Instagram is testing a persistent Stories bar that follows you down the feed

When I opened Instagram on my Pixel 2 XL moments ago, I noticed something different: the Stories bar remained visible as I scrolled down my main feed. Usually it stays at the top and doesn’t follow you down, but clearly the company is testing a more persistent, sticky approach to keeping Stories in front of you at all times. That seems awfully annoying to me, but some might find it convenient.

To this point, I think Instagram has developed and built onto Stories very well. They’re fun. I post and watch often. But between the obnoxious neon-orange IGTV notifications in the main app that I can’t turn off and now this, I’m not thrilled. Let people use the app how they want. I understand there’s a constant push for greater usage and better discoverability — 400 million people are now using Instagram Stories daily — but you don’t need to pummel us over the head with this stuff. Getting back to the top of the app wasn’t difficult before.

When reached for comment by The Verge over email, an Instagram spokesperson gave the standard new-feature-in-testing comment: “We’re always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you.”