Not that we’ll ever accuse Instagram of being boring, but get ready for the latest batch of some even more-than-usual exciting features on one of your favourite social media apps! Instagram, this week, announced a number of new updates to Instagram Stories, including the addition of music to the stories. This is the first time users can include music on Instagram, as the perfect soundtrack to their stories. You’re going to love browsing through Instagram’s library of songs to find the one that best suits your story. The fact that you don’t just browse by song title or genre, but also by mood, is a pretty cool feature.
- Once you select a song, you can fast-forward and rewind through the track to choose that part of the song that best fits your story.
- After capturing your photo or video, you can add music by tapping the sticker button and selecting the music sticker. When friends see your story, the song will automatically play for them. They’ll also see the song title and artist’s name.
Instagram also launched some other features this week, including:
- Video Chat – You can now video chat 1:1 or in groups, with up to four people at a time. This feature is compatible with both iOS or Android, and you can even continue using Instagram while you chat. Multitasking FTW!
- Explore – You’ll now see topic channels in Explore, which will allow you to control how you navigate posts you’re interested in and mute the ones you don’t want to see.
- Camera Effects – Be prepared for the first new camera effects in Stories, designed by Ariana Grande, Buzzfeed, Liza Koshy, Baby Ariel and the NBA, if you follow any of these accounts.
Instagram Stories is now used by over 400 million people daily. Music in Stories will be available in select countries, with a global roll-out in the future.
