Novelvibes

Following the rise of Snapchat, nearly every social media and messaging app introduced ways to share snippets of your day. These often include videos which are typically limited to a predetermined time limit and expire after 24 hours. Instagram Stories were previously restricted to 15-second clips and clips longer than this duration would be trimmed before sharing, but the company appears to be tweaking this cap. As shown in the video, posting more than 15 seconds of footage now creates different segments of video. According to Reddit user T0oYoung, the subsequent parts don’t retain the text from the initial footage. It appears that the change is possibly rolling out in stages, so if you see the new Stories feature, let us know in the comments. Instagram Price: Free  

Earlier this year, Instagram added the ability to embed GIF stickers in Stories (and then removed the feature, and then put it back). Now users can send GIFs to each other in DMs, via a new button in the composer bar. Instagram says GIFs in direct messages are available in the latest updates for iOS and Android. Users can either search for a GIF, or tap the Random button for a surprise.

Instagram recently announced that it would release an Instagram video chat feature.Instagram video chat will allow one-on-one conversations as well as group chats.The company didn’t give an exact date for the rollout of the new feature, but testing is going on right now. After Instagram lifted Snapchat stories and made them better and more popular, the running joke is that anything Snapchatdoes, Instagram is likely to follow. The trend seems to be holding up nicely, asInstagram announced today that it is testing out a new video chat feature. This announcement comes about a month after Snapchat revealed a video chat feature of its own. Not one to be outdone, WhatsAppalso announced a group video chat feature is on the way, via Android Central. The Instagram video chat feature is in a testing phase for now, with a global rollout coming soon. According to Instagram, users will be able to engage in both one-on-one video chats as well as “a small group” (it didn’t reveal how ...

Instagram has just announced  improvements to Stories  which will be coming to the Android and iOS apps soon. Instagram Stories, which have become increasing popular on the platform, replicate the ephemerality of Snapchat by having photos and videos expire automatically 24 hours after being uploaded. With the app update that is currently rolling out, users will be able to upload multiple photos and videos to their Stories at a time. Now, when selecting gallery content to add to Stories, a user will see a new icon on the top right of the screen which will allow them to pick up to 10 photos and videos to upload all at once. As before, users can edit each one individually using things such as stickers or text, and then have the content uploaded to their Stories in the order they chose. Instagram is also making it faster to add a location sticker to a Story by automatically suggesting relevant locations directly inside the sticker menu. Until now, adding a location ...

Instagram's feed tab is probably the one in which users spend most of their time, since it's the one with pictures and videos from people and brands you actually chose to follow. The "Explore" tab, on the other hand, is meant to surface content from users you  don't  follow, either because it's content that's popular on Instagram or just because some algorithm decided you might like it. Honestly, it's so often littered with bad memes and overly-filtered photos that I avoid it for the most part. However, Instagram seems to be working on a redesign of the Explore tab that would seem to make it a little easier to browse, as first spotted by  TechPP . The new layout organizes and groups photos and videos by topics such as photography, people, or sports. The different genres are shown in a carousel layout at the top of the screen (where recommended Stories used to be), so users can cycle through them easily and tap on one they'd like to see more of...

Portrait mode is increasingly available on smartphones, especially those with two cameras. These pics have blurred backgrounds to make the subject pop like you were using a lens with a shallow depth-of-field. Some phones do this better than others, but I think all of them do it better than Instagram, which just added "Focus" mode in the latest update. You can pick Focus from the mode selector at the bottom of the camera UI. As soon as it's active, the app searches for a face. When it finds one, the app applies a blur filter to the background. Although, it's not always the best at determining where the background starts. You'll probably end up with a lot of soft edges. The quality of the blur filter is questionable as well. It looks "wet" blurry rather than "unfocused" blurry. You can use Focus mode for a photo or a video. Like other modes, you simply press and hold the shutter button to capture a video. Focus mode is live in the ...

These days we share a lot of personal information with social networks. As the Facebook scandal has taught us, sometimes  a bit too much information . While deleting yourself from all your social networks is a bit extreme, we understand that for some this might seem like the simplest solution to protecting your privacy. If you really want to leave behind your social accounts, we’re here to help you go through the process of deleting your Instagram account.  It’s not too complicated to get rid of your Instagram profile, but there are some things worth noting. First, there are two options for making your Instagram account disappear: You can delete it temporarily or permanently. The main difference is that deleting it permanently will erase all your photos and videos. Suspending it will simply make your data invisible, but all your content will be there when you decide to come back. Ready? Let’s take you through the steps for each method...

Instagram made the switch to a non-chronological feed a while back, and many users are still unhappy with it. Today, Instagram says it's rolling out some changes to make the feed less terrible. Well, Instagram didn't call the feed "terrible," but that seems to be the consensus outside the company. Soon, you'll see newer posts near the top and have more control over refreshing. According to the new blog post, Instagram is testing a "New Posts" button in the feed. That means you won't have to worry about the feed randomly refreshing and moving you to the top. You can tap the New Posts button when you want to refresh. Otherwise, you'll stay where you are in the feed. The other change addresses the algorithm, which tends to show old posts and recommended content near the top. Instagram says the app will now lean more toward newer posts at the top. However, this is still an algorithmic feed—chronological order isn't coming back. More feed...

Starting today, profile links and hashtags in Instagram bios will work the way they do elsewhere on the platform: as clickable links. Instagram is billing the functionality as "a new way to express yourself and the things you care about." When you type "#" or "@" in your bio, a list of suggested hashtags and profiles to add will pop up. You've been able to follow hashtags on Instagram since late last year; now, if there's one you're all about, you can let everyone know and give them a convenient way to check it out, right from your profile. Related: Check out this feature on GB Instagram with other enticing features You'll be notified if someone tags you in their bio. In case you're not into it, you'll have the option to remove the link (although your account name will stick around as plain text). Instagram Price: Free Source:  Instagram Press Blog