Tag: instagram features

Instagram Tipped to Be Working on a ‘Friend Map’ Feature for Users to Track Their Friends’ Locations

Instagram is reportedly working on a feature that will let users see the last active location of their friends on a map. The feature is said to be called Friend Map, and it appears to be similar to Snap Map. As per a leak, Instagram could soon add a world map-like interface where users will be able to see others all over the map based on the location shared by them. Users can also put themselves on the map by creating posts with location info.

Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi leaked details about this feature on February 24 on X (formerly known as Twitter). Sharing multiple screenshots of Friend Map, he said, “Instagram keeps working on “Friend map”: your friends, on a map.” If true, this will be a new interface for the social media app, and it might even be used as a new way to discover people and accounts near a user’s location.

Based on the images, it appears that Friend Map will open up the world map, where the friends of a user could be visible (if they share their location data). The screenshots indicate users will also be able to leave notes on the map. This could appear similar to how the Notes feature currently shows up in the Direct Message section. If the leak is to be believed, users could have as many as three different places to make status updates including Stories, Notes, and Notes on Map. “Find a new excuse to share what’s happening wherever you are,” the message on the screenshot stated.

Other possible features of Friend Map include choosing which friends get to see the shared location, end-to-end encryption of location data, and an easy method of adding posts to the map just by adding location info in them. One screenshot also showed granular controls offered by Instagram where a user can control who sees the last active location by picking between Ghost Mode (nobody sees it), Followers you follow back, and Close Friends. No other details of this feature are known at this moment.

Paluzzi also reshared an old post from October 2023 where a new Stories icon with the text Nearby can be seen. The tipster stated that this could also be related to the Friend Map feature. While details remain unknown, it could be that any nearby user’s posts for the Friend Map can directly be viewed there.

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Instagram Testing an App Clip on iOS to Let Users Watch Reels Without Downloading the App: Report

Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature on iOS that will allow people who do not have the app to still watch Reels in the app’s native interface. This will be done through App Clips, a feature that was added to iPhone in 2021 with the iOS 14 update. App Clips are like previews where users can use a particular feature before they decide to download the full app. Notably, TikTok also has an App Clip that lets non-users watch its short video content.

The information comes from a 9to5Mac report that found an App Clip in the Instagram app version 319.0.2, which is available to beta testers through TestFlight. The App Clip lets iOS users watch Instagram’s short video content Reels in the app’s native UI instead of on the browser. So, if a friend shares a link to a Reel in iMessage, users can now view it normally as it would appear on the Instagram app. The report adds that there is no need to create an Instagram account to use this feature.

With App Clip, users can watch a Reel, scroll to see more popular videos, and even share them with others. However, after the sixth Reel, the App Clip nudges the user to download the app, highlights the report.

Apple defines App Clips as “a small part of your app that’s discoverable at the moment it’s needed and lets people complete a quick task from your app — even before installing your full app.” Some of these tasks can be renting a bike, making a payment at a restaurant, and more. However, do note that App Clips are still mini apps that need to be downloaded first. They are just smaller in size and will become discoverable when the user encounters a specific command.

App Clips can be triggered through several methods, ranging from NFC tags and QR codes to shared links. Clicking on it opens a drawer at the bottom that shows the name of the app and an Open button, tapping which opens the App Clip in full screen and lets the user perform the task. App Clips can send notifications for up to eight hours after it has been opened.

These are meant to serve as a demo or a preview of the app so that users who are apprehensive about it can give it a test run before going through the longer process of downloading and installing it.

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Instagram Rolls Out Hidden Valentine’s Day Features: How to Use Them

Instagram has added new features to add some flair to your Valentine’s Day celebrations. There are two new features that have been rolled out by the Meta-owned social media platform, but they are not very easy to discover. These hidden features can only be triggered with specific actions inside the Android or iOS app. One of the features can be found in the Notes section on the direct messages (DM) page. The second hidden feature has been added to Instagram Stories.

The first feature is a floating or exploding hearts animation, which can be seen when using the Notes feature. Users who add Valentine’s Day-related keywords in the Notes such as “Happy Valentine’s Day”, “Happy Vday”, or “Vday” in Notes will get a DM message that will trigger the floating hearts all over the screen. The same effect can also be seen by tapping on a note with Valentine’s Day-themed words.

The second feature is available in Stories. When you add a new story, you can select a special @mention in the stickers section. The new mention is pink in colour and comes with two hearts on each side of the mention. Using it to tag another person and then posting the Story will trigger a similar floating hearts animation. Similarly, tapping on another user’s story with this mention will again trigger the animation.

While the features have been rolled out and some users have reported using them, it is not yet available for all users. While the features are being introduced on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, they will remain in the app until Thursday, according to the company.

The Meta-owned platform is also experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI)-based features lately. Recently, a report highlighted that Instagram is working on an AI message-writing feature that will allow users to rewrite, paraphrase, and make stylistic changes to their written messages in chats. While the feature itself is tipped to be known as Write with AI, it appears to work more like an editing tool. The full functionality of this feature is not yet known.

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Instagram Might Soon Let You Share Another Users Profile on Your Story

Instagram unveiled Stories back in 2016. The feature lets users post photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours. Since its launch, this interactive feature has grown rapidly in popularity and become a game-changer for Instagram by hitting a daily user count of 500 million in 2019. Now, the Meta (formerly Facebook) owned photo and video-sharing platform is looking to introduce a new feature for Stories. Instagram might soon allow users to share another user’s Instagram profile on their Stories. The upcoming feature was first spotted by a popular developer.

Noted developer Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) on X (formerly Twitter) has suggested that Instagram is working on a new feature that allows users to share other user’s profiles on their Stories. This feature is said to work similar to the existing “Add to Story” option. Users can display another profile on their Instagram Story and invite followers to visit and follow the users account or page.

The screenshot shared by Paluzzi shows that Stories will show a “View Profile” button to invite viewers to visit the mentioned profile. This feature, once it goes live, is expected to help people share profiles and assist in increasing the profile visibility and follower count of content creators and influencers. Like the photos and videos shared in Stories, the profile invites are also expected to disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on the profile grid or in the feed.

Instagram has recently added a bunch of new features. It introduced song lyrics display functionality for reels providing more options to customise Reels with favourite tunes. The platform also unveiled new Reels editing tools including cropping and rotating of individual clips. 

The Meta-owned app has also expanded the Close Friends feature that allows users to share posts and reels to their main feed that will only be visible to people on the list. Meta is currently also offering a paid ad-free subscription for Instagram users in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland.

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Instagram GIF Comments on Posts, Reels Begins Rolling Out to All Users: How It Works

Instagram has announced that it is rolling out the ability to comment on posts or Reels using GIFs to users globally. The Meta-owned photo and video sharing platform allows users to comment on the posts with text and emoji. The GIF responses feature was previously rolled out to select users in some regions, allowing them to use animated images to express themselves in a post’s comment section. While the feature is now available to users globally, it will gradually roll out to users in India, according to the company.

The company has announced that the ability to respond with GIFs in comments has begun to roll out globally and will roll out gradually in India. Users can share GIFs in the comments section on any post by simply tapping on the ​GIF button. As of now, users have been using text replies and emoji in the comment section, while select users in some regions had access to the GIF replies feature.

To use GIFs in comments, users must open the comment section of a post and then tap on the GIF button located at the right side of the text box. The GIF library, powered by Giphy, will let users search for relevant GIFs and share it in the comments section. The feature has been rolled out globally and will be made available to all users gradually.

Last month, Instagram rolled out the ability to add up to five links on a user’s profile bio. At the time, the company said the highly-requested feature was aimed at helping creators showcase more of their work. Instagram users can now share links to their online businesses, content, and other social networking profiles in their profile bio.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the ability to add more than one link to a profile bio was requested by several Instagram users. To add more links to the bio, users are required to tap on the ​Edit Profile button after visiting their profile page, then tap on the ​​Links section, followed by Add External Link. There they can add up to 5 links which will be displayed on the users’ profile bio, according to details shared by the company. 

OnePlus recently launched its first tablet in India, the OnePlus Pad, which is only sold in a Halo Green colour option. With this tablet, OnePlus has stepped into a new territory that’s dominated by Apple’s iPad. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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