Latest Instagram update lets you go live with friends

After testing the feature back in August, Instagram is now allowing all users to broadcast live videos with friends.

This is certainly an interesting concept—live videos are one of the best ways to interact authentically with your friends and followers, but being alone can be intimidating. Now, you can rope in a friend if you don't want to be alone.

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To do so, just tap the new icon on the bottom right of the app, then tap "Add" to invite anyone who's watching. Your screen will split into two when the other user joins the live stream. And don't worry, you can remove the other person and add someone new at any time. They can also choose to leave whenever they want.

When one of your followers is going live with a friend, you'll now see two circles stacked together in your Stories bar.

This new feature is rolling out in Instagram version 20 for Android and iOS. Head to the Play Store link below to grab the Instagram update!

Download Instagram from Google Play

Recent updates

Cross-post Stories to Facebook

October 6, 2017: Instagram Stories are quite popular, while those on Facebook haven't quite caught on yet. In hopes of changing that, Facebook now allows you to cross-post your Instagram Stories to the biggest social network in the world. Unfortunately, while you can now post your Instagram Stories to Facebook, you can't do it the other way around, although this feature might be enabled somewhere down the line.

Face filters for live video streams

September 22, 2017: You can now add face filters to your live videos, which you can share as a replay to stories once they've ended. Users can now add face filters to their live videos simply by tapping the face icon in the bottom right corner before or during their broadcast. You can change the selected filter during your live streaming session, and once you're done, you still have the option to either discard it or share it as a replay to your stories.

Instagram now plays all video audio once you turn sound on

September 18, 2017: Instagram is making some minor changes to how you interact with videos on its app. As you know, when you open Instagram, the videos posted by those you follow play automatically with the audio turned off. However, when you tap on the speaker icon to hear the sound, all the other videos in your feed will now have the audio turned on for the rest of your session. So if you close the app and then open it again, the sound will be turned off.

Share people's stories as Direct messages

This update added the option of sharing any Instagram story in Direct messages. There's a direct icon in the bottom right corner of each story, which you can tap to select the people to whom you want to send it to. Of course, when the story disappears from the app, the recipient will no longer be able to view it.

In case you don't want people to look at your stories and be able to share them, just head into the stories settings and disable the option. It's also worth noting that if you have a private account, only your followers will get to view a story that's been shared via Direct.

Instagram now lets you post multiple photos and videos as non-squares

August 29, 2017: With the latest Instagram update, users can choose landscape and portrait formats when sharing multiple photos and videos. As Instagram explains, the option to choose gives users more "creative flexibility" but unfortunately, "to keep the experience smooth and consistent… all photos and videos in your post must be shared in the same format."

Next: How to delete your Instagram account

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