Posts

Instagram is coming to iPad, 15 years later

Image
After years of requests from users, Instagram will finally have a dedicated app for iPad. Beginning Wednesday, September 3rd, users are able to download the new app built specifically for Apple’s tablet. But it will be slightly different than the mobile app users are accustomed to. Most significantly, the iPad app will open directly to a feed of Reels, the company’s TikTok competitor — perhaps a sign of the short-form-video times. Back in April, reporting indicated that Meta was working on an iPad app for Instagram after years of dragging its feet, in part prompted by the legally and politically iffy spot TikTok found itself in. For years, Instagram for iPad was something to tackle “at some point” — until its biggest competitor was facing what would effectively be a ban in the US. From this perspective, opening the app straight to Reels makes perfect sense. Other features will be available on iPad: Stories will still line the top of the homepage, and users will be abl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meta’s AI translation tool can dub your Instagram videos

Image
Meta is bringing its AI translation tool to more users on Facebook and Instagram, which automatically dubs your reels into another language. The feature also uses AI to make its dub match up with the sound of your voice and the movement of your mouth. For now, you can only translate your reels from English to Spanish (and vice versa), similar to what Meta previewed during its Connect event last year. You can enable the tool by selecting the Translate voices with Meta AI toggle on the menu that appears before you publish a reel on Instagram and Facebook. Meta also gives you the option to add lip-syncing to your dubbed video, as well as review it before publishing. Facebook and Instagram will automatically surface translated reels to users in their preferred language. Your videos will also have a tag that discloses that it was translated using Meta AI. The translation tool is rolling out now to Facebook creators with 1,000 or more followers and all public Instagram ac...
Post a Comment
Read more

Instagram’s Map is here, and this is how you can turn your location off

Image
It’s only been a couple of days since the Instagram Map launched , and from the looks of our social feeds, people are not happy about it. Responses have ranged from being mildly annoyed that Instagram is ripping off Snapchat’s Snap Maps instead of offering a default feed that only contains your friends’ posts, to high alert outrage about possibly privacy implications and doxing, as well as how domestic violence victims or others could be put at risk of stalking via the app. Meta says the feature is an “opt-in” only way to share your active location with the friends you choose, or a way to browse the content friends and creators are posting, organized by the locations tagged to their posts and Reels. How to turn your location off on the Instagram Map If the only thing you want to do is turn Instagram Maps location sharing off, here’s Instagram’s instructions on how to make sure the feature is disabled within the app (on both Android and iOS): Tap Messages in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Instagram adds a reposts feed and rips off Snap Maps

Image
Instagram is getting several new features that pull from competitors, and it’s updating a controversial feature that it added earlier this year. Starting today , users will have the ability to repost public Reels and grid posts from other accounts. And similar to TikTok, reposts will be collected in a designated tab on your profile and sprinkled into the feeds of people who follow you. It’s a small but meaningful shift from how Instagram currently operates: until now, the most efficient way to share other users’ content was to repost it on your Instagram Story. Now, you can essentially reblog it. Instagram is also pulling from Snapchat and adding an opt-in location map that lives in your private messages. The map shows the last active location for friends who have opted in to the feature; it also pulls content from specific locations, such as a music festival, where many people are posting from. It’s the Snap Map but redesigned for Instagram. Finally, Instagram is upda...
Post a Comment
Read more

Instagram changes its algorithm after being accused of steering predators to children

Image
Instagram accounts that primarily feature images of children, but are run by adult users, will no longer be recommended to “potentially suspicious adults.” The update was announced in a blog post detailing the latest expansion of Meta’s child safety features, which includes new blocking and reporting capabilities for teenagers and additional protections for adult-managed accounts that feature children. This comes after a 2023 lawsuit accused Facebook and Instagram of becoming a “ marketplace for predators in search of children ,” claiming that Meta’s platforms “allowed users to search for, like, share, and sell a crushing volume of [child sexual abuse material].” The same year, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal found that Instagram’s recommendation algorithms were actively promoting networks of pedophiles .  Meta has since introduced a variety of online safety features for Facebook and Instagram users who are under 18 , and some of these are now being e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Instagram isn’t just for square photos anymore

Image
Instagram now supports photos that have a 3:4 aspect ratio, meaning that when you upload a photo with that ratio, “it’ll now appear just exactly as you shot it,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri says in a Threads post . He also notes that “almost every phone camera defaults to” that format. An image from Instagram’s broadcast channel shows how the change makes a difference. You can already post images with a rectangular aspect ratio of 4:5, but with 3:4, your photo won’t be cropped at the ends. 3:4 photos are supported with single-photo uploads and with carousels, according to the channel. If you want, you can still post photos with a square or 4:5 aspect ratio. The change follows Instagram’s move in January to make profile grids feature rectangles instead of squares. “At this point, most of what’s uploaded, both photos and videos, are vertical in their orientation,” Mosseri said at the time. * This article was originally published here
Post a Comment
Read more

Google says Instagram fixed a battery drain issue on Android

Image
If you’ve been having unusual battery drain issues on your Pixel phone lately, Instagram might be to blame. In a new support post , Google says that Instagram has updated its app to address the issue. The fix comes in Instagram version 382.0.0.49.84, which you can grab from Google Play now. If you don’t see the option to update, it could be that you’ve already got it. You can check by long-pressing the Instagram app, tapping “App info,” then scrolling to the bottom to look for the version number.  It looks like Instagram may have been responsible for complaints about battery drain on Pixel devices since a Pixel software update earlier this month. 9to5Google reports that, when asked about the battery drain issue, Google pointed to the support post announcing the Instagram update. The outlet wrote in mid-May that the issue seemed to impact every Pixel model that got the May update, from the Pixel 6 through the Pixel 9. It’s not clear whether other Android phones were hit ...
Post a Comment
Read more