Tag: instagram

Tried and Tested : Instagram’s New Collage Making App ‘Layout’

Instagram, the photo sharing app has been growing rapidly. It has overtaken Twitter in terms of the number of subscribers on its service. Its success has lead to a number of third party apps which let users add elements like collage, stickers and other add-on’s on their “grams”. The company has now introduced a new standalone app called Layout which lets users create collages from their camera rolls.

We checked it out, so you didn’t have to:

With Layout, Instagram seems to want to take on the multiple apps that its subscribers use for their photos on the service. Instagram users have been found to proactively use apps like Pic Stitch, Pic Collage, InstaCollage, PhotoGrid, and others. By having its own collage making app, Instagram can keep those users in its own ecosystem.

The first thing you see when you get into the app is the camera roll. Here you can select the pictures you want to include in your collage. Once you select the images you want to use, Layout gives you custom layouts that you can choose from. At once, a user can select up to 9 images. Each selection is instantly visualized in the photo grid.

Choose a layout

Instagram wanted to give a better user interface to the users in comparison to the conventional collage makers in the app store. Layout packs in unique features like faces, photo booth and easy to use editing options.

With Faces, you can filter out the unwanted snaps in your camera roll and keep only the ones with people’s faces in them. Instagram found that 90% of all the collages on its service consist of faces, so it makes it easy for users to skip through the random WhatsApp images and only have pictures with people in it.

Choose a layout

The Mirror feature

The Mirror Feature

Easy Sharing

The Photobooth feature was essential for an app like Instagram and its one of the most fun things to do at a party. The photobooth button on Layout starts a countdown timer and then takes a bunch of images which are laid out on the grid.

Layout makes editing the collage real easy. It offers intuitive options which most users will find easy to use. It lets you pinch and zoom the images to define the size and also enables you to pan the snaps. A replace option allows you to go back to the photo roll to change an undesired image. Layout also allows you to mirror the images and add some creative elements to your collages.

Once your images are done, you can save them on your device or share them on your preferred social networks including Instagram. At present Layout is only available for iOS users but it will be available for Android soon.

March 24, 2015
Instagram Rolls Out One of its Most Significant Updates

When we speak of Instagram, the first thing that hits our mind is a picture-oriented app that narrates stories by means of single pictures. It has been designed to upload one picture at a time with a little description if you want. But now, Instagram is changing the very base of its foundation to help advertisers describe stories through multiple pictures.

The online mobile photo and video-sharing app has debuted a slideshow feature called ‘carousel’ that lets users view to flick a series of photos. From now on, a series of dots will appear below the post to depict that it’s a carousel. One can swipe the pictures left and right to see more images.

The facility to load multiple photos at a time is restricted to advertisers only.

The company wrote on its blog post:

One way to look at it is carousel ads bring the potential of multi-page print campaigns to mobile phones—with the added benefit of taking people to a website to learn more.

Also, there is a ‘learn more’ button at the bottom of the dots that takes user to the advertisers’ website. The format is still not fixed and the company is working for a more systemic and appealing design. The new button will directly push a huge chunk of customers to the advertised website, profiting their business.

The spokeswoman of Instagram announced that it was cracked for brands for experimental purpose, “Once we iterate and see how people engage with the content, [we] may explore the possibility of bringing it to other types of users on Instagram.”

Well, this clearly shows that a stable version for users will soon follow. You can watch the below video to have a clear picture of how carousel works:

March 5, 2015
Facebook and Instagram Hit by an Outage

Facebook server seems to be having some trouble. At the time of writing, the Facebook page showed the standard error text ‘ “Sorry, something went wrong,” if you tried to open the website. The error was reported in Europe and the United States, stating that both Facebook and Instagram appeared to be down.

Facebook brought up an error message telling users that “something went wrong” and the problem would be fixed as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Instagram – a photo uploading site that is owned by Facebook – went to a blank page on the desktop while the mobile application failed to load new data.

There were also some reports that Tinder, a popular dating app was hit by an outage. Facebook and Instagram are now back online after shutting out users for just under an hour. The reason for the outage is unknown as yet.

January 27, 2015
Instagram User Base Surpasses Twitter, Hits 300 Million Monthly Users

Twitter has been around for a while, and has established itself as one of the top social media giants. However, this time around, the photo-sharing Instagram has made its foot firm. Instagram says that now 300 million people use its photo-sharing app every month; this figure was 200 million nine months back.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Kevin Syatrom” author_title=”CEO, Instagram”]

Over the past four years, what began as two friends with a dream has grown into a global community.

[/quote]

The numbers depict the clear picture of the achievement of the app. It is reported that almost 70 million pictures are shared on a daily basis and 30 billion+ in total.

It is also looking out to launch verified badges for famed personalities like celebrities, athletes and brands so that people don’t get fooled by fake accounts. This feature has already been in use by Twitter and Facebook and has helped these websites increase their following.

The new features of Instagram include deactivation and deletion of fake accounts. The recent statistics don’t include the fake account holders.

December 11, 2014
New Instagram Update Introduces a Much-Needed Tool for Bad Spellers

From now on, Instagram users can finally go back and edit typos in their captions as the company has rolled out a new update for the app. Earlier, Instagram did not allow users to tweak captions after a photo or a video had been posted, which was frustrating as it forced them to either delete and re-write the caption entirely or post it as a new comment.

From now on, to edit a caption, users need to tap the menu button and select Edit. Once the caption is edited, there will be a notification in the comments indicating that the post has been edited successfully.

“This has been one of the top requests that we’ve heard from the community, and we’re excited to finally bring it to you today,” Instagram wrote in a blog post.

In addition, the new update has also changed the recently revamped Explore tab, making it easier to find new accounts to follow. The Explore menu, which pops up popular posts, is now split into two tabs – Photos and People. The Photos tab shows the same posts as the Explore version did with the earlier version of the app. While, the new People tab shows recommendations of new accounts to follow.

The update would prove to be a relief for Instagram users as now you can fix those typos with the latest update for iOS and Android.

November 11, 2014
Instagram’s Hyperlapse App Introduces the ‘Selfielapse’ Feature
When Instagram first launched its Hyperlase app almost a month ago, it gave your iPhone the ability to shoot high-speed, time-lapse videos. While the app quickly escalated in the Apple’s Apple store, there was one function that was missing from the app: the ability to take a time-lapsed selfie.

However, the company didn’t overlook this feature, the recent update lets you flip your smartphone to using your front-facing camera in order to take a “selfielapse.”

Instagram also gave some instructions about how to get a perfect ‘selfielapse’.
- Stand still and have a moving background (i.e. Times Square foot traffic, riding a roller coaster).
- Capture yourself walking down the street as your surroundings whirl by.
- Document transformations — getting a new haircut, applying makeup or tying a tie — by propping your phone up against a wall.
- Hold up your phone as you spin around in a chair, or jump on a trampoline.
Since Hyperlapse’s launch, it has been used by artists and even the White House. So far, the most liked Hyperlapse shared to Instagram is this video by photographer David Guttenfelder for National Geographic.

Of course, you can share Hyperlapse videos to Instagram, Facebook, or to your camera roll. The company wouldn’t elaborate on how soon the app would be coming to Android, but commented, “We hope to bring Hyperlapse to Android in the future. Unfortunately, the requisite APIs are not currently available on Android.”
September 26, 2014
The New Timelapse App by Instagram is Awesome and Dead Simple

Facebook’s picture sharing and recently video sharing social network, Instagram, launched a new standalone iOS app called Hyperlapse. It is an unique and extremely easy way to create time lapse videos using Instagram’s stabilization technology and the mobile device’s camera app.

Timelapse photography is a technique that has been used by photographers for years. Pictures are taken at set interims over a long period and after that accelerated in a video to make it look like time is passing rapidly. However, the traditional method of making a time lapse video includes holding the camera still while you film. Hyperlapse from Instagram features built-in stabilization technology that lets you create moving, handheld time lapses.

Instagram’s video stabilization technology is the result of acquisition of Luma in August 2013. The original Luma app enabled users to edit the stabilization, brightness, contrast and saturation of videos recorded on mobile devices. However, Hyperlapse is a little different from traditional time lapse videos. Time lapse images are taken at designated intervals over long periods and is sped up in the final video, as mentioned above. Whereas, Hyperlapse involves moving a camera across a distance as the images are being shot.

This standalone app was the idea of Thomas Dimson and Alex Karpenko, Instagram engineers. The app became so popular among the the Instagram employees that Facebook decided to launch it as a standalone app rather than as an in-app feature.

Hyperlapse app can record up to a total of 45 minutes per video. Once you are done shooting the video, the app has an option of controlling how fast the video will play with options ranging from 1x speed up to a rapid 12x. Videos are saved to the Camera Roll after it is finalized. The app also has an option to share the video on Facebook and Instagram.

Anyhow, the app is at its nascent stage. There is no option of creating hyper lapse of old videos. Also it doesn’t record the sound or have any option of adding background music to the final cut.

Apple, at WWDC event in June, also announced that the camera app in iOS 8 will have a built-in time lapse feature. The Hyperlapse app is now available for Apple devices that are on iOS 7.0 and higher updates. Instagram plans to build an Android version, but there is no launch date yet. It is being said that Google needs to make some adjustment in the camera APIs before the app can be launched for the Android market.

This is the second standalone app that Instagram launched since it was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012. Last month, Instagram launched an ephemeral Snapchat-like photo sharing app called Bolt.

August 27, 2014
iGyaan Giveaway: Win a Gionee Elife E7

Okay we know what you were thinking. We celebrated our 4 year anniversary but no giveaways for you guys. Well we are not the ones to miss an opportunity to appreciate your love for us.

So we are back with our iGyaan Giveaway and this time it’s rather fun, if we do say so ourselves. All you need for this giveaway use a tiny little app called Instagram (you might have already heard of it!) and you can have a Gionee ELife E7 in your pockets.

iGyaan’s Instagram

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Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1

Click a photo of technology. Make it creative; Make it stand apart, just GO CRAZY. Find your passion and just click the hell out of it. Not just that you can also take instagram videos, yes it does that to.

Step 2

Post it on Instagram and/or Facebok with the following tags: #myigtech, #myigtag and #iGyaanGiveaway. You may also want to tag iGyaan’s instagram profile, just a sure shot way of getting your entry through to us.

Thats it!

The best Photo or Video of the day will get featured on iGyaan’s instagram as well as the iGyaan’s Facebook page, we’ll make you famous.

Each weeks best entry will get some goodies but the winner of the Giveaway gets to take home the amazing camera prowess of Gionee ELife 7.

We will announce the close of the contest soon, so bookmark this page.

Remember : Put some effort into clicking a picture! the cleaner and more awesome the picture, the better your chances of winning. Nothing comes easy, put your back into it!

So go ahead and get clicking.

P.S: You might want to give these Terms and Conditions a read, Just for fun…

Latest Entries

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June 13, 2014
Up Your Instagram Game: Top Apps for the Power User
There isn’t a dearth of third party apps which support Instagram. Just to name a few, we have – Insta Frame, Insta Greeting Card, Insta Collage Effect, Insta Photo Fx, Insta Editor, and Insta Split Cam – the list goes on.

We sort through the mess and round up the top apps you should download. They will definitely make you the most Insta-saavy person around.
1. Pixsta
  
  Sometimes we feel that the creators of Instagram purposely made the app with certain restrictions. We can’t think of a reason why they’d only allow us to access our accounts via mobile devices. The desktop version is only useful if you want to scroll through your newsfeed. You can download Pixsta to access it better. Drawbacks? Compared to Instagram, the interface is quite cluttered and they still haven’t figured out a way for us to post pictures.
2. Instasize
  
  We get it, the sole idea of Instagram was to click and share instantly – the style and idea reminiscent of the Polaroid Kodak. But what about all the pictures that have already been clicked in the 4:3 aspect ratio. The kinds we need for Throwback Thursday, Flashback Friday or Way Back Wednesday? This distinctive feature, which restraints us to the square shape, has annoyed us on several occasions. We refuse to stay within the box! Insta Size helps beat the crop box, by re-sizing images.
3. Flipagram
  
  You threw a party and can’t wait to share what an amazing time you had. Instead of boring your followers by posting all the pictures separately, use this app to create a quick video slideshow. You have an option of choosing the speed of the pictures and titles can also be included. It’s the easiest way to tell your story, without the countless posts. Depending on the feel of your party, you can even select your soundtrack.
4. Afterlight
  
  Instagram filters are great and have a knack for making everything more beautiful. But you have to see the adjustment and options that Afterlight has to offer – it gives you further options which make your images look more artistic. You have a varied choice between filters, textures, frames, cropping and transforming tools. A paid app, but worth every penny spent.
May 7, 2014
10 Best Celebrity Instagrams of the Week

This week our news feed was crowded by updates about the IIFA Awards, IPL and inked fingers. Here’s our round up from some of our favourite celebrity Instagrams:

1. Sonankshi Sinha enjoys the lavish life en route to Tampa Bay, Florida for the IIFA awards.

2. Talk about star power. Anil Kapoor and Kevin Spacey mingling at the IIFA awards.

3. Since Kareena Kapoor hasn’t given in to Instagram yet, we follow her stylist Tanya Ghavri to keep tabs on the stunning star.

4. We can always depend on Khloe Kardashian for weekly inspiration.

5.Sonakshi Sinha spent the day with her entourage at Disney World, Florida.

6. But first, let me take a selfie. Virat Kohli sends positive vibes to his 10 million fans.

7. Sorry, she’s not sorry. Mindy Kaling uses her t-shirt to make a statement.

8. Well, atleast someone is excited about the IPL. The elusive Ranbir Kapoor shares a rare picture.

9. We loved the social media trend of sharing freshly inked fingers. Sonam Kapoor does her bit.

10. Justin Bieber being deported from USA was clearly just a rumour. He enjoys a rare sunny day in NYC.

April 28, 2014
10 Best Celebrity Instagrams of the Week

Here’s the weekly update from some of our favourite celebrity Instagrams. In this week: Coachella continues, 4/20, Easter weekend and Real Madrid’s Copa Del Rey win.

1. Another week, another Arjun-Alia Selfie. We’ve heard plenty good things about their recently released movie, 2 States.

2. Kim Kardashian’s half-sister makes style statement at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held in Colarado.

3. Eminem and Rihanna performed “The Monster” for the first time live at the MTV Movie Awards.

4. This is how the supermodel chose to wish her fans a Happy Easter.

5. Another Easter update, this time from Ms Pinto. She shares a snap enjoying a happy meal, with a spicy Bloody Mary on the side.

6. Now this is what we’d call a power-celeb slumber party. Nicole Richie, Chelsea Handler, Stella McCartney, Naomi Watts, Gwen Stefani, Sam Taylor Wood and Gwyenth Paltrow enjoy a girls night in.

7. Jacqueline Fernandes “sightseeing” while out and about in Poland.

8. Right after Real Madrid beat archrivals Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey title, Ronaldo shared a shot with their trophy.

9. On the sets of the upcoming comedy Humshakals. Directed by Sajid Khan, the movie has Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh in a triple role.

10. Last but not least, Kardashian reposted one of the images from their cover shoot on the April issue of American Vogue.

April 21, 2014
10 Best Celebrity Instagrams of the Week

After Facebook, no other social media site has quite captured our attention like Instagram. A visual-based social networking app, with its clean interface, makes it fun way to get a sneak-peak into people’s lives and passions.

Here is our list of favourite celebrity Instagrams of the week:

Ashton Kutcher clearly can’t bear waiting 21 more minutes before OS X gets installed.

Sonam Kapoor gives us behind-the-scenes view to her Grazia Covershoot. The April edition of the fashion monthly focused on street style.

Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor fool around and click selfies while promoting their upcoming film ‘2 States’. Alia captioned the picture “hey I have a beard ;)”

An extremely pumped-up Rahul Khanna shares a snap while on a vacation in Goa.

The Gunday beauty posed with Paul Marciano, the co-founder of the luxury brand Guess. Priyanka Chopra is the first Indian to be honoured the title of a Guess Girl. Some of the other famous names on the same list include – Claudia Schiffer, Drew Barrymore and Paris Hilton.

Usually Michelle Obama’s Instagram has pictures of her attending official events as the First Lady – conferences, balls and charity events. This week, dedicating it to National Sibling’s Day, she shared a rare personal Throwback Thursday moment.

Jessica Alba cribbing about an early call time. So we’re not the only ones in a hate-hate relationship with our alarm clocks.

Okay, this one is definitely older than a week, its one of our favourites nevertheless. Tiger captioned the picture “Thanks to Mr. Munjal for the wonderful hospitality and for making my first visit to India so memorable. I learned a lot about this fantastic country.”

Jeremy Piven, aka “Ari Gold”, takes a selfie with the boys in the background. Frequent snippets of the Entourage sets on Instagram have got us itching to watch the whole crew in action.

Queen Bey performs alongside sister, Solange Knowles at the Coachella Music Festival. The fact that she wasn’t on the official schedule didn’t stop her from sneaking in on stage.

April 16, 2014
Instagram updates Android App, is now Faster and More Responsive.

Instagram’s latest updated Android app may come as a great welcome to selfie fans on Android. With version 5.1, Instagram has cut the footprint of the app in half, while making the app faster. Profile pages, for example, now load twice as quickly. The buttons have also been rearranged to make the app easier to navigate on different sized handsets.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Instagram” link=”http://blog.instagram.com/post/79272915088/android-update”]We’ve worked to make sure that Instagram feels native and at home on any Android device, We’ve simplified our visuals throughout our app, making use of valuable screen space for small devices and feature phones and rearranging our design to keep buttons within easy reach as you navigate the app on a larger device.[/quote]

The Update did not however bring the much desirable “Lux Tool” that came out for iOS users earlier this week. This slider lets users define the saturation of Range in their images. The company does claim that the Android App will get the “Lux Tool” soon.

March 13, 2014
Macklemore Shows how to use a Toilet like a real man on Instagram

In this very educational video, famous Singer Macklemore shows how to use a toilet seat.

He writes in his caption :

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Macklemore” link=”http://instagram.com/p/lcsYsJwK59/”]ITS TIME THAT US MEN STARTED RESPECTING TO THE BASIN THAT OUR QUEENS SIT ON! LETS RAISE THE NEXT GENERATION TO HAVE BETTER AIM SO WOMEN DONT HAVE TO PEE & POOP ON OUR PEE!…and IM NOT TRYING TO POOP ON YOUR PEE EITHER! BASICALLY, TO ALL THE FRAT GUYS AND SHITTY DADS, QUIT FUCKING UP THE DEUCE SESH FOR THE REST OF US! BUMP THIS CUT IN ALL AIRPORT BATHROOMS AND FOOTBALL GAMES! FUCK A DRUNK DAD PISSING ON THE GROUND, AND A FRAT BRO TOO HAMMERED TO HANDLE HIS DANGLER! MAN UP AND LEARN DONG CONTROL!…IM OUT!!![/quote]

Interesting way to educate!

March 13, 2014
Instagram Update for Android Adds Enhanced Video Control

The Instagram 4.1 version for iOS users has the ability to straighten photos from a long time now, with today’s update for Android, users can now enjoy the same feature on the smartphones running on Android OS.

The latest Android application update, which will supposedly hit Google Play store today, brings the photo straightening feature and some more add on benefits as the new update enables sound and data usage controls for the video.

While you enjoy these additions, one feature of Instagram still remains out of the reach for Android users. Cinema Stabilization is a feature that iOS users have been enjoying from a long time now, but this update does not seem to give Android users a chance to get benefit of it. However, the update is still not active but is expected to hit your devices some time today.

October 11, 2013