Instagram is testing a ‘Take a Break’ feature from non-stop scrolling

Instagram is working on a new feature, which helps people take a quick break from the social media platform. The company is calling this feature “Take a Break,” in which one can take a brief hiatus after spending a certain amount of time on the app. The feature has been announced by the company’s head Adam Mosseri to prevent Instagram addiction.

The update comes at a time when several media reports have revealed that Meta’s own research shows that it is aware that its apps are addictive for users. Instagram in particular with its numerous and unending Stories can be very addictive for most users.

This feature won’t be enabled by default and users will have to turn it on to receive in-app reminders to take a break from the Instagram app after continuously using it for 10, 20, or 30 minutes.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has also posted a short video on Twitter, where he explains that the new feature is being developed with a “broader effort to try and give people more control over their experience of Instagram.” He also asserted that Instagram users will see more features like this in the near future.

Instagram has reportedly worked with some third-party experts to test this new “Take a Break” feature, which will be released to a small percentage of users in the coming days. The social media platform could launch this feature for all the users in the coming months if the testing goes smoothly.

Apart from this, Instagram is also reportedly planning to launch a new subscription feature, which will help creators and influencers earn money, according to a report published by TechCrunch. This is not surprising as Instagram’s head Adam Mossier earlier this year announced that the company was exploring subscriptions for its users.

A recent TechCrunch report suggested that users will see a new “Instagram Subscriptions” category under the “In-App Purchases” section for the Instagram App Store listing. Instagram Subscriptions are reportedly priced at $1.20 per month. It should be noted that the feature is currently not visible to everyone and this might not be the final price when the service is officially rolled out for everyone.