Facebook-like reactions spotted on Instagram Stories

Recently, Instagram has added several new features like emoji slider, yes/no polls, story soundtracks and more. The Facebook-owned photo and video sharing service also appears to be testing a feature similar to Facebook’s ‘Like’ reactions in its Stories.

According to a report by AndroidPolice, this is not an entirely new feature for Instagram. In April 2018, a tweet has revealed screenshots showing a similar feature. Several users too confirmed having had this feature from a while.

However, this time around, the user-interface and the implementation of the feature is a little different from what users had seen previously.

Earlier, reactions appeared only when users start typing a reply for any Story. Now, there’s a dedicated icon for Reactions on the bottom left. Users can tap on the icon to choose from six Reactions– applause, cry-laughing, heart eyes, WOW, crying and fire -- when they want to express something on a particular Story.

Instagram’s newest features

Instagram recently also added the ability to ask open-ended questions in Stories. Dubbed ‘Ask a question’, the feature can be accessed from the Stickers section of the app.

With this, users can respond to the questions posted on their Instagram Stories by typing their answers instead of just using emoji sliders or yes/no responses.

Recently, Instagram also announced a toned-down version of its app called Instagram Lite. Compared to the original Instagram app, the Lite app is relatively smaller (573Kb). It is reportedly less resource hungry and does not compromise on the app’s basic functionality and features.

Aimed at emerging markets, Instagram Lite app allows users to post photos, share Stories and discover new content in the Explorer tab. Missing features include the ability to send Direct Messages and the video-sharing feature.

Instagram Lite is expected to be available in India soon.