By MacRumors Staff
Instagram How Tos
iOS 14 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 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 Celebrates 10th Birthday With Stories Map, New Icons, and More
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 ...
Facebook Unifies Messenger and Instagram Direct Messaging Experiences
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 Launches QR Codes Worldwide
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 Merging of Instagram and Messenger Chats Gets Underway
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 Retained Deleted Photos and Messages on Its Servers for Over a Year
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...
Instagram Accused of Illegally Harvesting Biometric Data
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 Launches TikTok Competitor 'Reels'
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 Aims to Lure TikTok Creators with Cash
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...
Bug Blamed for Instagram Unexpectedly Accessing Camera in iOS 14
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...
Instagram Tests Personal Fundraising Tool in US, UK and Ireland
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 TikTok-Style 'Reels' Feature to Launch in US Next Month
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...
New Facebook and Instagram Options Let US Users Turn Off Political Ads
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...
Facebook Acquires GIF-Sharing and Creation Platform GIPHY for $400M
Facebook today announced that it has acquired the popular GIF sharing platform GIPHY, and it will be joining the Instagram team. Instagram has supported GIPHY search in Stories for years now, but Facebook said it will "further integrate" the platform's GIF library into Instagram and other Facebook apps.
The sum of the GIPHY acquisition by Facebook is reportedly around $400 million, according...
Instagram Adds New Options for Bulk Deleting Comments and Controlling Who Can Tag and Mention You
Instagram has rolled out some new features that aim to prevent online bullying and other unwanted interactions on the social media platform. These features include the ability to control who can tag or mention you in comments, captions and Stories, and the ability to delete comments in bulk.
When it comes to who can mention and tag you in content, you can choose Everyone, Only People You...
Facebook Testing Cross-Posting Stories to Instagram
Facebook is testing a new feature that would allow Facebook Stories to be cross-posted to Instagram Stories, reports TechCrunch.
Right now, Instagram Stories can be shared to Facebook Stories, but the reverse is not possible. The new option would allow Stories to be shared interchangeably from one platform to another.
Jane Manchun Wong, who often digs into unreleased features in social...
Instagram CEO Says iPad App Hasn't Been Made Yet Because 'We Only Have So Many People, and Lots to Do'
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri took to the platform over the weekend to answer a few user questions on his story, shared by The Verge's Chris Welch. Among the many things asked, the topic of an official iPad app for Instagram was brought up, and Mosseri explained why we haven't seen one yet.
According to Mosseri, the company "would like to build an iPad app" for Instagram, "But we only have so...
Instagram Removes IGTV Button From Home Screen Following Lack of User Engagement
Instagram is dropping the IGTV button from the top-right corner of the app's home screen because not enough people are interacting with it.
First launched in June 2018, IGTV is Instagram's long-form video streaming service that's designed to compete with youtube. IGTV focuses on full-screen vertical video, with the ability to interact with other users while watching videos.
The...
Instagram Bringing Direct Messages to the Web
Starting today, Instagram is bringing direct messaging options to the web. As noted by The Verge, a small number of Instagram's global users can access their direct messages from the Instagram website in addition to the iPhone app.
The rollout today to a limited number of customers is just a test, though depending on how it goes a wider rollout could come in the future.
Direct messaging...
Instagram to Start Hiding 'Likes' in the US This Week
Instagram is to begin testing hiding content "likes" in the United States this week. The change will first be rolled out to a limited number of accounts in the U.S., and users of those accounts will still be able to see how many likes they got on their own posts.
The plan was announced at WIRED25 by head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, who also took to Twitter to share the news.
"It's about young ...
Instagram Gains Support for iOS 13's Dark Mode
Popular social networking app Instagram was today updated to add Dark Mode support for iOS 13, introducing a darker theme that activates when Dark Mode is turned on.
The new Dark Mode option is available throughout the app, from viewing the main feed to browsing to the profile. Dark Mode can be accessed by activating Dark Mode on an iPhone running the iOS 13 update.
To get Dark...
