Instagram's newest update once again earned it the title of being a Snapchat wannabe. In the app's latest update, version 9.3, Instagram added new options to its Snapchat-style "stories" feature which was rolled out last month. The update permits users to save photos and videos and mute the stories of people they follow.
Instagram's Stories has already amassed more than 100 million daily active users, according to Social Media Today.
To activate the new save feature, users must tap the gear icon in the apps's camera interface and turn on the "Save Shared Photos" button. However, the save button does not allow users to save posts on a picture by picture basis like in Snapchat. Instead, users either archive all the stories or not, according to the Verge.
Muting stories feature is easy to use. Users only need to tap and hold on a story that they want to mute and the mute function applies.
The Verge said that the mute feature will help users regulate the flow of notifications and updates. Social Media Today opines that in the past, one of the major criticisms against Instagram's Stories was that it had a tendency to flood users with too much data.
The latest Instagram update is also allowing users to pick a color when they add text to stories, another feature which Instagram directly copied from Snapchat.
Social Media Today released a statement praising the "pirate-like" behavior of Instagram, saying: "It was a bold move by Instagram to copy one of Snapchat's core features so openly, but the numbers show that it's already paying off. With new additions like these, and added functionality over time, Instagram Stories could deliver a significant blow to Snapchat's growth."
