In some instances, you may notice that one of your Instagram accounts lacks features that other profiles have. Well, there’s nothing to panic about. The sections in this guide explain why this happens and how to get all the options on your Insta ID if they are available.
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Why Is One of My Instagram Accounts Not Updated
If your Instagram account doesn’t have new features as Meta claims, there could be several reasons for you not getting an update. Usually, the availability of Instagram features is on a per-profile basis, and yours may or may not be eligible for what you’re looking for.
Your profile’s eligibility for receiving an Instagram update can be divided into two categories, namely:
- Static Attributes of Your Profile: Something you can’t do anything about
- Dynamic Attributes of Your Profile: Things that dynamically change as you use your Instagram account
Detailed explanations of both these categories are as follows:
Static Attributes
As the name suggests, the Static Attributes of your Instagram account remain stable, and you can’t do anything about them. Although you can use some tweaks and workarounds, they might not last long, and someday you will have to drop the idea of using them over the performance of your device.
Static Attributes of your Instagram profile include:
- App Version
This one is obvious. You might be using an older version of the app, and the newer instance may not be available for your Android or iOS device yet. In such a situation, you must wait for your turn and hope Instagram expedites the process. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on App Store (for iOS) and Play Store (for Android) to see if an updated version of the app is there for you.
- Geolocation
Sometimes, the feature you’re looking for may not be available for your region. This could be due to your country’s Government policies, Instagram’s policies that don’t allow people of your geolocation to access those options, or Instagram hasn’t yet rolled out the update for your area, but it is in the pipeline. In most cases, it’s the third option preventing people from enjoying new features in the early stages. When this happens, you must remain patient and wait while the updates reach your profile.
- Account Type
Your Instagram account may not be entitled to receive some updates because of your profile type. For instance, if you have a personal Instagram account, you will not see ‘Instagram Insights’ or ‘Instagram Shopping’ options as they are exclusive to business accounts. As you understand the fact, you can either change your account type or continue using ID with the limited features, as Instagram believes you won’t need them anyway.
- Manual Configuration
Instagram keeps some features disabled by default, assuming they are not mandatory and may cause a distraction while using the app. If you want to use those options, you must turn them on manually.
Note: Explaining the process of enabling all the disabled features is beyond the scope of this guide. Nevertheless, a quick online search would redirect you to the exact Instagram help page where you can learn how to get the job done.
- Verification
Many Instagram features are available only for privileged accounts, typically the verified ones with a blue tick. If you have a regular profile, your instance of the app may not have those options, and you must work hard on your profile to earn that blue ‘crown’.
- Guidelines Violations
Ethics say you must carefully read Instagram guidelines before using the social media platform. However, more than 95 percent of users act otherwise. As a result, they unintentionally violate the portal’s guidelines, getting themselves into trouble.
While Instagram strongly advises you to adhere to its policies, it allows some relaxation when you fail. Therefore, instead of barring you from using the program altogether, it prohibits you from accessing some options by disabling them for your account. If you haven’t used those features before, the changes may remain transparent to you, and you’ll realize the effect when you try to enable or access them for the first time.
When this happens, on your part, you can take a lesson from this and try to play safe in the future. You may expect to get everything back to normal after some days.
The above list contains points that could be static to your profile, and you cannot modify them unless you make a drastic change, e.g., migrating to a different country or changing your account type.
Dynamic Attributes
These are fluctuating attributes. The modifications depend on how you use your Instagram account and what ethics or social media culture you are practicing.
Note: Depending on the feature you’re looking for, some relevant dynamic attributes may sound or are correlated to static ones.
Dynamic Attributes of your Instagram profile include:
- Indexing
Instagram maintains a virtual index list where it places each profile according to its activities and how its owner manages it. If you’re not a social media person, you must read some blogs to learn how to use online platforms to gain social respect and increase your followers.
As you get smarter, Instagram puts your profile at a higher position in its index, allowing you to use more features that were otherwise disabled for your account.
- Organic Delays
When Instagram develops a new feature, it passes the program through multiple assessment phases to ensure its integrity and check if the addon can run without causing any conflict with the existing options. During this process, it rolls out the update for selective profiles based on their activities, account type, geographical location, etc.
Once the new feature qualifies in all the tests, Instagram gradually releases it to the masses. Now, depending on your profile type and region of residence, the new option may take a while to reach you.
- Instagram Reels
This is the most important factor that keeps your profile in Instagram’s good books. The type of content you share and the people it reaches to makes a big difference in making your Instagram account popular.
With that said, the more followers your Instagram profile has, the better are your chances to enjoy exclusive features that the portal may unlock for you.
These dynamic attributes are not stagnant and keep changing according to your activities and the type of content you share. In some cases, you may also expect delays in getting updates due to intensive testing of new features before Instagram rolls them out for the masses.
How to Fix One of My Instagram Accounts Not Updated
If your Instagram profile doesn’t fall under any of the above scenarios, you can try to fix the issue on your side. Some solutions that may help you in this context are suggested below:
- Check for the Updated Version on App Store or Play Store
This is the first thing you must do. According to your device’s platform:
- Go to Play Store or App Store
- Search Instagram
- Tap the icon to see if an update is available for the app
If so, update the program and check if the problem is fixed.
- Sign Out and Sign Back In
You can try signing out of your account and then signing back in. This refreshes the app’s memory and may resolve the issue almost instantaneously.
- Reinstall Instagram
If the above two solutions fail to work, you can:
- Uninstall Instagram from your phone
- Go to App Store or Play Store
- Search Instagram
- Install the program
- Sign in to your account and see if the new features are now available for your profile
- Check Someone Else’s Instagram Account
You can call some of your friends from the same region and ask if they can access the feature you’re looking for. If so, you may want to check their activities and the type of content they share and modify yours accordingly.
- Testing Phase
As explained earlier, you may receive updates a bit late if they are still in the testing phase, and are available only for a selected group of people. You can check online documentation to learn about the current situation and how long you must wait for the new features.
- Contact Instagram
If everything looks fine and you believe that your profile is eligible for new features, but they are still not available on your account, you can contact Instagram and seek help from their customer support team.
To contact Instagram:
- Launch the Instagram app on your smartphone
- Tap the Profile icon from the bottom-right
- Tap More from the top-right
- Tap Settings and privacy
- Scroll down to the More info and support section
- Tap Help
- Tap Report a Problem from the Help window
- Follow the on-screen instructions from there
Conclusion
Depending on your account type, the kind of content you share, the region of your residence, and many other factors, you may or may not be eligible for some features. If you believe your profile is qualified to get updates, you can try the solutions given above and see if any of those can help.
FAQs
- What should I do if I am not getting any new Instagram updates?
Many times, you can resolve this issue by signing out of your Instagram account and then signing back in. If the problem persists, try uninstalling the app altogether and then install it back. It would be good to restart your phone after uninstalling Instagram and before reinstalling it.
- Why one of my Instagram accounts has a different layout?
Depending on the features available for your profiles, you may experience a slight difference between layouts. Instagram does this purposely to ensure there’s enough room for all the options your profile has access to.
- Why can’t I change the layout of my Instagram profile?
Unfortunately, Meta doesn’t allow users to modify the look and feel of their Instagram profile, at least not at the time of this writing. However, there’s a workaround. You can check your account for some manually configurable features and enable or disable them according to your requirements. This may slightly change the layout.
- Why can’t I see any changes in my Instagram profile layout?
Many users have resolved this problem by signing out of their Instagram accounts and signing back in. Some have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, which worked for them too.
