Instagram officially last week confirmed its plans to remove the IGTV app, and will focus on other initiatives, such as Reels. However, Instagram has made another surprise, confirming that it will be “removing” two of its old apps from the app store.
Yes! Instagram will be removing the timelapse video app Hyperlapse, which first launched in 2014, and the looping video app Boomerang, which launched in 2015. According to data provided to TechCrunch by Apptopia, the last day for Hyperlapse and Boomerang in the app store will be March 1, 2022.
Of the two applications, Boomerang has the larger installation or installation base. Apptopia data shows that Boomerang has been downloaded 301 million times, while Hyperlapse has recorded only 23 million times.
In addition, Boomerang also still has an average of 26,000 downloads per day at the time of removal. However, Boomerang has a large installation base not without reason. The reason is, Boomerang can be found on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Meanwhile, the Hyperlapse app is only available on the Apple App Store.
Instagram did not make an official announcement about the deletion on its blog. However, several people have taken to Twitter, including well-known social media consultant Matt Navarra, and Twitter users @KenSchillinger and @WFBrother.
It’s no surprise to see these two apps turned off. Initially, the two apps were presented as a way to give users new creative tools without hampering the main app, Instagram. But Instagram’s worries about this are long gone.
Today, Instagram offers access to photo and video posts, Stories, short video content such as TikTok (Reels), live videos, online shopping, limited-time products, and more. In fact, there is now so much going on inside the Instagram app.
Meanwhile, the need for special creative effects applications no longer makes sense, because Instagram has now integrated its set of creative tools directly into the Instagram camera. For example, when Instagram rolls out new Boomerang effects — like SloMo, Echo, and Duo — it’s done right on Instagram itself.
And now, when Instagram wants users to get creative with videos, they’ve added a feature called Reels. Plus, as Instagram said when confirming the closure of IGTV, it now wants to make videos as simple as possible to find and create from within its main app.
While Hyperlapse and Boomerang have been pulled from the app store, Layout, which lets users organize photos into collages, remains available for now. Instagram has confirmed that it will not be removing Layouts and that the Boomerang feature will continue to be supported in the app.
“We have removed support for the Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps. This is in our efforts to focus more on the main application,” said an Instagram spokesperson. “We will continue to develop new ways for people to be creative and have fun on Instagram,” they added.
