BSH NEWS Instagram Removes Lower Daily Limit Options; Users May Use The App More

According to a report from TechCrunch, Instagram is removing several app time limit choices and pushing users to adjust their settings. Users could previously set a daily time limit as low as five minutes, but the new options start at 30 minutes and run up to three hours.

This daily time restriction setting sends a warning to the user when their app activity reaches the set limit, reminding them to be mindful of how much time they spend on the app – and possibly making it easier for them to choose to exit the app freely.

Instagram Introduces New Daily Limit Values

However, it appears that the heed ad tech firm now wants Instagram users to spend more time scrolling through content streams on the photo- and video-sharing platform so that it can target them with adverts. This could be due to pressure from the business side to squeeze out every last drop of profit.

A popup now appears at the top of an Instagram user’s feed, prompting them to select a new daily limit value in accordance with an app update, according to screenshots given to TechCrunch by an Instagram user who had previously set a 10-minute daily restriction.

Despite the fact that the popup states that the user can keep their current limit, selecting the edit button prompts them to choose from a list of preset options, the shortest of which is 30 minutes. The 10-minute figure is “no longer supported,” according to a popup on the app’s activity tab.

BSH NEWS Users Can Now Switch Off Their Instagram’s Daily Limit

According to customers, the app has been sending reminders to modify the setting for several weeks, and they were only able to avoid selecting a new limit by force quitting the program.

In 2018, Instagram introduced the ability to set daily time restrictions, with company spokespeople stating that they wanted users to spend their time on the platform wisely. Time limits were implemented in response to concerns that tech companies had received regarding the impact their products had on users’ well-being.

This commitment to user empowerment appears to be a contrast with the app’s choice to remove shorter time limits. “You know what’s best for you when it comes to how you use the app,” Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said in November when the “Take a Break” function was under testing.

Instagram’s Non-Justifiable Change

For most Instagram users, a slightly longer time limit is unlikely to be a deal-breaker. However, this shift suggests that Instagram is more concerned with users not spending enough time on the network than with ensuring that their time is spent well.

Take A Break offers a significantly more staged and controlled version of the concept of a usage restriction than a basic setting that warns users when their app usage reaches their self-configured limit and perhaps offers them a single, huge red button to ‘Close App’.

At first glance, it appears that this is primarily intended to persuade the user to return to the comfort of passive scrolling in the app, thanks to a curated list of alternative suggestions presented in bolder, darker text (rather than just a faint grey text suggesting they “take a moment to reset by closing Instagram”).

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Story first published: Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 17:27 [IST]