Since 2010, when Instagram, the photo based sharing app was launched, it has been attracting the users with its digital filters, Instagram direct, 15-second video sharing and more. With the Instagram stories introduced, it has attracted more users, beating Snapchat at its own game.
Well, most of the features of Instagram stories are widely used. Yet, there are many other features which are hidden. Lets unveil the hidden and not so obvious features of Instagram Stories.
1. Use All The Colors:
Instagram gives you 27 preset color options by default but what if you want more colors to choose from. Don’t worry, there is a way. Type Aa or the pen icon to open the text or the brush tool. Now, long tap on the present slider to get the full-color spectrum. Choose the color you like!
2. Add Background Music to Your Videos
Although there are hundreds of video editing tools which lets you add music to your videos. Not everybody wants to use editing tools to add background music. Instagram can record any song playing on your phone. All you need to do is, play any desired song on your phone and start recording a story video on Instagram.
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3. Create a Solid Background
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You can share photos, videos, even text and drawings with Instagram. While sending text or drawing, people like to send the image with a solid background.
Now, you might be wondering how to send a text or drawing with a solid background! Luckily, Instagram has this great feature to create solid backgrounds right away.
All you need to do is, after capturing a picture, tap on pen icon. You will be provided with the colors to select from for the solid background. Now, long tap on the screen for three seconds approx, you will see that your screen is filled with the solid background with the color selected.
Moreover, you can also create a semi-transparent background, instead of pen icon, select the chisel-tip pen and repeat the process.
4. One-Finger Zoom While Recording Video
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While uploading Instagram story’s video, if you want to focus in on a particular area, you can do it very easily. All you need to do is, while recording the video, hold the record button and slowly slide your finger up or down to zoom in or zoom out. Good thing is, it also works with the “Hands-free” video mode.
5. Use Your Selfie As A Sticker
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Adding your selfie as a sticker is also a stolen idea from Snapchat. With this feature, you can give a feel to stories with your photos, time, location and more.
To add a selfie, click a picture and tap on the stickers icon. Now, tap on the camera icon and adjust yourself or the object within the circle shown to make it the sticker for the story. Once you took the shot for the sticker, you can tap on it to select from a few different frames.
6. Post Photos Taken Beyond 24 Hours
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The fact that Instagram Story showcases events within 24 hours that mean you can only post pictures taken within 24 hours. This is not fair, right! Although, there is a workaround to it.
Let’s say, you need to share a photo taken a week ago, you can take a screenshot of the image, in that case, the current timestamp will be added to the image and Instagram would believe that the picture was taken within 24 hours. There is only one disadvantage to it which is the slight reduction of photo quality.
7. Download Your Story
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It is very easy to download your stories from Instagram. Even if you have not posted a story yet, you get an option to Save it with the Save option at the left-hand corner of your screen. You can also save posted story, open the story, tap on three dots-> Click Save Photo. The story would get saved in your Gallery/Camera Roll. However, You can’t download other’s story using this trick but you can always take a screenshot of their story.
These are features of Instagram stories that are not highlighted that much but can be very useful.