Instagram users can now subscribe to posts from users of their choosing in order to stay up to date more easily, and the update also introduces fade and color editing tools which appear in the adjust menu.
Instagram: Editing tools added
The fade tool allows users to soften all of the colors in an image, which Instagram says will “bring a quiet tone.” Current users will notice that photos look similar to those with existing filters applied, but the effect is applied uniformly rather than to specific areas of an image. The new tool features a slider with which users can adjust the potency of the effect.
A second tool, color, adjusts the color tones by applying tints to shadows and highlights in an image. Simply choose whether to edit the dark areas (shadows) or lighter areas (highlights) before adding a yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, cyan or green tint. Although the tool does not feature the familiar slider, its effect depends on the image itself. For example, red and purple tints change a lighter image more than a darker one.
Receive notifications of their users’ new posts
As well as adding new features to its editing suite, Instagram now lets users choose to receive updates from other users that they choose to follow. To make use of the new feature, open a friend’s profile and click the “…” menu in the top right corner, where you will now see an option to “Turn on Post Notifications.” Once the feature is enabled, you will receive push notifications each time the user you have followed shares a new image.
Instagram is making the update available to Android users on Tuesday, while iOS users will receive the update “in a few days,” according to the company.
The update will not drastically change the functioning of Instagram, but it will improve the user experience by enabling photo fans to stay up to date with posts of particular interest.
