Meta has begun testing a new Facebook interface in India that opens directly into a full-screen Reels feed instead of the traditional News Feed, according to a TechCrunch report. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch after publication that the test is also underway in Indonesia.

The feature sends included users straight into recommended video content when they open the app, with the classic Feed experience still available as a second tab. Users can opt out and return to the Feed-first layout, Meta said. Social Media Today reported that some users in India have seen an in-app pop-up stating that “Reels are now front and center” before being redirected to the new feed, citing a screenshot shared by user Nirav Shah on X.

The test was first outlined in July by Facebook Head Tom Alison, who wrote in a company announcement that Meta planned to begin testing a “reimagined experience” that puts a subset of users “who we think want more video” into full-screen video the moment they open the app. Alison said at the time that the rollout would start in “video-heavy countries” outside the U.S., without naming them, and that Meta would explore bringing it to the U.S. next year.

The move continues a broader shift toward video across Meta’s apps. Last year, the company said all new videos posted to Facebook would be shared as Reels regardless of length or format, and renamed the app’s Video tab to “Reels.” Meta has reported that young adults spend about 60% of their time on Facebook watching video.

A Familiar Testing Ground

India has repeatedly served as the proving ground for Meta’s short-form video experiments. Instagram began testing a dedicated Reels tab in the country in 2020, months after India banned TikTok, and tested a Reels-first experience for some Instagram users in India and South Korea last year. Meta’s own September 2025 announcement of that earlier Instagram test described wanting to test the format in India “because of the vast and culturally diverse Reels content created here.”

Social Media Today reported that Meta is simultaneously experimenting with letting Instagram users set the Reels feed as their default home experience, framing the Facebook trial as part of the same push across both apps.

Engagement figures Meta has released this year support the direction. At least 97% of users surveyed in Meta-commissioned studies said they watch video on its platforms daily, and 89% of Gen Z respondents said they use Reels every day, according to figures the company released in June. Meta has described Reels as increasingly becoming India’s “personal and primary screen.” The company has also reported that more than 3.5 billion Reels are shared across Facebook and Instagram every day, and that 60% of all time spent on both platforms is now driven by video engagement.

India is Facebook’s largest market by users, with Meta’s advertising tools indicating an audience of more than 400 million people in the country, according to data cited by TechCrunch.

For brands running creator and video campaigns in Facebook’s largest market, a homescreen that defaults to algorithmically recommended video rather than the existing mixed-content Feed would mean organic Page posts compete for attention with the interest-ranked surface that already governs Reels distribution, shifting more of what a brand’s audience sees toward content the algorithm selects rather than content from accounts they already follow.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Check Out Our Podcast