Despite its popularity, Instagram's Android app remains inferior to its iOS counterpart — its built-in camera does not offer the same image quality as on the iPhone, and there are compatibility issues with different screen sizes, especially on foldables. Unfortunately, these problems are nothing new, and Facebook Meta has yet to resolve them. You can throw another entry on the to-fix list, as Instagram users on Android have been facing random freezes when scrolling through their feed for months now.

There are reports of the issue on Reddit and various other forums dating back well into 2021. This isn't the first time Android users have encountered this problem, either — there are plenty of similar user complaints from a few years ago. Android Police's founder Artem Russakovskii has been experiencing the bug for months now (#ArtemsLuck strikes again), and the replies to his tweet confirm that there are plenty of other users in the same boat. I have also encountered the issue on various Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi phones running Android 11 or Android 12 since late last year. A temporary workaround is to scroll past the video before returning to it, though obviously, it's a frustrating experience.

The problem doesn't seem to be completely widespread; otherwise, it likely would have caught Instagram's attention by now. Nonetheless, it's a bug that needs to be fixed, no matter how many users it actually affects.

Several users have also complained the same issues with Instagram Live, facing constant freezes despite fast internet speeds. If you're looking for a temporary solution, some reports suggest that uninstalling the Instagram app or clearing its cache and data works for a few weeks before the bug eventually resurfaces.