After increasing the live stream duration to 4 hours last October, Instagram is making two practical changes to its livestreaming feature that creators are likely to appreciate. The changes include Practice mode and the ability to schedule livestreams. These two updates to IG Live are here months after the company publicly acknowledged it’s no longer a photo-sharing app.
Instagram Practice Mode and Live Scheduling
Instagram’s Practice mode is a new feature that helps you ensure you are not facing any technical issues before going live. When you are in Practice mode, Instagram won’t notify any of your followers. You can choose to go live by yourself or with others to practice and expand the audience when you are ready. This feature will be available soon on Instagram.
Another improvement to IG Live is live scheduling. Instagram says you can schedule your streams up to 90 days in advance. In addition, followers can choose to turn on reminders to get notified when the livestream happens. Instagram will notify you a day before and 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.
Unlike Practice mode, Instagram is currently rolling out live scheduling globally. If you are not seeing the feature just yet, make sure you have updated the app to the latest version available on Google Play Store or App Store.
Instagram is not the only platform to offer a live scheduling feature. YouTube has had the option to schedule livestream videos for years now. Meanwhile, the short video platform TikTok added live scheduling a few months back. Although Instagram is still catching up, it is closing the gap between popular Instagram alternatives.
