Meta expands Instagram for TV to Samsung smart TVs in the U.S., tests new ways to watch together

Meta is widening access to Instagram for TV, bringing the platform to Samsung smart TVs across the United States and setting up additional tests intended to make social viewing feel more natural in the living room. The company said the app, which began rolling out as a new TV experience last year, is now available on Samsung sets starting with 2020 model-year devices.

In the release, Meta framed Instagram for TV as a way for viewers to “connect around what they’re watching,” reflecting feedback that the service is often used as a shared activity. The company described households passing remotes, swapping recommendations in real time, and catching up with creators together, as it tries to translate Instagram’s social features onto a large screen.

Meta also said it is testing new features that are designed to help people discover videos together, pick up where they left off, and share what they’re watching with others in the room. While the post did not enumerate specific interface changes, it emphasized that the trials are focused on improving how people collaborate around content, rather than just watching it passively.

The company’s rollout matters because connected TV remains a crowded battleground for social video experiences. Meta’s approach is to extend Instagram’s core behaviors, like discovery and creator engagement, into TV-first formats. Meta said Instagram for TV is now available across the majority of connected TV devices in the U.S. when combined with availability on Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.

Meta’s release underscored that watching on TV differs from watching on a phone, and that it is still learning what Instagram should look like on the biggest screen in the home. The company said it is exploring more living-room-specific formats and wants to “start rolling them out soon,” as it continues to gather feedback from its community.

One area Meta highlighted is the role of creators in shaping Instagram for TV. The company said it is working with creators as it explores longer-form, episodic, and live formats, aiming to understand what works best on TV and how those experiences can complement the ways people already use Instagram.

Although the announcement does not specify what longer-form or live elements will look like, it indicates an intent to treat TV viewing as more than a replay surface for short clips. By naming episodic and live formats, Meta is pointing toward programming structures that may encourage repeat viewing and real-time interaction, two dynamics that can be hard to reproduce on conventional social feeds.

Meta also characterized Instagram for TV as still early in its development, saying it is in the “early stages of understanding what social video looks like on TV.” It added that, even as it has advanced since initial tests, it expects to continue learning from the public while building what it called “new ways for people to connect around the content they love.”

What’s unclear from the current update is the exact scope and timeline of the “formats we’re exploring” beyond longer-form, episodic, and live categories, as well as the specific new features being tested for discovery and sharing on TV. Meta did not provide dates for broader rollouts of those formats, nor did it give details on which Samsung TV features are tied to which experiments.

For viewers and industry watchers, the next step is to watch for additional announcements on (1) which TV device capabilities Meta will pair with its testing, (2) whether Instagram for TV will add creator-led programming elements beyond the existing TV experience, and (3) how Meta measures engagement for social viewing in households where multiple people are watching at once.