports long-form vertical videos. IGTV has it’s own standalone app, but you can also launch IGTV from within the standard Instagram app. Continue reading to find out more about IGTV and how to get started using the app.For the viewer, IGTV starts playing as soon as you open the app. The app has four areas that you can explore: “For You,” “Following,” “Popular” and “Continue Watching.” You can also search for specific videos and creators, as well as like, comment, and send videos to friends in the section titled "Direct."Creators will be able to upload full screen vertical videos onto IGTV. Videos must be between 15 seconds and 10 minutes for most creators. Creators with larger channels and verified accounts can upload videos up to 60 minutes long. Longer videos will be required to upload from a computer. Videos must be in MP4 file format, and can’t exceed a file size of 650MB for videos shorter than 10 minutes. For videos up to 60 minutes long, the maximum file size is 5.4GB.Videos need to be uploaded as vertical (or Portrait) videos and not as landscape because they will display in vertical format only. The optimum aspect ratio varies between 4:5 and 9:16. It is possible to convert videos originally shot in landscape to portrait - if you have a video editor. We recommend using the mobile app by GoPro called Quik for this purpose. Quik is a free mobile app available for Android and iOS, and it allows you to convert landscape videos into portrait videos so you can upload them to IGTV. Before you upload videos to IGTV, you’ll need to create a channel first. You can create a channel through the IGTV standalone app, or through the regular Instagram App.To create a channel through the IGTV app, just follow these steps:
- Click settings and then click on “Create Channel”
- Some guidelines of the IGTV app will pop up, but just click on “Next” and then “Create Channel”
- The channel will be created automatically based on your Instagram handle name, and you’ll be able to access the channel through the regular Instagram app as well
To create an IGTV channel through the Instagram app, follow these steps:
- Download the latest version of Instagram on your phone
- Open the Instagram app, and click the IGTV icon on your homepage
- Then click the gear icon for “Settings”
- Click “Create Channel”, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Be sure to reach out to us if you have any questions on how to use IGTV.
