Instagram is working on Vertical TikTok-like Stories feed

Posted on by Prakhar Khanna

Instagram has been pushing out updates to its app right and left. The desktop app recently received support for a carousel view of Stories. Now, it looks like the company is working on overhauling the design of its Stories on the mobile app. Instagram has confirmed that it is working on Vertical Stories, which will give it a more TikTok-like feel. As of now, users browse Stories through horizontal swipes and taps. The navigation was picked up from Snapchat. Now, the social media app is inclining towards the look and feel of TikTok.

Vertical swiping is how you interact with the web and browse websites and most of the social media apps including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram’s own feeds. It is likely a more natural form of navigation than taps and horizontal swipes. TechCrunch reports Instagram confirmed the development of the feature. Further, the company would likely prioritize video posts over images to better compete with TikTok in the “Vertical Stories” feed. The new feature was also spotted by the developer Alessandro Paluzzi.

As you can see from his screenshot, the text reads: “Now you can swipe up and down to browse stories“ and then a big, blue button labeled “Vertical Stories. That said, the feature is not yet live, and he dug up the feature in Instagram’s code. “This is an early prototype and is not currently testing on Instagram,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. The feature isn’t out for public yet.

It must be noted that the presence of Instagram Vertical Stories is a prototype and it doesn’t mean the product will launch in public. However, it does reveal where Instagram is going with its approach. The vertical feed is already enabled in Instagram’s Reels. When you click on the Reels video here, you’re taken to a new vertical user interface.

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Instagram’s carousel view for Stories on desktop goes live

Posted on by Prakhar Khanna

Instagram has been on an update streak. While it has been updating the design and overall look of the mobile app, the desktop version isn’t being ignored. The latter received support for DMs last year. Recently, it was reported that Instagram is testing a new interface to view its Stories on desktop. Now, the feature has allegedly gone live. When you get the update, the navigation will remain the same, but you will start seeing a new look for Stories that as of now, appear in a single tile.

As per The Verge, Instagram is updating its Stories feature on desktop so that it opens up to show a carousel of videos. It previews what’s cued up next and the content that just played. Here, viewers can click on whatever story they want to watch. This might be a minor change but it would be particularly beneficial for those who use Instagram on a desktop on a regular basis.

Up until now, browsing Stories from your desktop hasn’t been ideal. The Stories appear in a single tile that takes up the entire page. However, it is now changing. Instagram has started rolling out a new interface for Stories on a desktop. With the new look, Stories appear in a carousel rather than a single tile. The navigation remains the same – you can let the Stories play automatically or manually click through them. There is no option to swipe to the next person’s story.

That said, it is now easier to keep track of where you are in your Stories queue. You can now view the last few people’s stories and the next few in a queue, while a single story appears in front of you. The new interface of Instagram on the desktop makes it a cleaner user experience. We hope Instagram is also working on its iPad app.

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Instagram is testing carousel view for Stories on desktop

Posted on by Prakhar Khanna

Instagram has been pushing out updates to its app continuously. While it has been updating the design and overall look of the mobile app, the desktop version isn’t being ignored. The latter received support for DMs last year. Now, Instagram is testing a new interface to view its Stories on desktop. As per a report, the navigation will remain the same, but you will start seeing a new look for Stories that as of now, appear in a single tile.

The latest development comes from a report via Engadget. The publication reports that a spokesperson confirmed the test. The new Stories interface started appearing to a “small group” of Instagram users last month. However, the spokesperson didn’t comment on when it might be more widely available. Plus, it is not clear exactly how many users are seeing the new look.

As of now, browsing Stories from your desktop isn’t ideal. The Stories appear in a single tile that takes up the entire page. However, it might change in the coming months. The company has started testing a new interface for Stories on a desktop. With the new look, Stories appear in a carousel rather than a single tile. The navigation remains the same – you can let the Stories play automatically or manually click through them. There is no option to swipe to the next person’s story. That said, it is now easier to keep track of where you are in your Stories queue. You can now view the last few people’s stories and the next few in a queue, while a single story appears in front of you,

Further, there is no confirmation if the change will be permanent. However, if this change rolls out to a wider audience, it will make Instagram on desktop a cleaner user experience. It would be particularly beneficial for those who use Instagram on a desktop on a regular basis.

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Instagram Live videos can now last for over 24 hours by saving them to IGTV

Posted on by Lee Kelly

Instagram Live’s popularity has surged lately, as more artists and influencers are now turning to it for interacting with their fans and followers. But live streams only stick around for 24 hours in Stories before they disappear, which means if you missed it, they’re gone.

Thankfully, Instagram now lets users share their livestream videos to IGTV, the companion app that is dedicated to long-form videos. Once a Live video ends, users will now see a new “Share to IGTV” option that will allow them to move those videos to IGTV. Here’s a tweet from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announcing the same:

On IGTV, those videos will be available for longer than 24 hours, which means viewers will have a chance to catch their favorite artist’s live video if they missed the live stream. A more robust alternative is to simply download the video and post it on platforms such as YouTube where it can be discovered more easily.

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