Instagram Rolls Out Picture-in-Picture (PiP) for Reels to More Users for Multitasking Viewing
Lindsey Gamble
Instagram is rolling out Picture-in-Picture (PiP) for Reels to more users, including my account.The platform has been testing PiP for some time, with the feature appearing as far back as August 2025 and resurfacing more recently in March.
When watching a Reel and tapping the three-dot menu, users will see a Picture-in-Picture toggle above the Auto Scroll option. Turning it on allows the Reel to continue playing in a floating window after leaving Instagram.
How Instagram's Picture-in-Picture Feature Works
With PiP enabled, Reels continue playing in a floating window while users navigate to other apps, check messages, browse the web, or complete other tasks on their devices. Rather than requiring users to stay inside Instagram to finish watching a video, the feature allows content consumption to continue in the background.
What Picture-in-Picture Means for Creators and Watch Time
PiP could help drive higher retention and watch time, particularly for longer videos and multi-part content—areas Instagram is already leaning into through its recent testing of a Series feature. As multitasking becomes increasingly common, users can continue watching a Reel while using other apps, reducing the likelihood of abandoning content before it is finished.
While this may result in more passive viewing, it could still contribute to higher completion rates and stronger engagement metrics for creators publishing longer-form Reels.
Social Platforms Continue Expanding Viewer Controls
The addition of PiP expands Instagram's growing suite of viewer controls. The feature joins options such as Auto Scroll and View Fullscreen, giving users more flexibility in how they consume content and further personalizing the viewing experience.
Instagram's PiP rollout follows similar efforts from YouTube and TikTok, which have introduced their own forms of flexible playback. As platforms compete for attention and watch time, features that support multitasking are becoming increasingly important for keeping viewers engaged across longer viewing sessions.
