Reels Camera Updates: Enhanced Features on Instagram

Quick Summary

• New Features: Instagram has updated the Reels camera to enhance usability and editing.
• Recording Time: Users can now record videos for up to 20 minutes, providing more storytelling options.
• Editing Tools: The app includes a simplified “Undo” feature and a new slider for the “Touch-Up” element.
• Short Clips Preference: Instagram continues to recommend Reels under 3 minutes for better engagement.

Instagram is rolling out some new updates for the Reels camera, which will make it easier to capture and edit your clips in-stream, for on-the-go posting.

Also, you can now capture longer videos via the camera, with 20-minute recording now available in-stream.

As explained by IG:

“The Instagram Design Team has been hard at work addressing your feedback and identifying key areas for improvement, in collaboration with our product and research teams. From customizable touch-ups to longer Reels, our new camera has better usability and new features to help you create your next Reel.”

The biggest update here is the 20-minute recording extension, which Instagram says “allows for more creative freedom and longer storytelling.”

Though you may want to consider if it’s worth recording longer clips, given Instagram’s emphasis on shorter Reels in the app.

Instagram has repeatedly stated that it will only recommend Reels that are under 3 minutes in length. So while you can post longer videos, their distribution will be limited, due to Instagram’s preference for short videos, which are what’s driving all of its engagement gains.

But if you need to post a longer clip, you can, while you can also create longer clips in IG’s separate Edits app.

Instagram’s also making it easier to edit multiple clips, with a simplified “Undo” option to remove your last clips from your project.

It’s also added a new slider to control the intensity of the “Touch-Up” element, so you can better manage your video edits, updated its green screen experience, and improved the time and countdown tools at your disposal.

So a range of tweaks and updates, designed to make it easier to create and edit your Reels within the app.

Though for more specific edits, you can also refer to the Edits app, which has a heap more tools and options to help you customize and create video clips.