You Can Now Add GIF Stickers to Your Instagram Stories

Instagram is also reportedly testing a feature that notifies you when someone takes a screenshot of your story.

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BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 27: In this photo illustration the logo of Instagram is displayed on a smartphone on September 27, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

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Since first rolling out its stories feature in the summer of 2016, Instagram has been in a constant battle with Snapchat to continually introduce new pieces of functionality. Tuesday, they added an option for users to use GIF stickers in stories.

In a press statement, Instagram explains how to use the new feature: "When you tap to add a sticker to a photo or video in stories, you’ll now see a new GIF option. Tap it to open a library full of hundreds of thousands of moving stickers powered by GIPHY. You can browse what’s currently trending on GIPHY or search their extensive collection to find a sticker for just about anything."

instagram-gif-stickers

You can now select from over 100,000 GIF stickers that range from "bouncing letters and twirling hearts to dancing cats and pizza in space." Very exciting. 

Instagram also announced that they're rolling out the ability to upload photos and videos of any size to your story—eliminating the vertical-only limitation that previously existed. Instagram explains, "When you upload a photo or video, pinch to share it in its original dimensions, whether it’s square, portrait or landscape. Any extra room will be filled with a custom color gradient that matches what you’ve shared."

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In other Instagram story news, tech news site WABetaInfo is reporting that the social media platform is testing a new feature that notifies users when someone has taken a screenshot of their story (or used a screen recording application). This, of course, would be the latest in a long line of features that Instagram has directly copied from Snapchat.

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