Instagram introduced sharing to stories and the new video chat feature

On May 01, 2018 Instagram announced they added new sharing options from other apps. Together with that the video chat feature is the major update coming in May. There are a few other changes as well, like the modified explore feature and the camera effects platform.

You can now share to stories from other apps

For now, this feature supports only Spotify and GoPro, but others are coming soon. All you have to do is tap the share button and Instagram will pull the content to its camera. Then you can edit the content or add it to your story. The cool thing about this feature is that you don’t have to connect other apps and Instagram.

The idea is that you can now tell the world how you are feeling or what you are listening to through a story. Especially useful for fashion bloggers or popular vloggers, connect with your followers in a new way by adding a song sticker to your story.

Connect with your follower with Instagram’s Video chat

Video chat feature is confirmed to come in the next few weeks. Not only does this feature allow friends to contact each other on Instagram, but also businesses to connect with their clients. If you are a blogger you could have a live session once a week with the chosen followers. You can even chat with a small group of people.

To start a video chat, you can tap the new camera icon at the top of a Direct thread. There is no time limitation, as long as you have an Internet connection you can chat. Another cool thing is that you can minimize the chat so you can continue exploring your feed.

A new way to explore ideas and people

The explore button still offers the same kind of content. Personalized for you, the only difference is in the design. The content is organized into main topics like animals, photography, architecture etc. With this design, you will be able to focus on an area of interest.

On the other hand, if you just want to list whatever you find interesting, you don’t have to tap on a certain topic. You can continue listing what the app found for you. Like Video chat the new explore design is confirmed and in a final testing phase. They should release it over the next few weeks.

“Make it yourself“ camera effects are coming to Instagram

Instagram will give you access to the usual camera effects with an interesting twist. Third parties can now design their own interactive camera experiences. And to make it even better, their followers can use the effect they like.

So, let’s say Vogue shares a story with a cool camera effect. Since you follow Vogue you can tap on “Try it on“ and the effect will be added to your camera tray. This feature will be especially interesting for businesses that know how to use it. Personalized effects your follower can use can make a real difference to your popularity.

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