TikTok effect: Instagram now working on Vertical Stories feed

Social media platform Instagram is working to bring changes to its Stories feature. The new feature is set to give the Instagram platform a TikTok-like feel when it comes to stories. The ‘Vertical Stories’ feature will allow users to scroll through stories vertically. Right now, stories can be seen on the app either by tapping or swiping horizontally. The shift is expected to bring a change in the static content on the app. According to the media reports, the feature has been confirmed.

The feature was first spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi who took to Twitter to share the new development. In the tweet, Paluzzi shared screenshots of a user interface where it was written- “Now you can swipe up and down to browse stories” and then a big, blue button labeled “Vertical Stories.” The feature is not live yet and is still under development. The company spokesperson said that the development is an early prototype and has not been ousted to the public as of now. It is to note that prototypes do have chances of not even being rolled out.

Recently, Instagram has introduced a new feature that will help protect users’ post history from hackers. The company will be adding a new “recently deleted” feature that can be considered as an additional step before users delete the posts permanently from their accounts. Just like the recently deleted folder which can be found inbuilt in many smartphones, where photos remain for 30 days after being deleted from the main gallery, Instagram too will keep photos for some time. Even though the folder will not be visible to other users, deleted photos can be restored by the account owner in case they want them back.