Instagram has pulled two of its older apps from the Google and Apple app stores. The plan to do away with the timelapse video app Hyperlapse, first launched in 2014, and looping video app Boomerang, launched in 2015-16, was coming because of the way the social media platform has added several features over the years.
Between the two apps, Boomerang had a larger install base. Apptopia data indicates Boomerang had seen 301 million lifetime global downloads, compared with just 23 million for Hyperlapse. According to Techcrunch, Boomerang was still averaging 26,000 downloads per day at the time of its removal.
The Boomerang feature lives on in Instagram Stories. As for Hyperlapse, it offered excellent stablisation while making time-lapse videos. More importantly, it came from Instagram’s first-ever acquisition, a company called Luma. These days, smartphone hardware offers excellent video stabilisation.
This comes soon after the company confirmed the IGTV shutdown because creating and discovering videos from within the app has become easier.
At the moment, Instagram offers access to photo and video posts, Stories, short-form video content, live video, and more. So, it doesn’t make sense having too many associated apps.