By MacRumors Staff
Instagram How Tos
iPhone Displays Green and Orange Dots: What Do They Mean?
Digital privacy is a perennial hot topic these days, and Apple is regarded as being at the forefront of security when it comes to smartphone and tablet operating systems. For example, for an app to access your iPhone or iPad's camera, camera and microphone access must be enabled for the app in question in the Settings app. Social media apps will often ask you for access to your device's...
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How to Disable Instagram Feed Suggestions
With TikTok in continual ascendency in the social media space, Instagram has recently put itself on a war footing in order to retain its dominance. 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 in...
How to Delete Your Instagram Account
Instagram now 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...
How to Hide Your Instagram Online Status
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...
How to Hide Like and View Counts on Instagram Posts
Instagram has added new options on the platform that allow users to hide the number of like and view counts of other people's posts, as well as the same counts on their own posts. The new options have been introduced to "depressurize people's experience" on the platform, the Facebook-owned social media company said. Instagram has been testing out the options in several countries since 2019,...
How to Group Video Chat With Up to 50 Instagram Users
Instagram has been updated to allow users to create group video chats with up to 50 people on the social platform, thanks to an integration with Facebook's recently announced Messenger Rooms feature. Facebook unveiled Messenger Rooms as an alternative to Zoom and Group FaceTime last month, releasing it to a small trial group of users. Facebook said part of its plan was to extend the capability ...
How to Secure Your Instagram Account With Two-Factor Authentication
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 Articles
Instagram Gains Direct Message Editing, Pinned Chats and More
Instagram today announced several updates for its direct messaging feature, including message editing and pinned chats. Direct messages sent on Instagram can now be edited for up to 15 minutes after sending. To edit a message, long press on it and then choose the "Edit" option. Users will see that the content has been edited, and the feature brings Instagram in line with Facebook and with...
Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
Instagram Adds New Filters, Support for Custom Stickers From Photos
Popular social network Instagram was today updated with a number of improvements that are designed to give users more ways to edit their content before sharing it. Instagram has added more than 20 new filters that can be used to tweak the look of images, and this is the first time in several years that filters have been updated. Some of the filters add subtle color changes, while others...
Delete Your Threads Profile and Stay on Instagram - Here's How
When Meta launched Threads in July, one of the complaints users had about the platform was that it was impossible to delete your Threads profile without also deleting your Instagram account. Up until now, the only alternative was to "temporarily" deactivate your Threads profile. This option makes your posts and interactions with others invisible on the platform, but it leaves your posts on ...
Threads Social Network Gets First Major Update
The Threads social network from Meta today received its first significant update that introduces a range of new features that improve the functionality of the social network. Updates include a tab for seeing who follows you so you can follow them back, an option to subscribe to unfollowed users, improvements to activity feed loading times, and translation option to translate posts that are in a...
Want to Delete Your Threads Profile? Then Delete Your Instagram Account, Says Meta
Threads, Meta's alternative to Twitter, has officially launched. But users thinking of installing the social media app just to check it out should be aware that you can't delete your Threads profile without also deleting your Instagram account. Meta describes Threads as "Instagram's text-based conversation app," and there's purpose in that precise phrasing. It doesn't just mean that your...
Facebook Announces $12/Month 'Meta Verified' Subscription Service
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the weekend announced the upcoming launch of a new "Meta Verified" subscription service that's designed for Facebook users, which will provide verification for $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 per month on the iPhone or the iPad. Zuckerberg described Meta Verified as a subscription that lets individuals verify an account with a government ID, get a blue...
Instagram Debuts Group Profiles, Twitter-Like 'Notes' Feature for Sharing Text and Emojis
Meta-owned social network Instagram today announced the launch of a new "Notes" feature that is designed to allow Instagram users to share their thoughts using text and emojis. Notes are described as short posts that can include up to 60 characters, which means they're similar to a tweet, but with support for fewer words. Notes can be shared by going to the top of the inbox, selecting...
Instagram Website Gets Revamped Design
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri today announced several new features that are coming to the social network, including an overhauled website. Instagram is debuting a new Instagram.com design, as many users take advantage of Instagram on the web for multitasking purposes. The updated design is described as cleaner, faster, and easier to use, with a layout that has been designed to take advantage...
Some Instagram Users Report Problems Accessing Accounts
Instagram is currently experiencing an outage in some parts of the world, according to user reports on Twitter and Downdetector. As a result of the outage, some users are reporting that their accounts are being locked and/or suspended for "violations" and some have reported a sudden decrease in follower count. In a tweet, Instagram said it's aware of the problems and is working to fix them. ...
Analysis Suggests Instagram Tracks User Web Activity Through In-App Browser
A new analysis of the Instagram app has suggested that every time a user clicks a link within the app, Instagram is capable of monitoring all of their interactions, text selections, and even text input, such as passwords and private credit card details within websites inside the app. The analysis conducted by Felix Krause found that both Instagram and Facebook on iOS use their own in-app...
Instagram CEO Defends Shift to Video Content, Says Photo Support Will Continue
Instagram parent company Meta has been pushing the social media app further into video content in order to compete with TikTok, but many Instagram users have been unhappy with the continued focus on video. Celebrities have spoken out against the change, and a petition to "Make Instagram Instagram Again" has garnered more than 1.7 million likes, leading Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri to share a...
Instagram Adds Option to Delete Account in iOS App to Comply With App Store Rules
Instagram this week implemented support for a new option that allows an Instagram account to be deleted directly within the Instagram app. Instagram is now in compliance with an updated App Store Guideline that requires all apps that offer account creation to also offer account deletion. Apple told developers that apps offering account creation must also support account deletion starting on...
Some Users Experiencing Issues With Instagram
There appear to be ongoing issues with Instagram, based on a number of complaints from Instagram users who are unable to use the social network as normal. Some users have been logged out of the app and are not able to access it at all, while others are seeing blank image posts or are having issues loading images. Still others are seeing older images in the timeline that were originally...
Instagram Reintroduces Chronological Feed Option
Instagram today rolled out new Following and Favorites feed options, allowing users to sort their feeds to see content posted chronologically from the people they follow or content just from their favorite people. The new Following option is a traditional chronological feed, and it displays the latest posts from the accounts that each Instagram user follows in reverse chronological order....
Instagram Head Says iPad App Is Low Priority Because Not Enough People Want It
The head of Instagram has commented on Twitter about the lack of an iPad app for Instagram, saying that while the social media platform is asked about an iPad app a lot, there is still not enough demand to warrant one. In a Twitter exchange with YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Adam Mosseri, who runs Instagram, said his company gets asked about an iPad app a lot, but it's "still just not a...
Instagram Limits Users' Ability to Limit How Much Time They Spend in the App
Instagram has quietly removed the ability for its users to limit their daily usage of the app to less than 30 minutes, reports TechCrunch. In 2018, Instagram introduced options in the app to set a daily time limit, with a reminder to be sent when that time limit is reached – useful for those who want to cut down on their social media usage. Originally, users were able to select a time...
Instagram Testing Subscriptions That Let Users Pay for Content From Creators
Instagram today began rolling out subscription options that are designed to allow Instagram users to pay for exclusive Instagram Live videos and Stories from their preferred creators. As noted by TechCrunch, Instagram is testing the subscription feature with a selection of 10 U.S. creators, each of whom can choose their subscription price. Subscription pricing ranges from $0.99 per month to...
Instagram Now Testing Chronological Feed
Back in December, Instagram lead Adam Mosseri said that Instagram was planning to reintroduce a chronological feed, and now Instagram is officially testing chronological feed options. Going forward, there will be three different Instagram feed options available. The "Home" feed will be the Instagram experience that's available today, with Instagram suggesting content that it thinks that...
Instagram Reintroducing Chronological Feed Option in 2022
Instagram is planning to reintroduce a version a chronological feed option in 2022, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said today in a Senate panel on teen safety (via Engadget). "We're currently working on a version of a chronological feed that we hope to launch next year," Mosseri said, explaining that Instagram believes in giving people more control over how they view content. Such a feature...