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Instagram may soon offer a soundtrack for your Stories
With recent music licensing deals between Facebook and record labels like Sony, Warner Music, Universal and other European publishers, it would seem as if Facebook, and by extension Instagram, is uniquely poised to bring soundtracks to shared videos. According to a report at TechCrunch, it seems as if some code in the Instagram Android app could point to new music features like stickers that would let you find and add copyrighted music to your Stories from places like Spotify or SoundCloud.
Recommended Reading: The 'Stories' invasion won't relent anytime soon
Why 'Stories' Took Over Your Smartphone Ian Bogost, The Atlantic Snapchat may have created the monster, but in nearly every social (and some not-so-social) app you fire up, you'll be greeted with a feed of Stories. In fact, Facebook says the format is on pace to be more popular than a primary feed as the preferred way to share updates. The Atlantic explains how the ephemeral format took over your phone and why it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Snapchat backtracks on its redesign to highlight friends' Stories
When Snap unveiled its giant Snapchat redesign in fall 2017, it was emphatic that your friends' content would remain separate from superstars and media giants. The company might be having second thoughts about that strategy, though. Snap has confirmed to Recode that it's testing a Snapchat change that would put your friends' Stories in the Discover section alongside all the others, effectively reverting to its old model. A spokesperson explained the move only by noting that Snap is "always listening to our community" and will "continue to test updates" that might improve the experience, but there are some potential explanations.
Instagram Stories now allows multiple photo and video uploads at once
Instagram will now let users upload multiple pictures and videos to their Stories at once. When uploading media, you'll now see an icon at the top right corner of your screen and tapping it will allow you to select up to ten photos or videos at a time. They'll upload in the order in which you select them and you can edit each one individually. Additionally, when sharing a photo, even if you're not in the area where you took it, Instagram's location sticker will suggest places near the spot where you snapped the photo.
Zuckerberg reportedly asked Instagram to copy Snapchat Stories
It's no secret that Instagram has had serious Snapchat envy for a while, but what got the ball rolling? If you believe Bloomberg, it's none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself. A source talking to the news outlet claimed that Instagram's founders refused to replicate Snapchat's Stories feature until the Facebook CEO personally asked for the feature. He was concerned Instagram was going to miss out on a whole generation if it didn't shake up its product, the insider said.
Snapchat revives its chronological Stories feed for some users
The Snapchat team may have acknowledged that some aspects of its big redesign haven't gone over well. Some users have reported seeing the Stories feed revert to the classic chronological order, rather than the algorithmically sorted feed influenced by services like Instagram. It's unclear whether this is a test, part of a full-scale switch or something else entirely. We've asked Snap for comment.
Netflix is bringing video previews to its mobile apps
A year after introducing video previews on its TV experience, Netflix is now planning to bring the feature to its mobile apps. The company announced today this will be rolling out in April, noting that it was developed to help make it easier and faster for users to find content on their smartphone. As you might expect, the execution here looks different: These mobile video previews are vertical, which makes them feel similar to Snapchat or Instagram stories. Once they launch, you'll see a new section dubbed "Previews" when you open the Netflix app, and you'll be able to browse them by swiping left on each one.
Snapchat adds Giphy's GIF stickers to liven up your Stories
Usually you see Instagram borrowing features from Snapchat, but the reverse is true this time around. Snapchat has added GIF stickers from Giphy's library to its Android and iOS apps, giving you a considerably wider selection to choose from when crafting your Stories -- just like Instagram did a few weeks ago. The stickers are singled out in the app when you search for them, so you don't have to wade through regular Snap-created stickers if you're looking for some variety. There are some interface tweaks coming along for the ride, too.
Snapchat gives influencers a look at how popular they really are
To date, Snapchat hasn't shown any more data to its biggest users than its everyday audience -- DJ Khaled and Chrissy Teigen probably know as much about their success as you do. That's about to change. The Snap team will offer a wide range of viewer data to the "tens of thousands" of popular users creating official Stories. That includes not only the views themselves (including how many people watched to the end), but demographics like age group, gender, regions and preferred topics. If creators are hip with the teens or have the beauty market cornered, they'll know.
Google plans Snapchat-esque stories for mobile search results
Assuming you have a basic understanding of social media and haven't been living under a rock for the last year, you're going to be familiar with "Stories" -- full screen displays of content that you can swipe or tap through, which are available for a limited time. Snapchat got the ball rolling, Instagram got on board, Facebook followed suit, and now Google is getting in on the action, following the initial report it would back in August. According to a Google blog post, "AMP Stories" are in the works, and soon they could completely shake up the look of your search results.
Instagram test lets some share other users' posts in Stories
Instagram is currently testing a feature that would let users share others' posts in their Stories, TechCrunch reports. It's only being tested with a small number of Instagram users and there's no guarantee that it will see a full rollout, but since people tend to screenshot others' content and add it to their Stories anyway, this seems like a useful tool that Instagram users would take advantage of. Instagram told us, "We're always testing ways to make it easier to share any moment with friends on Instagram."
Instagram lets you skip the photos with text-only Stories
Instagram is a photo- and video-centric social network by its very nature, but that doesn't mean you always want to share images along with your thoughts. And now, you don't have to. The service is releasing a Type Mode for Stories that, as the name implies, lets you write with a creative flair while skipping the pressure to use pictures. Switch to a new Type section and you can jot down whatever you like while choosing little more than a font style and background. You can produce a deep confessional or a clever transition without having to think about composing a shot, although you can add them (or other flourishes) if you'd like.
Ads in Instagram Stories are about to get worse
More ads are coming to Instagram. This time, the photo-minded social network is upping the amount brands can put into Stories. Now, instead of one photo or video in an advertiser's Story, there can be up to three. Coca-Cola, movie studio Paramount and Gap clothing are working with the new tools, but the social network says more brands will have the functionality soon enough. If you're trying to get through your friends' Stories quickly, this will probably prove annoying. But, you can always back out to the main feed and tap on each friend to see their evaporating photos and video instead of letting everything auto-play.
Twitter may copy Snapchat to make video sharing easier
Poor Snapchat. Everything it does gets copied by everyone from Facebook to Skype to Google and now Twitter seems to be on the Snapchat-aping bandwagon. Bloomberg reports that the company is working on a feature that will make it easier for users to post videos than its current multi-step setup allows. Rather than tapping the compose button, then the camera button, then the record button, this new feature is reportedly more camera-centric and simpler to navigate.
Instagram Stories harness the power of Giphy for animated stickers
You don't need to use another app to put GIF stickers all over your pictures before uploading them to Instagram Stories anymore. Next time you add a photo or a video to your story, you'll find a new GIF option within the usual sticker menu accessible via the icon on the top left portion of the screen. You can look through all the animated stickers available -- powered by Giphy, of course -- or you can search for specific categories.
Snapchat Stories are coming to the web
Snap calls itself a camera company, and today it's taking a big step towards the proliferation of content beyond the confines of Snapchat. As rumored, the company will allow iOS and Android users to share select stories outside of the app (the same way you'd share a mobile web link or tweet). At launch, the feature is limited to content from Snapchat's Discover media partners, Our Stories from events and places and stories from the search bar.
Facebook is testing the ability to create Stories on PC
Unlike its Instagram counterpart, Facebook Stories hasn't been doing as well. The social network even launched Instagram-to-Facebook crossposting and merged it with one of its other Snapchat clones, Messenger Day, over the past few months in an effort to get more people to use it. But it doesn't look like Facebook is giving up on it anytime soon -- according to TechCrunch, the company has begun testing the ability to post Stories straight from desktop. It's also testing a new design that puts Stories above the desktop News Feed, similar to the feature's more prominent placement on mobile. At the moment, you can view Stories on desktop, but you can find them on the side bar instead of in the middle of the page.
Instagram is testing a text-based 'Type' feature for Stories
Instagram keeps updating its Stories feature lately with new additions to keep things interesting. The company recently added polls, a way to surface past Stories and has been experimenting with cross-posts to WhatsApp. Now, according to a report at The Next Web, the latest Stories addition is something called Type, which gives you a number of new fonts to type your message across a background or photo as part of your Story.
Instagram experiments with cross-posting stories to WhatsApp
Over the past year, Facebook unleashed updates that make its Snapchat-like features less fractured and more streamlined. Based on a new test the company is running, it knows its job is far from done: according to TechCrunch, some users in Brazil are seeing an experimental tool that gives them a way to crosspost Instagram Stories to WhatsApp's Status feature. A Brazilian blog has posted a screenshot of an Instagram Story showing the tool on the lower-left corner of its interface.
Snapchat Stories may be coming to the web
Snapchat may have a new way to fight Facebook's me-too efforts: make Stories available beyond its mobile app. A Cheddar source has claimed that Snap is working on Stories Everywhere, which (surprise) would make Stories available on the web and other apps. It's reportedly in the early stages, but there would be an embedded web player that would encourage you to download the Snapchat app. It's not certain when the feature would be available.
