Instagram, like many social apps, is constantly evolving, sometimes even a little too fast for its users to keep track. Luckily, we’ve kept track for you, and are ready to to give you every shortcut needed to become an Instagram pro. Here are the latest Instagram tips and tricks that you need to know to really master the app that it seems like everyone is on these days.
1. The Photo Editing Feature Is Much Better
If you’re like most people on Instagram, you probably don’t edit your photos in-app. This is because until one of the most recent updates, the apps photo-editing feature left a lot to be desired, building up a market for Instagram-compatible third party editing apps.
With this update, however, users can edit their photos to look close to exactly how they want them without leaving Instagram, making the process of posting that perfect shot a whole lot easier.
2. You Can Send Disappearing Photos
An area where Instagram has drawn inspiration from a growing competitor, Instagram now has the option of sending disappearing pictures to your friends, like the original concept of Snapchat.
This feature, which is even newer than Instagram stories, is one that you can use in lieu of Snapchat, making Instagram your one stop shop for sharing photos with your friends online.
3. You Can Stream Live on Instagram
Sick of Facebook having all the fun with live video? Say hello to one of Instagram’s best new features. You can now stream live on Instagram, which is great if you’re having a party that some of your followers can’t come in town for, or if you want to share a family moment or sporting event with family and friends.
Live video is sure to become more and more popular as people become more aware of this new feature.
4. You Have More Freedom With Your Profile
One of the best way to get noticed on Instagram is by perfecting your bio and you profile. Pick a great username that attracts attention, and make your bio unique. One way to do that? Center your bio.
5. If You Want to Influence, Start With Your Captions
The one thing that separates a good photo from a great photo on Instagram is the caption. Let’s say you take a scenic photo of a fall hike; you can’t just title it “fall hike” and expect everyone to fawn over it.
What will get your photo the attention is deserves is a creative caption that defines the subject matter of the photo and the uniqueness of the person posting it, all at the same time.
6. The “Explore” Section Has Never Been Better
While before, the explore section claimed to be based on the things you and the people you follow like, the new explore section is tailored for you. With the new “videos you might like” feature and the variety of content to look through, your sure to find new accounts to follow fast, and new interests that you may not have known you had.
7. Take Advantage of the Ability to Post “Stories”
Another area where Instagram copied one of Snapchat’s newest features, you can now post “stories” of any length on Instagram. This is a great way to share with your followers snippets of your day and exciting things that happened, without ever even leaving the app.
This is especially popular among influencers and creative Instagrammers that want to showcase their lives and their art. Even if you aren’t posting your own stories, it has become another great way to engage with profiles you admire.
8. Boomerang is a Fun Way to Get Creative With Your Instagram Videos
When Instagram started letting you post short videos on your profile, they lacked a dimension, which was promptly replaced by Instagram’s partner app, “boomarang”. This video editing app lets you loop your short video clips forward and backward, creating fun videos to share with your followers, family and friends on Instagram.
9. Now You Can Use other Instagram Features in Your Stories
Only recently, Instagram announced that you can now enhance your stories with boomarang videos, embedded mention tags and links. These features have become a new way for users of the app to individualize their “story” content and engage with other users as they post.
10. You Can Zoom in On Instagram Now
What’s the one thing you’ve always wished you could do on Instagram? For years, the apps users have complained about the inability to zoom in on photos as you scroll, but Instagram has quietly fixed that, without many of it’s users noticing right away, if at all!
If you’re one of this second group, it’s okay. Unless you read the app’s update history, they usually don’t announce their changes very well, so open your app and check it out! No more frustration over the inability to see small details!
Instagram slowly adds more and more new features as they go, but you may not know about every single one. It can be extremely difficult to keep track of the small but useful features that are constantly added to Instagrams arsenal of innovations.