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Social Media App Template

A social media app template is a set of editable UI screens for the app itself, not graphics for posts: the feed, stories, short video, comments, posting and profiles. This free template wireframes 15 screens from the Instagram iOS app, from log in and the home feed to reels, the new post flow, direct messages, a creator profile and privacy settings. Edit it online in Whimsical to plan social media app design for a community or creator app.

Instagram's feed, stories, reels, posting flow and profiles as editable app UI wireframes.

What's included

  • Log in and home feed. Log in by username, email or mobile number, and a home feed under a stories row that starts with Your story.
  • Stories, explore and reels. A story viewer with a Love it or Hate it poll, an explore grid, and a reels player with Friends and Reels tabs and counts down the side.
  • Comments and share sheets. Threaded replies with a liked-by-author marker, and a share sheet with accounts, Add to story and Copy link.
  • Posting flow. A Post, Story and Reel switcher over the camera roll, then reel details with audience, tags, location, a poll, an AI label and Save draft.
  • Notifications and messages. Activity grouped by Today, Yesterday and Last 7 days, an inbox with Messages and Requests tabs, and a chat with disappearing messages.
  • Profiles and settings. A creator profile with Subscribe, your own profile with Edit profile and Share profile, and settings for privacy, close friends and blocking.

Why use a social media app template?

  • Compare formats side by side. The feed, story viewer and reels player show the same kind of content changing shape for each viewing mode.
  • See what creators are asked. Reel details lists every choice before publishing, down to a label for realistic content made with AI.
  • Keep engagement over the content. Comments and sharing open as sheets, so the reel stays visible behind them.
  • Separate creator and personal profiles. A creator page with Subscribe and an Exclusive highlight works differently from an everyday profile, where the main buttons are Edit profile and Share profile.
  • Design privacy in from the start. Account privacy, Close friends and Blocked sit in settings, and messages from people you don't follow land in a separate Requests tab.

How to use this template

  1. Duplicate the template. Copy the 15 Instagram screens into your Whimsical workspace.
  2. Pick your formats. Keep the feed, stories or reels you need, and cut the new post switcher down to match.
  3. Define a post. Decide what a post contains, like images, video, text, links or polls, and update the feed and creation screens.
  4. Plan moderation. Add report, mute and block actions to comments, profiles and messages, and decide who ends up in Requests.
  5. Write for your niche. Swap the beach photos and holiday captions for your community's content, like recipes, running or local news.

Feed vs stories vs reels

A feed is a vertical scroll of posts that stay on a profile, mixing photos, video and captions. Stories are full-screen posts people tap through, with stickers like polls, and they expire after a day unless saved as a highlight. Reels are short vertical videos played one at a time, with swipe navigation and actions down the side. In this template, the new post screen switches between all three.

Frequently asked questions

  • A basic social media app needs sign-up, profiles, a feed of posts from people you follow, a way to create posts, likes and comments, sharing, notifications and direct messages. Stories, short video and an explore page usually come next. On Instagram, story posts disappear after 24 hours unless they're saved as a highlight, so stories need their own viewer and creation flow.

  • Design your own social media app around its core loop: scroll or watch, react, then post. Wireframe the feed, a viewer for each format, comments and the posting flow first, then profiles, notifications and messages. Add report and block early, because moderation touches almost every screen. This template gives you that loop as 15 Whimsical wireframes to rearrange.

  • Instagram's iOS app. Few apps pack as many formats into one product, with a feed, stories, reels, broadcast channels and private chats, and that's what makes the Instagram app design worth taking apart. The 15 wireframes were built from screenshots on Mobbin, each placed beside its source with a link to the screen. Photos, usernames and branding are gray, and Whimsical has no affiliation with Instagram or Meta.

  • Yes. App Wireframe, the open-source agent skill behind this template, rebuilds app screens as editable Whimsical wireframes. Name another social app and it pulls the key screens from Mobbin, then places each wireframe next to its screenshot. It also works on screenshots of your own app or designs, if you're building a social product of your own. It runs in an AI agent connected to the Whimsical MCP server, plus the Mobbin MCP server for named apps.

  • Comments and sharing work best as sheets that slide up over the post, so people keep their place in the feed or reel. Nielsen Norman Group recommends bottom sheets for short tasks where people still need the content behind them. In this template, the comments sheet nests replies, and the share sheet holds accounts, Add to story and Copy link.