In 2016, Instagram introduced Stories, a feature heavily inspired by Snapchat. Fast forward to 2018, Instagram Stories had twice as many daily active users as Snapchat. All this thanks to the user-friendly interface and the interesting features that Instagram adds regularly.
Contents1. Use the built-in portrait mode2. Add face above photos3. Share highlights4. Add multiple photos and videos5. Post stories longer than 15 seconds6. Add a color block to a story7. Add interactive stickers8. Blur background (pop-up card)9. Change pen size10. See all colors11. Remove date from old photos12. Share posts in stories13. History of regramme14. Silent story 15. Enable Story Notifications Conclude!
While some features are visible to the naked eye, others are buried under – hidden in menus or gestures. But do not worry. We've done the dirty work for you.
You do not know where to start ? I recommend that you check out the basic Instagram Stories FAQ. Once you're done, keep reading to find the best Instagram stories tips, tricks, and hacks.
Most of today's smartphones boast portrait mode, a feature that blurs the background of an image to sharply focus on the subject and give the appearance of having been shot with a high-end DSLR camera. If you have such a smartphone, you are in luck. But if you don't, Instagram is here for you. It provides a native portrait mode which goes by the name of Focus.
To use it, tap the Story icon in the top left corner of the Instagram app. Then, on the Story screen, swipe left on the modes at the bottom until you see Focus mode. Now all you have to do is focus on the face and the rest of the image will be blurry.
Sometimes we want to overlay our selfie over an image. Guess what? You can do this in Instagram Stories. The only downside is that you can't add an existing image or use the rear camera to click on one. You must take a new selfie using the front camera to add it.
To do this, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Story mode and capture a new photo or upload an existing photo.
Step 2: On the Edit screen, tap the Sticker icon. Then tap the camera sticker.
Step 3: A small camera interface will open. Tap it to capture your selfie. Then press it again to choose between different modes.
I assume you already know how to create story highlights from archives. Interestingly, you can now share highlights with your friends on and off Instagram.
To do this, open the Instagram profile whose highlight you want to share. Then hold down the highlight and from the pop-up menu select Send To if you want to share the highlights via Instagram DM. If you want to share via another app, tap Copy link. Then paste the copied link where you want to share it.
Note: You can share yours and other highlights.
By the way, did you know that you can download and save Instagram highlights?
Previously, uploading multiple photos or videos to Instagram was cumbersome. You had to repeat the steps individually for each file. Luckily, Instagram now lets you add multiple photos and videos to Stories at once.
To do this, follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to Story Mode and tap the Gallery icon.
Step 2: Then tap on the small layered icon in the upper right corner. Once done, small selection bubbles will appear in the upper right corner of each file in the gallery view. Now select the files you want to download.
Step 3: Tap each photo in the carousel at the bottom to edit them. Finally, hit the Next button and share them in your story.
If you post a lot of stories, you must be annoyed that Instagram won't allow you to post one longer than 15 seconds. Today is your lucky day, because we will tell you how to overcome this restriction.
Basically, all you have to do is cut your video into smaller videos. No, you don't have to do it manually. Many third-party apps are available and do this automatically. On Android, download Story Cutter for Instagram and on iPhone, use CutStory.
And then you can post Stories longer than 15 seconds from your Android or iPhone.
Tip: Instagram Stories are 1080px (wide) by 1920px (tall) with an aspect ratio of 9:16.Interested in adding a solid background color to your Instagram story? Want to hear a secret? You do not need to download a template from the Internet. Instagram provides a very simple way but it remains hidden under the options.
Here are the steps:
Step 1: Go to story mode and capture a new image or upload one from the gallery.
Step 2: Tap the pen icon at the top.
Step 3: Once you see the colors at the bottom, select a color of your choice. Then hold anywhere on the image until the color fills the image.
Instagram offers a wide variety of interactive stickers such as polls, emoji slider, and the recently introduced question sticker. You can use these stickers to get response from your followers. Tap the sticker icon and select a sticker to add them.
Pro Tip :Use the search at the top of stickers to easily find stickers.
You must have used the native feature to add posts to your stories. Want to give them some class without skimping on the details? Using this method, the post will be in focus with your or someone else's profile in the background. And the background will be blurred as if captured in portrait mode.
Here's how to achieve it. Navigate to the profile whose post you want to share. On their feed, hold down the photo. Without releasing your finger, take a screenshot. Then upload the screenshot to your story.
Instagram provides four pens for doodling on photos. Like other apps, you can change the pen size to suit your needs. To do this, tap the pen icon in story mode, then drag the slider on the left side up to increase or down to decrease in size.
Looking at the color options at the bottom for a pen or text present, you would think that Instagram provides a limited set of colors. My dear friend, Instagram has a full color palette hidden inside. To see it, simply hold down any of the colors at the bottom to reveal the palette.
If you want to use a color from the image only, tap the color picker tool and select a color of your choice.
I'm sure you already know how to add old gallery photos to your stories. The thing is, when you add an old photo, Instagram automatically adds the date the photo was taken as a sticker. Well, if you thought the sticker is permanent, you'd be wrong. You can delete it. To do this, hold the sticker and simply drag it to the trash can icon that appears at the bottom.
If you like your own or someone else's post, you can put it in your story. No, you do not need to take a screenshot. Instagram offers an option to do so. Once you've shared it to your story, the post is clickable. This means that users can directly access this post through your story. Nice, huh?
Note: You can share posts from public profiles only.Here's how:
Step 1: Go to the post you want to share on your story. Then tap the Send To icon.
Step 2: On the Send to screen, you will see an option Add a post to your story. Press it. You will be taken to the story editing screen. You can add stickers, text or doodles to it.
You can always disable the option to prevent others from adding your posts to their stories.
If someone mentions you in their story, you will be notified via DM. If you want, you can share the same story on your profile. Basically, re-gram (repost) stories. To do this, once you receive the message that someone mentioned you, tap on the Add to your story option.
Many people regularly post stories on Instagram. But we don't want to watch everyone's stories even if we follow them. Normally they will always appear while you are checking stories. To avoid them, Instagram allows you to mute Stories.
For example, I follow many brands that regularly post stories that interest me the least. While I want to continue following their posts, I don't want to watch their stories. Fortunately, using the mute option helps.
To mute stories, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open the Instagram profile you want to deactivate and tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner.
Step 2 :Then press Mute. You will get a pop-up window. Tap Mute Story. Also, in case you want to reactivate a story, repeat the steps and tap Activate Story.
Alternatively, when they post a story, hold their story icon on the home screen. Then select Mute from the context menu.
On the other hand, if you like someone's stories so much that you want to be notified every time they post one, Instagram has an option for that too.
Go to Instagram profile and tap the three dots icon in the top right corner. From the menu, select Enable Story Notifications.
Note: You will only get this setting if the user has an active story on their profile.
Phew! These are the coolest tricks related to Instagram stories. Let us know if we missed any in the comments below.
