How Instagram Stories' Latest Upload Feature Gives New Meaning to #TBT
You can finally upload any old photo you want.
The Instagram Stories’ takeover of our feeds continues.
The photo-sharing platform confirmed to Inverse that iOS and Android users can now upload any photos or videos from their camera roll to their story. You can do this in the Stories tab by scrolling to choose your photo or video, and tapping to select the older photos you want to share.
Previously, you couldn’t upload images taken more than 24 hours ago. This kept the Stories feed fairly current, with the help of daily ephemeral uploads.
But in the spirit of making Stories an inescapable feature on the ‘Gram, the Facebook-owned company is giving users the chance to share throwbacks they may have missed uploading live.
“Just like you normally would, swipe up from the camera to open your camera roll or tap the gallery icon,” Instagram’s official blog says.
When you upload an older photo or video with the new update, it automatically stamps the screen with a time sticker to show when it was taken. You can choose to remove the timestamp, but that helps you add context for when it was taken.
The new update is yet another interface rollout following the recently added Stories feature, which included previews and the Stories section’s appearance throughout the scroll feed.
The older-photos-upload feature will be useful for brands and influencers, which used to rely on third-party apps to upload older photos. However, the average Instagram user will appreciate the freedom to share #TBTs of past adventures like vacations or concerts in Stories.
It’s been a banner week for social platforms giving users freedom after previously expecting them to adapt to limiting features. This week saw the announcements of Twitter expanding character use from 140 to 280, while Snap revealed an upcoming app overhaul to simplify the user experience.
