instagram

5 Hidden Instagram Features You Shouldn’t Miss

Instagram

If you are an occasional Instagram user, you are probably abreast of most of the app’s latest features. There are so many cool features that most Instagram users are unaware of, or rarely use. Instagram keeps on introducing new features that might bypass you not unless you see another person using since they never announce all of them. Some of these features are very useful in helping you grow your following though you can always get help with this from social10x.  

We have tried our best to dig out these secret features such as being able to view all the posts you have ever liked and others. Here are five of those top secrets. 

Uploading Long Video Stories 

It is a painstaking process to upload a video that is more than 15 seconds as a video story. You have to keep on cutting and starting all over again and measure up the time to ensure that it plays seamlessly as one long story. This process fails most of the time. You will find that the next story does not follow the first even if you miss by just two seconds. Instagram now has the solution for that. After you upload your long story, it is automatically subdivided by the editor into 15 second clips. You can select the clips separately as you add them to the story to make one long video without any interruptions.  

View Content You Have Liked 

There are these posts that you intend to have a look at later when you have time. You can opt to bookmark the posts to the “All” collection folder or save them in your own special folder. You can later view these posts from the “Saved” option icon from your profile page. If for some reason you forgot to bookmark such posts, chances are you like the post in passing. You can find such a post in your viewing history. However, it would be cumbersome to go through the entire list, but thanks to the new feature, you can check only the liked content. On your profile, tap the three-dash menu and select settings. If you are using an android, select “Posts You’ve Liked” and if it is iOS, tap on “Accounts”, and then “Posts You’ve Liked”. You will find all the content, pictures and videos that you have liked.  

Creating Rainbow Texts 

Instagram is mainly an entertainment application. The more attractive your posts, the more users will get drawn to you. You can add some color to your stories by creating rainbow texts. While this is not an entirely new feature, Instagram has simplified the previously cumbersome process of creating such texts. Initially, you had to select each letter and change its color. With the new feature, you simply type the text, highlight all of it, then press and hold on a color option of your choice until you see a gradient tool. Use your other thumb to press and hold the other end of the cursors then slide the thumbs on either side changing the colors automatically.  

Add Time to Your Photos in Stories 

Ideally, Instagram has set that your photos can only be seen for a maximum of five seconds on your stories. This time can be limiting if especially you have a special text that you need people to see. The trick to adding more time to these photo stories is adding a song to the images. This will extend the time by 10 seconds, to a maximum of 15, the time a video takes to elapse. To add a song, you need to tap on the sticker icon, then “Music” then select your own song and crop it right with the image. 

Share Your Saved Stories 

Instagram saves all of your stories in an archive. More likely than not, you have not disabled this feature since you do not even probably think about it. If you do not have something great to share on those throwback Thursdays, or if you simply want to remind your audience about a particular event, then you can share your archived content easily. Just go to your profile, tap the Archive icon or the reverse clock icon and go to “Stories Archie” on Android or “Stories” on iOS. You can then download your preferred content and share.  

There are more interesting features that you might not be aware of on Instagram. Just take your time and go through the app or ask the Instagram community online. 

Anik is an IT professional and Data Science Enthusiast. He loves to spend a lot of time testing and reviewing the latest gadgets and software. He likes all things tech and his passion for smartphones is only matched by his passion for Sci-Fi TV Series.