Instagram Hacks You Should Know

Addicted to Instagram? These hacks will make your Instalife much easier.

1. Reduce Your Data Usage

If Instagram is using up too much of your data budget, you just need to change your settings. Go to your settings (the cog icon at the top right of your screen), then click on Cellular Data Use. From there, click ‘Use Less Data’ to reduce your data usage. Instagram preloads videos by default so that they will load faster, but when you’re on the ‘Use Less Data’ mode, it will preload them when you’re on a WiFi connection instead.

2. Remove or Hide Tagged Photos

Want to remove that unflattering photo your frenemy tagged you in? Just navigate to the photo that you were tagged in, then tap on it once. Your Instagram username should pop up. Tap on it and a box should pop up, where you can choose to hide it from your profile. If you want to remove your Instagram tag from the original photo, click on ‘More Options’ then ‘Remove Me From Photo’. If the photo is spam (i.e. one of those annoying blogshops that likes to tag everyone and their moms in some promotional post) then click ‘Report Inappropriate’.

You can also change your tagging settings by clicking on the ‘Photos Of You’ icon (the icon at the extreme right of the navigation bar under your profile details) then clicking on Settings (the cog icon at the top right of the screen). From there, you can choose to have your tagged photos added automatically (i.e. they’ll appear in your ‘Photos Of You’ page whenever someone tags you) or manually (i.e. you approve the photos first before they appear in your tagged photos).

3. Add A Location To Your Photo After It’s Been Posted

Just posted a photo but forgot to add the location? Don’t fret. Click on the dotted line icon under your photo, then click Edit. From there, you should be able to add the location to your photo. This only seems to work for places in the same country you’re in though, so you probably won’t be able to add a location tag in London if you’re currently in Singapore. There’s another hack for that though, so read on.

If you want to remove the location tag on a photo, just click on the tear drop icon (third icon from the left on the navigation bar under your profile) to get to the maps page. From there, click Edit then select the photo you want to remove the geotag from.

4. Add A Location Tag To Your Photo (Even When You’re Not There)

This is such a #firstworldproblem but the struggle is real, people. Say you’ve taken some Instaworthy photos with the Sakura trees in Japan, but you didn’t get a chance to upload them until you got back to Singapore. You upload the photo onto Instagram, add dozens of filters and get the perfect photo…only to realise that -gasp- you can’t geotag ‘Ueno Park 上野公園, Tokyo Japan’ because you’re not in Japan. Noooo….now no one will know the exact details of your Sakura-viewing experience! And the world will not be able to find your amazing photo as easily!

There there, just download the Koredoko app for an easy fix. The app allows you to save location metadata in your photo, so when you upload it onto Instagram, you can search for the right location – even if you’re not in the same country.

(Source: ios.wonderhowto.com)

5. Save A Photo Without Posting It

If you prefer to edit your photos with Instagram’s filters, you can easily save your photo without posting it. Switch your phone to Airplane Mode, then try to post the photo on Instagram after you’ve edited it to your heart’s content. The upload will fail, but the edited photo will be saved in your phone – so you can post it at a later time if you prefer.

6. Save High-Res Versions Of Your Photos

If you want to save a hi-res version of your Instagram photo, make sure you’ve turned on the ‘Save Original Photos’ feature under your Settings page. Instagram will save your photo in the highest resolution possible (2048 x 2048), but it might differ slightly based on your phone’s capabilities.

7. Check Posts You’ve Liked

You know #thatawkwardmoment when you’re drunkenly spying on your ex and you accidentally double tap a photo from months ago…only to find out when your BFF texts you the next morning with a “WTF DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT”?

You can easily check the photos you’ve liked by clicking on the Settings icon, then navigating to ‘Post You’ve Liked’. This way, if you see any photos that you uh, shouldn’t have liked, you can quickly unlike the photo (and pray he didn’t see the notification).

If you want to be extra vigilant, install Instaconfirm – an Instagram tweak that prompts you to confirm before liking a photo.

8. Clear Search History

…and when you’re done stalking people, don’t forget to clear your search history. Under the Settings page, click ‘Clear Search History’ at the bottom of the list and voilà, no incriminating search history on your phone.

9. Swipe Left To Delete A Comment

Left a comment with one too many typos? Delete it by swiping left on the comment. A trash can icon should pop up, so just click that to delete your comment. You can’t edit comments at the moment, but you can edit your photo captions by clicking on the dotted line icon (bottom right, under your photo).

(Source: tyangroup Instagram)

10. Search Hashtags On Your Desktop

Instagram’s desktop client is not exactly the most intuitive, so if you ever want to search for hashtags while you’re on your laptop, use Websta instead.

11. Select A Cover Frame For Your Instavideos

Want to attract more attention to your Instavideo? Make sure you select the best frame for your cover. To do so, just click on the square icon (third icon from the left, while you’re in Instavideo mode) and select the best frame for your cover.

12. Turn Video Sound On With One Tap

Instagram turns video sound off by default (which is great if you’re browsing Instagram in the office, instead of doing actual work cough cough) but you can turn the sound back on by tapping on the video. To adjust the volume, toggle your phone’s volume keys while the video is playing.

(Source: xiaxue Instagram)

13. Share Instagram Photos On Social Media

If you want to share someone else’s (really amazing) photo, you can copy the URL by clicking on the dotted line icon under the image. A menu should pop up and you can select ‘Copy Share URL’. If you want to share it on your Facebook page, click on ‘Share to Facebook’.

(Source: emma_lauren Instagram)

If you want to post your own photo to your Facebook or Twitter accounts, just go to ‘Linked Accounts’ under your Settings page. If you’re using Instagram as a company account, you can also change your settings so that the photo you post will be shared to your company’s Facebook page, instead of your own personal timeline. Go to the Facebook option under ‘Linked Accounts’, click on ‘Share to’ and from there, you can select the Facebook page you want the photo to be posted on.

14. Automatically Enhance Your Photos

Instagram recently introduced the Lux tool (the sun icon in the middle of the edit bar), which automatically enhances your photo. You can also adjust the degree of enhancement by using the slider, so this is perfect for Instagram noobs and lazy people.