Facebook becomes more like Instagram in major update as Meta tries to reboot its flagship app

Meta has launched a host of changes to Facebook as it attempts to reboot its flagship app.

While the Facebook app remains popular, it has lost much of its place in the public and cultural conversation that it once had and which is still held by other Meta apps such as Instagram. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said explicitly that he is aiming to make the app “culturally influential” in the way that it once was.

Now, Facebook has launched a host of changes that appear to be inspired by Instagram and seem focused on bringing people back to that app.

They include a new look for the feed that will make posts easier to look and at and find. They also include options more directly borrowed from Instagram, such as making it easy to tap a photo and see it full screen, or double tap a picture to like it.

The app itself will undergo a redesign to make it easier to find the most popular features – such as Reels and Marketplace – in the tab bar at the bottom of the screen. That too echoes Instagram.

Facebook will also make it easier for people to post. Just as with Instagram, users can click to add a post to stories or the feed and quickly add music or tag friends.

“These improvements are just the beginning in making Facebook less cluttered and easier to use, so you can focus on the people and interests you care the most about,” the company said in its announcement, in which it also suggested that more new features and changes would come next year.