Instagram comments turned off and feed becomes chronological in strange bug

Changes quickly swapped back – though it is not clear whether it was an error or a preview of what could come

A visitor stands in front of the Instagram stand during day two of Dubai Lynx 2019 at Madinat Jumeirah on March 12, 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Getty ImagesFrancois Nel/Getty Images)

Instagram comments have disappeared and the feed has reverted to showing the most recent posts in an unusual bug.

Posts appeared as if nobody had commented on them and the "home" part of the app showed all new posts in chronological order.

The bug quickly reverted, though it is not clear whether it is an indication of changes that are coming to the platform.

Previously, Instagram has mistakenly switched on features that were only intended to be tested internally.

In December, for instance, the app introduced an unusual change that meant posts scrolled sideways, rather than up and down. That prompted outcry from users, before Instagram said it had been turned on by mistake.

"Sorry about that, this was supposed to be a very small test but we went broader than we anticipated," Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said at the time.

Numerous Twitter users noticed the latest unusual change, despite it only appearing on the main version of the app for a very short period.

Some wondered whether individual users had been given the option to turn off comments on their account, but the brief change actually seemed to affect all users of the app.

Instagram did not immediately respond to a request from comment.