Instagram seems to have messed up the Boomerang feature with the latest update by making it much shorter than the usual duration. In fact, the Boomerang duration seems to be under a second, making it impossible to use the feature for anything one could use it for before the update.
I’ve added a few reports from users for reference:
I’m a serial boomerang user and now they’ve shorten how long they will be. I tried on another phone and I uninstalled then reinstalled my app just to see if it was a issue with the app and it’s not. (Source)
instagram boomerangs is trippinnnn😂😂 they goin fast asff (Source)
what the f*** do instagram have going on with this new short boomerang 🤬🤬 (Source)
@instagram…This new boomerang feature is trash (Source)
Most users want Instagram to bring back the previous Boomerang duration ASAP. With the current duration, as soon as you tap the record button, the Boomerang is completed. Thus, you can only see a few frames, which makes it difficult for creators to record anything worthwhile.
Since users haven’t mentioned whether they’re using an Android or iOS device, I ran a small test myself to see if I could replicate the issue. I installed the latest Instagram update on an iPhone 13 and an Infinix GT 20 Pro, as version 347.2.0 and version 347.3.0 respectively.
This new shortened Boomerang duration was only noticeable on the iPhone. The Android device retained the usual duration of Boomerangs. Thus, it’s possible that the issue (or intentional change), is currently affecting only the Instagram app for iOS.
Instagram is yet to release any official statement on the matter. So there’s a chance that this might not actually be an intentional change, but just a bug that managed to slip through the cracks. I’d suggest keeping an eye out for any further updates for the Instagram app.
Uninstalling and reinstalling the Instagram app does not fix the problem, at least in my brief testing. Furthermore, I haven’t come across any potential workarounds shared by users. We’ll just have to wait for Instagram to resolve the problem, or consider the negative feedback regarding the change and revert it.