Instagram stuck at 30Hz — extremely poor scrolling experience

HimanshuPolnati

Hi Nothing team,

I’ve been facing a really annoying issue on my Nothing Phone 2a for the last 4–5 months.

Instagram often feels like it’s stuck at 30Hz. Scrolling is very choppy — not just in Reels, but even in:

home feed

DMs

chat list

This doesn’t feel like normal adaptive refresh rate behavior.

Even with high refresh rate enabled, battery saver off, and force peak refresh rate turned on, the problem still happens.

Honestly, it’s frustrating because this phone has a 120Hz display, but during daily use Instagram feels laggy — especially in chats where smooth scrolling is expected at least at 60Hz.

I don’t think this is a hardware issue since other apps work fine.

It feels more like a software/optimization problem.

Requesting the Nothing team to please look into this. Instagram is one of the most-used apps, and this issue really affects the overall experience.

If other users are facing the same thing, please comment or upvote so it gets noticed.

Thank you.

RaadSobhan

And to add this happens with my phone 3 only…not on my s25, OnePlus 13r or my honor 400 pro…so yeah it’s a nothing and Instagram issue along with few other apps. I have been shouting about this for a long time…including giving feedback. There has been 0 accountability so far from nothing. That’s the only reason I can’t main this device.

abstractethic

RaadSobhan phone 3??

RaadSobhan

Yes

jayxdean

abstractethic

jayxdean trolled🤣

Anonymous1123

jayxdean I love how this community gets extremely hyped for smartphones just because it has cool lights on the back, but if somebody finds a flaw that genuinely affects their daily usage they’re supposed to “touch grass”

RaadSobhan

Even worse on Facebook now!

UnpublishedWriter

Hey everyone

I’ve been dealing with a really annoying issue on my Nothing Phone (2a), and I wanted to post it here to see if anyone else has experienced the same thing or knows how to fix it.

The problem is that scrolling through Instagram on my phone doesn’t feel smooth at all, despite having a 120Hz display. While scrolling, the screen sometimes suddenly stutters and feels like the refresh rate drops significantly. It almost feels like the phone is switching from 120Hz to 60Hz, or sometimes even lower.

What’s weird is that this issue is mostly noticeable on Instagram. Scrolling through the system and other parts of the phone is generally smooth, so I don’t think the display itself is the problem.

I’ve also compared it with some other phones, including devices with similar or even weaker hardware, and Instagram feels noticeably smoother on them. They don’t seem to have the same random stutters or refresh-rate drops that I’m experiencing on my 2a.

I’ve already tried updating Nothing OS and Instagram, restarting the phone, clearing the app cache, and trying some other common fixes, but unfortunately the problem is still there.

If anyone using the Phone (2a) has experienced something similar, I’d really appreciate any advice. I’d also like to know whether this could be related to the refresh-rate management, Nothing OS, Instagram itself, or the GPU.

Even if you don’t have a solution, please let me know if you’re experiencing the same thing on your Phone (2a). It would be helpful to figure out whether this is a common issue or something specific to my device.