Instagram’s refresh feature has been broken for a while, and despite constant complaints, nothing’s changed—until now. Instagram is finally making some changes to how it handles refreshing, but is it enough?
I Miss When Refreshing Instagram Actually Made Sense
I miss how Instagram worked in the 2010s. Sure, the app is more polished now, with more features, but at least back then, refreshing your feed was not such a chaotic experience as it is today.
Instagram used to be simple—posts from people you followed appeared in chronological order, and refreshing brought the latest updates to the top. There were fewer ads, no suggested posts, and far less clutter.
It wasn’t as engaging as Instagram is now, but I’d argue that was a good thing. If you scrolled long enough, you’d eventually hit the same posts again, a clear signal that it was time to close the app.
These Days, It Feels Like Instagram Resets Instead of Refreshes
These days, the chronological feed is long gone, and Instagram’s algorithm calls the shots. (Though you can still manually switch to it on the mobile app) Now, your feed is a mix of posts from people you follow and suggested content from accounts Instagram thinks you’ll like. In fact, suggested posts now make up nearly half the Instagram experience.
I don’t have a problem with suggested posts themselves—they keep my feed interesting and have helped me find creators I now love.
What sets me off is how fickle they are. Every refresh wipes the slate clean, replacing your feed with a completely different set of suggested posts. Refreshing feels less like updating and more like hitting reset. And that drives me crazy.
I’ll give you an example of why this reset is so annoying. I use focus mode throughout the day, and Instagram is one of the apps that I’ve restricted. During breaks, I’ll pause focus mode to scroll through Instagram for a few minutes.
More than once, my timer has run out right in the middle of a reel I’m enjoying, and the app closes automatically. When I reopen Instagram seconds later to finish the reel, I find that Instagram has refreshed, and the reel is gone—yeeted into oblivion forever.
Scrolling down to find the reel among the older posts doesn’t help, and Instagram’s search feature is practically useless at finding reels if you stumble upon a suggested reel you like, you’d better save or like it immediately because once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
To make things worse, Instagram’s refresh is overly sensitive. Sometimes, just switching between apps triggers a refresh, even with background refresh turned off.
Why BlueSky’s Approach Feels So Much Better
Instagram’s crazy refresh style has made me appreciate how BlueSky handles feeds. Unlike Instagram, BlueSky gives you control. You don’t have to stick with the default feed, you can subscribe to custom feeds tailored to your interests.
What this means is that you don’t have to rely on unpredictable suggested posts to keep your timeline interesting. You can just add feeds you enjoy, and your content stays consistent. There’s no randomness every time you refresh—just the posts you actually care about.
Instagram’s Finally Trying to Fix Refresh—Is It Enough?
To Instagram’s credit, they are making adjustments. They recently fixed the “rug pull” bug—that annoying glitch where a video you were watching would disappear mid-play because the app finished refreshing.
It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. I need my Instagram to stop feeling like a brand-new account every time I refresh. I’d like my feed to have some sense of continuity so I’m not constantly chasing down lost posts. And I’d love for the app to stop refreshing randomly when I switch away for just a second.
Hopefully, Instagram will keep improving its refresh feature. In the meantime, if your feed feels like a mess, here’s how you can clean it up.