# Keep your Reels while Instagram tests long videos > Instagram is testing long horizontal videos in the US. Indian shops should keep Reels and carousels, and only film a longer clip they can cut down. - Canonical: https://www.pixipie.com/blog/instagram-features-long-video-test-for-indian-shops - Author: Ananya Desai - Published: 2026-10-27 - Updated: 2026-10-27 - Category: Guides - Tags: instagram, reels, small-business, video Pixipie is an AI marketing platform for growing businesses that helps you plan, create, automate, and publish social content—and reply to Google reviews—from one dashboard. Instagram is testing long horizontal videos. That is not an order for your shop to stop posting Reels. On 26 October 2026, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and product lead Tessa Lyons announced a format called Features: widescreen videos that can run as long as 90 minutes. [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/tech/1018688/instagram-longform-widescreen-video-features-youtube) reported that the test is expanding to a small group of creators in the United States, after some creators in Brazil. [Variety](https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/instagram-videos-90-minutes-apple-tv-not-paying-creators-1236931293/) and [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/instagram-tests-90-minute-videos-podcasters-creators-1236739929/) described the same launch. Pixipie is an AI marketing platform for growing businesses that helps you plan, create, automate, and publish social content—and reply to Google reviews—from one dashboard. This note is the shop-floor version: what changed, what did not, and what to film before the weekend. ## What Instagram actually announced Features are horizontal videos aimed at podcasts, interviews, and longer creator shows. A short Reel can point at the full video, so a clip is a door into the longer piece rather than a separate product. The videos can show in the feed and on Explore for people in the test. Instagram is also pushing its TV app, including Apple TV in the United States, so those long videos have a big screen. Mosseri has said he resisted long video for a long time because a half-hour watch replaces a lot of Reels, photos, and carousels someone might have sent to a friend. The new bet is that short clips and long videos can work together. That is a creator-product decision. It is not a promise that a neighbourhood salon will be invited into the test this week. Variety's rundown of the announcement also describes Series, a home for episodic Reels on a profile, as a limited test that has included some creators in the United States, India, and Mexico, with a wider country rollout planned through the end of 2026. Treat that as a report of Instagram's own briefing, not as a button you should already see on every Indian business account. If Series is not on your profile, you do not have it. ## What is not live for an Indian shop Do not rebuild the week around a 90-minute upload. The Features test is small, and the public description puts the new US slice with selected creators, not with every Instagram professional account in India. Apple TV playback is a viewing change for people in the US who already use Instagram on a television. Your customer in Jaipur is still on a phone. There is also no reason to expect a new payout. Coverage of the announcement says Instagram is not sharing advertising revenue from Features with creators in this test. A clinic does not get a cheque because a podcast format exists in another country. Judge the week by whether someone messages, calls, or walks in. Pixipie does not publish Instagram Features, and it does not publish to Apple TV. Publishing stays Facebook Pages, Instagram professional accounts, and LinkedIn. Google Business Profile support is for review replies, not a video feed. If a caption says "watch the full episode on our Feature," and you cannot open that Feature on the phone you use at the counter, delete the line before you approve. ## Why short Reels still do the job Your customer does not owe you 20 minutes. They are between a school pickup and a WhatsApp from the supplier. A Reel that shows the result, names the area, and says how to book still matches that moment. A carousel that saves the steps still matches it. Those formats were not withdrawn on 26 October. Mosseri's own worry is useful here. Long video can crowd out the posts people actually send to a friend. A saved "what to bring" carousel and a 20-second Reel of the finished colour are sendable. A 40-minute tour of the shop is not, unless the person already planned to watch. Keep the sendable piece as the default. The longer cut is optional, and only after the short one exists. If you want a format check that is already about saves rather than a new video type, use the habit in [educational carousels that get saved](/blog/educational-carousels-that-get-saved). Measure the week the same way as [DMs, saves, and bookings](/blog/measure-dms-saves-bookings-not-likes). Do not invent a reach number for a test you are not in. ## A clip you can cut, not a show you cannot finish Pick one true process you already explain at the counter. Film it once, phone vertical, with the sound of the shop if that sound is honest. Then cut. A salon can film the last two minutes of a blow-dry: the shape, the product you actually used, and the line "message us on the number in the bio if you want Thursday." From that, take one Reel. If you also kept a wider horizontal take of you explaining aftercare, store it. Do not post the horizontal file as if Features were open on your account. Post the Reel. The horizontal file is raw material for the day Instagram offers the format to businesses like yours. A dental clinic can film "what to bring to a first visit" in under 40 seconds: the card, the previous prescription, and the arrival time. That is the post. A 15-minute chair-side lecture is how you talk to the patient in the room, not how you fill Tuesday on Instagram. A restaurant can film today's thali or the dish you will still have at 7 pm. Say the area and whether you deliver or only serve in the room. A 90-minute kitchen documentary does not sell tonight's plates. One Reel and a Facebook caption with the same hours does. If the longer explanation is genuinely useful, cut three or four short clips from it and schedule those. Variety described a test where up to eight clips can point at one long video. You can practise the clip habit now without the long video being public. Each clip still needs a fact you can stand behind: price, time, locality, and who answers. ## What to schedule this week Keep a small plan. You do not need a new channel. - One Reel that shows the work, with the city or neighbourhood in the caption. - One carousel or photo with a real constraint: hours, what is sold out, what to book. - One Facebook post that repeats the same fact in plainer language. Do not write a second, contradictory offer. - LinkedIn only if you already answer it. A restaurant that lives on walk-ins can skip it this week. - Google review replies if reviews are waiting. That work is separate from the feed. Put the posts on the [Content Planner](/features/content-planner) so the week is visible when the shop is open. Draft the caption in the [AI Post Creator](/features/ai-post-creator) with a brief that names the format: "Instagram Reel, 30 seconds, Pune salon, no discount, WhatsApp only if staff will answer." If you run a 14-day push, keep the same rule inside [AI campaigns](/features/ai-campaigns): short proof, not a fake series premiere. ## How to review before it goes out Read the caption out loud at the counter. Check four things. The price or "no offer today" matches the till. The hours match the door and the Google profile. The neighbourhood is the one you actually serve. The next step is a phone, WhatsApp, or walk-in that a person will answer. If the caption mentions a long video, a TV app, or a payout, remove it unless you can open that exact video on your own phone. Look at the picture. If it is an AI image, it still has to look like your shop, your plate, or your chair. A glossy room you do not have is a false ad, whether or not Instagram is arguing about AI slop this month. The [image review checklist](/blog/review-checklist-ai-generated-marketing-images) is the pass-fail for that, and it did not change because a US creator test launched. ## Where Pixipie fits Connect the Instagram professional account you already post from. The connection steps are in the [Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn guide](/resources/pixipie-facebook-instagram-linkedin-integrations). You review the draft, then it can go out. Pixipie will not turn a Reel into a Feature, and it will not place your video on Apple TV. Salons and local services can start from the [salon and local services guide](/resources/social-media-for-salons-and-local-services) and keep this week's posts inside that scope. If you are choosing a plan, use the live numbers on [pricing](/pricing). Do not budget for a video studio because of a test you may never be offered. ## What to ignore until Instagram says otherwise Ignore advice that tells every small business to become a podcast this week. Ignore anyone who treats Apple TV as a local marketing channel. Ignore a promise that long video will "blow up" reach. Instagram did not publish a reach guarantee, and a test with selected creators is not a result for your account. Watch for a later note from Instagram that Features or Series is actually available on business accounts in India. Until that note is specific, the useful move is the one you can finish between customers: one honest Reel, one matching Facebook line, and a reply path that is staffed. That is the post. The 90-minute show can wait.