Instagram

With TikTok in continual ascendency in the social media space, Instagram is constantly adjusting the way its platform works to make it more competitive. However, the Meta-owned network has come under criticism with some of the design and algorithm changes it has tested on the platform, and one of the things that users have voiced displeasure about most is the number of recommendations that appear ...

Meta's Instagram allows you to delete your account from directly within the Instagram app. This article shows you how it's done. To comply with Apple's updated App Store guidelines, Instagram in June 2022 added an option in its app for users to delete their account on the service. Previously it was only possible to delete your Instagram account by logging into a web browser on a desktop...

Most social media networks and chat platforms these days include a feature that shows when a user was last online or last active on the service, which can be either helpful or a hindrance, depending on your personal or business situation. WhatsApp includes an optional "Last Seen" status for the person you're chatting with in a conversation thread, while Instagram tells you how long it was...

Instagram includes several options on the platform that allow users to hide the number of like and view counts on posts. This article explains where to find them and adjust them to your preferences. The new options were originally introduced a few years ago to "depressurize people's experience" on the platform, the Meta-owned social media company said at the time. Instagram said its...

Instagram allows users to create group video calls with up to eight people on the social platform. This article explains how to use it in the Instagram mobile app. The following steps walk you through the process of starting a video call with someone and then adding other people to the call. Launch Instagram and tap the paper airplane icon in the top-right corner to go to the Direct screen....

With social media account hacking becoming increasingly more widespread, users would do well to make sure they're taking every security measure available to them. That goes doubly for frequenters of Facebook-owned Instagram, where account hijacking in particular is a recurring problem. One of the best ways to protect any online account is by using two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA offers...

Instagram has confirmed that a bug is preventing proper Instagram URL previews from appearing in iMessage conversations. In a statement to Mashable, Instagram says the behavior is not normal, and that it's "working to resolve Instagram link previews in iMessage so that they load normally." The lack of link previews was first brought up on Reddit around two months ago, so it seems the issue ...

A follow-up report by security researchers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk has alleged that Facebook Messenger and Instagram are collecting and using data from link previews in a way that would breach European privacy law. In October last year, Bakry and Mysk revealed that link previews in popular messaging apps can lead to security and privacy issues on iOS and Android. It was discovered...

New universal chat app "Beeper" combines 15 different chat platforms into a single inbox and offers iMessage on Android and Windows (via The Verge). The app comes from a team including former Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky, and enables users to integrate a range of messaging services, including WhatsApp, SMS, Signal, Telegram, Slack, Twitter, Skype, Hangouts, Discord, Instagram, and Facebook...

Instagram is today rolling out support for the new ProRAW photos that are able to be captured with the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Instagram developer Tim Johnsen shared the news on Twitter, where he also said that ProRAW photos in the DNG format are not able to be edited on Instagram. Further details aren't available, but it seems that Instagram is converting the ProRAW file into...

Some Messenger and Instagram features are temporarily unavailable to users in Europe in order to comply with new rules on data usage currently being rolled out in EU countries. Affected users are seeing alerts in the Facebook-owned apps that some features aren’t available to "respect new rules for messaging services in Europe." The alert doesn't specify what the missing features are, but ...

The United States Federal Trade Commission today teamed up 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the territory of Guam to sue Facebook for maintaining an illegal social networking monopoly through years of anticompetitive conduct. Facebook is accused of engaging in a "systematic strategy" to eliminate threats to its monopoly, which included the 2012 acquisition of Instagram and the 2014...

Promotion for Apple Fitness+ is ramping up, with advertising initiatives and teases from instructors being spotted on social media, indicating that the new subscription service may be launching imminently. MacRumors reader Chris Weaver spotted that Best Buy has started advertising six-month free trials of Apple Fitness+ with Apple Watch purchases. The advert suggests that retailers have...

Facebook's Messenger and Instagram apps are getting a new "vanish mode" feature that gives users a new way to chat using disappearing messages. Disappearing messages can already be used in Messenger's "secret conversation" feature, but they require several steps and users have to set a timer to make the messages disappear. However, the new "vanish mode" is enabled by simply swiping up in ...

Instagram is ten years old today, and the photo-based social platform is celebrating by introducing an easier way to find old Stories, custom icons, and new tools to prevent online harassment. As reported by TechCrunch, a new private Stories Map and calendar offers users a retrospective of the Stories and photos they've shared over the last three years so they can look back at their favorite ...

Around a month after Facebook began quietly merging its Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, the transition has been officially launched, with a full rollout to all users soon to follow. As a result of the merging of the chat services, Instagram users can chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform. Features previously only available on Facebook Messenger...

Instagram is launching in-app QR codes worldwide via an update, according to The Verge. Users will now be able to generate QR codes that are scannable from any third-party QR camera app. The feature will allow businesses to print and display a QR code that will direct customers to their Instagram account more easily, for example. QR codes in Instagram first launched last year in Japan, but ...

Facebook's long-term plan to integrate Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp chat platforms appeared to kick into gear over the weekend as Instagram users in the U.S. were notified of a "new way to message" on the photo-sharing social network that merges the app's chat feature with Facebook Messenger. Image via The Verge As a result of the merging of the chat services, the change means Instagram ...

Instagram has awarded a security researcher a $6,000 bug bounty payout after he found photos and private direct messages on the platform's servers that he had deleted more than a year ago (via TechCrunch). Saugat Pokharel discovered that his content hadn't been removed in October after downloading a copy of his data from the photo-sharing app. Instagram introduced the download option two...

Facebook, owner of Instagram, is facing a lawsuit over allegedly harvesting the biometric data of users, according to Bloomberg. Last month, Facebook offered to pay a $650 million settlement in a similar lawsuit in which it was accused of illegally collecting biometric data via Facebook's photo-tagging feature. The settlement has not yet been approved by the judge, but if it is, affected...

Instagram has today officially launched "Reels," a new short-form video service set to rival TikTok, in over 50 countries, including the U.S., India, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the U.K. Reels is part of the Instagram camera of the existing Instagram app. Instagram says that Reels are "a new way to create and discover short, entertaining videos." The service features the...

Instagram is offering financial incentives to prominent TikTok users in an attempt to persuade them to use Instagram's upcoming "Reels" feature, reports The Wall Street Journal. Instagram is seeking to kickstart its new Reels service by making lucrative offers to popular TikTok creators with millions of followers. Set to launch next month, Reels is Instagram's answer to TikTok's...

Some users have noticed that Instagram is unexpectedly accessing the camera, reports The Verge. Users have reported that the green "camera on" indicator was displayed in iOS 14 when scrolling through their feed, but not taking a photo or a video. In a statement to The Verge, a spokesperson for Instagram said that the behavior was a bug and is being fixed. "We only access your camera when...

Facebook says it is bringing a new personal fundraising tool to Instagram that allows users to raise money for causes they support. The feature is similar to an existing fundraising system on Facebook, but this one will begin as a small test for users in the U.S, the U.K., and Ireland. Users with access to the test will see the new option in Instagram in Edit Profile -> Add Fundraiser ->...

Instagram's new "Reels" feature is coming to the U.S. in early August, Facebook has confirmed (via Business Insider). The TikTok-style short-form video feature made its debut in Brazil late last year, and allows Instagram users to record and edit 15-second video clips with audio and music soundtracks. Instagram users will be able to create and share Reels to their Stories, and can access...

Facebook is adding the option for users to turn off all political advertising in the Facebook and Instagram apps from today, the company has announced in a blog post. The option will pop up for users directly on any political ad that appears on the two Facebook-owned platforms. Users will also be able to hide ads by clicking on the advertisement or by accessing a new menu option in either of...