Heading: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Instagram Stories on Android
Whether you are a regular user of Instagram Stories or not, there’s no denying that they have become an essential part of the platform. Initially, many people were skeptical of Instagram Stories as they seemed to serve the same purpose as the home feed. However, Stories were introduced to help users update their followers quickly on their daily experiences from their Android smartphones without cluttering their home feed with multiple posts.
Posting an Instagram Story is relatively fast as no captions, hashtags, or mentions are needed. However, if you have more free time, you can add stickers, effects, animated GIFs, and filters to make them exciting and engaging. In this post, we will delve into the fascinating world of Instagram Stories and how to use all their features, which is why Instagram is considered one of the best Android apps.
Understanding Instagram Stories
You might be wondering what sets an Instagram Story apart from a post that appears in your home feed. By default, Stories do not appear in your home feed, although they can be shared once they are posted. Nonetheless, just like posts on the home feed, you can upload a photo, multiple photos, or a video that can last for up to 60 seconds. After 24 hours, your Stories will vanish from your profile, home feed, and direct message inbox, but you can save them as a story highlight on your profile. A highlight is a group of Stories that appear below your profile picture.
When you post a story, everyone can see it since it is indicated by a colourful ring around your profile picture. Anyone can tap on the picture from their home feed or direct message inbox to view your stories. When viewing, they can navigate to the next slide by tapping either side of their mobile phone. People who follow you can also see your profile picture at the top row of their home feed and tap on it to view your stories.
How to Create an Instagram Story
To begin, open the Instagram app on your Android device. On your home feed, tap the ‘plus’ symbol at the top of the screen or swipe right. If ‘Story’ is not yet selected, tap on it at the bottom of the screen. You can add content to your Story in three ways. Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to take a photo, or hold the white circle to record a video. Alternatively, swipe up to access your phone’s image gallery and choose a photo. If you opt to take a live photo or record a live video, you can swipe right on the white circle to choose different live effects. You can also switch to the back camera by tapping the icon with two arrows in the bottom right corner.
Once you have taken a photo or video or chosen one from your device, you can augment it with creative tools such as text, stickers, filters, drawing, and video muting. You can also cycle through and apply filters by swiping left or right on the screen. Before posting your story, you can save it on your phone by tapping the three dots in the top right corner of the screen and choosing ‘Save.’ When you are ready to post, click either ‘Your Story’ or ‘Close Friends’ (if you have a Close Friends list on Instagram) at the bottom of the screen.
Other Capturing Modes on Instagram
If you are looking to add more creativity to your Stories, one of the several capturing modes below may suit your needs.
Create: This mode lets you create a story without a photo or video from the start. By tapping ‘Create’ on the left-hand side of the screen, you can type in your text on the screen. Alternatively, you can swipe the white circle at the bottom of the screen to browse through several other options such as shoutouts, GIFs, templates, on this day, questions, countdowns, and quizzes. Most options allow you to change the background colour by clicking on the coloured circle at the bottom right corner of the screen. When you are satisfied with your selection, tap ‘Next’ at the top right corner of the screen. You can then use the creative tools to add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting.
Boomerang: This tool captures several photos one after the other, puts them together, and then loops them forward and backward in a quick succession. To use Boomerang, click on it on the left-hand side of the screen. You can then swipe right on the white circle to apply live effects. As you move your camera, it takes several burst photos, which you can adjust by choosing classic, slowmo, echo, or duo. You can further embellish your photos with text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story to make them more engaging.
Layout: Layout allows you to add up to six photos to a single story. You can choose from five grid options featuring two grids for two photos, two grids for four photos, and one grid for six photos. After tapping on “Layout” on the left-hand side of the screen, click the grid icon below it to select your preferred grid. Click on the white circle to start taking photos, swipe right on the white circle to apply live effects before taking the photo or add photos from your gallery. Once you have all your photos, tap the “plus” button at the bottom of the screen to proceed. Apply text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story before posting.
Hands-Free: This mode allows you to take photos without holding your phone. Tap ‘Hands-Free’ on the left-hand side of the screen and then click on the white circle once to start recording. You may choose to tap and hold it to activate a three-second countdown, after which it will start recording. You can also swipe right on the white circle to cycle through and apply live effects before starting the recording. You can stop it manually by clicking on the white circle again or go up to 60 seconds. Finally, add text, stickers, effects, and drawings to your Story.
Dual: This mode utilizes both your front and rear cameras. You’ll see a view of your front-facing camera in a small window that you can move around the screen. Click ‘Dual’ on the left-hand side of the screen, then tap the white circle once to take a photo or tap and hold it to take a video using both cameras. You can then proceed with the creative tools to add text, stickers to your Dual Story.
In Conclusion
Instagram Stories are an exciting way to share snippets of your day-to-day activities. Among the interesting Stories features you can use are GIFs, filters, stickers, text, and drawing tools to create dynamic Stories. Now that you are familiar with Instagram Stories’ numerous features, you can start experimenting with them on your Android device to make your stories more engaging and interactive.
