Instagram update brings camera improvements to Stories feature

Instagram STories teaser 002

Instagram’s new Stories feature caused quite a stir as some users took issue with the fact that the Facebook-owned photo sharing service basically ripped off Snapchat Stories. Be that as it may, Instagram’s iPhone application, which is available at no charge on the App Store, has just received a nice update which packs in a few useful camera-related improvements to the Stories feature.

According to release notes accompanying the update, you can now zoom with one hand as you’re recording a video: just slide your finger up and down while holding the video record button.

If you ever wanted to switch camera mode while recording a video, now you can—simply double-tap to flip between the front and back camera. Instagram 9.1 for iOS also includes lots of bug fixes and improvements to make Stories even better and faster.

RELATED: uploading photos older than 24 hours to your Instagram Story

For those new to Instagram Stories, the feature is a lot like Snapchat Stories in that users can share all or some of the moments of their day, not just the ones they’ve elected to keep on their profile.

As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in an auto-dissapearing slideshow format. If you haven’t tried Instagram Stories yet, give it a whirl as it’s a really nicely done, compelling new feature.

To help get you up to speed with Instagram Stories, Sebastien has put together a nice tutorial explaining how to add photos and videos from the iPhone’s Camera roll to your Instagram Story.

Download Instagram for free from the App Store.