Facebook Tests New Interface Prioritizing Reels
Meta is testing a major change in how the Facebook app displays content, opening the app directly to a full-screen Reels video feed instead of the traditional News Feed, a move that reflects the company’s growing focus on short-form video content.
Meta is currently conducting the test in India, where some users open the app and find themselves immediately presented with the Reels feed from the very first moment, rather than the usual home page that displays text posts, images, and videos within the News Feed.
This test is part of Meta’s broader strategy to build a video-first experience in markets where users spend a significant portion of their time watching short videos.
India is an ideal market for this experiment, with over 400 million Facebook users. According to a report published by Android Headlines, young users spend approximately 60% of their time on the platform watching videos.
Earlier this year, Tom Allison, head of Facebook, hinted at the company’s shift toward a more video-centric experience, emphasizing the goal of making video viewing an integral part of platform usage.
Under the new design, users no longer need to manually navigate to the Reels section to start watching videos; short videos become the first thing they see when launching the app.
This represents a clear departure from Facebook’s traditional approach, which for years began with the News Feed, aggregating posts from friends, pages, groups, and various types of content on a single screen.
Despite the significant change, Meta is not fully imposing the new interface on all test participants.
Users who see the new experience receive a notification explaining that Reels is now at the forefront of the app, with an option to disable this design through settings that include a toggle switch to revert to the traditional interface.
Users who choose to continue with the new design will find the traditional News Feed available in a secondary tab, accessible when needed.
This step indicates that Meta still treats the new interface as an ongoing experiment rather than a permanent change to how Facebook is used.
The new focus on Reels does not come out of nowhere. Meta has been working for years to redirect its platforms toward short-form video in an attempt to compete with the immense popularity of platforms like TikTok.
In recent months, the company has taken several steps in this direction, including treating nearly all new videos as Reels and renaming the main Video tab on Facebook.
Meta has also conducted similar experiments on Instagram, including tests that open the app directly to video content in markets such as India and South Korea.
97% of users watch videos daily: Usage data in India highlights the reasons behind Meta’s interest in transforming Facebook into a video-centric experience.
According to internal company surveys, 97% of users watch video content on Meta apps daily, while 89% of Gen Z users watch Reels every day.
This high level of video usage has also reflected in Facebook’s business performance in the Indian market. Strong growth in local activity contributed to a 28% increase in Facebook’s profits in India during the 2025 fiscal year.
Meta is betting that making video the first thing users see could help it increase the time people spend in the app, thereby boosting opportunities to show more ads and improving returns from video content.
So far, the new interface experience remains limited to India, with no indication that Meta will make Reels the default interface for all Facebook users worldwide at this time.
The company is monitoring user engagement in India with the new design before deciding whether to expand the test. If the results are positive, the experiment could roll out to other markets, including the United States, next year.
While the traditional news feed remains available as a secondary option, the test reflects a broader shift in Meta’s strategy: rather than video being just one type of content on Facebook, it may become the primary gateway through which users access the platform.
