This is honestly a post I never thought I’d write; Instagram has adamantly been an app-exclusive social network. So when I discovered a way to post to Instagram from the web, I had to verify, then verify again that this was indeed real!
Right out of the gate, let’s address the elephant in the room: At the time this was written, this feature was still unavailable from a desktop. I tested a few devices and accounts, and it didn’t appear across all of them yet. As with any non-standard feature, this could be a slow rollout of something new, or an A/B test that’s being considered for the future, so if you don’t have it yet, don’t panic: consider this your notification to keep your eyes peeled.
I tested this in both the latest versions of the Safari and Chrome apps on my iPhone. Please feel free to reach out if you have a different experience — as I mentioned, this is a developing feature.
First, open your mobile browser and visit instagram.com
Look for the “Post a photo.” button at the bottom of the screen.
Next, choose a source
This feature is unique to the mobile post flow of Instagram so far — by using the iPhone’s app extensions, you’ll be able to upload a photo from multiple cloud sources, including Dropbox and Google Drive (as well as your phone’s Camera Roll). The native Instagram app currently supports uploads from the iPhone Camera Roll and iCloud.
Third, edit your photo
The web editor has very basic editing tools; if you’re looking for filters, either choose your preferred photo editing app beforehand or use the native Instagram app. In the web editor, you’ll find the format icon, allowing you to choose a square, portrait- or landscape-oriented photo, and a tool to rotate the photo 90º.
Lastly, write your caption
Again, we’re seeing a stripped-down version of the native Instagram posting flow, showing just the option to add a caption. But don’t worry: Location and tags can still be added by editing the post from the Instagram app.
You did it! You posted a photo to Instagram from the web
What do you think: Do you see yourself using this feature? In its current state, this could be useful for phones that don’t support the latest version of Instagram, but if you’ve found a way to use an iPhone with running iOS 7 — three years and two versions old — in May of 2017, then you’ve accomplished something truly impressive. 😉
Has this feature cropped up on your iPhone yet? How about you, Android users? Let us know! 👇🏻
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