Don’t drown your phone for an Instagram — GoPro now has Stories built in

Instagram Stories’ vertical format makes the daily photo and video logs ideal for smartphones — but GoPro is challenging that with a new tool for easy, formatted uploads from an action camera. GoPro has launched integrated Instagram Stories sharing via an update to the GoPro app.

GoPro is working to take the dozen or so steps required to send a shot to Stories down to just a few taps. With the app update, Instagram Stories sharing is integrated directly into the GoPro app. The update also integrates tools designed to convert that standard action camera view to a Stories-friendly format.

After updating the GoPro app, sharing to Instagram Stories involves only a few steps. Instagrammers head into the media library in the app and select the shot to share, then tap on the sharing icon. The Instagram Stories option is a new plus-sign icon alongside the app’s earlier options such as Instagram and Facebook sharing. 

Tapping on the Instagram Stories option brings the shot into an editing panel designed specifically for Stories. The app prompts users to crop the rectangular footage into the vertical Stories format. A trim tool allows users to select which 15 seconds (or less) of the footage to share. Tapping the final share button opens the edited shot in Instagram, allowing for any other edits like stickers and text before it’s pushed live.

“Some of our best stories happen in places or in moments [where] you’re simply not going to use your smartphone,” Nick Woodman, GoPro founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Now that it’s easier to share straight to Instagram Stories, we can’t wait to see what the GoPro community will post.”

The update comes as Facebook launched an integrated sharing option for both Facebook and Instagram Stories during this week’s F8 conference. Spotify is also one of the first apps to build in the Stories sharing. The streamlined Stories sharing comes shortly after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted the growth of the sharing format for Instagram, as well as Facebook, in the company’s financial reports.

The app update continues GoPro’s focus on software solutions aimed at reimagining the usual process of pulling out an SD card, then uploading and editing footage before sharing. The company’s QuikStories creates automatic edits, including wirelessly transferring the files on cameras with Bluetooth.

The Instagram Stories sharing tools are available inside the GoPro App, with a free update that just rolled out on the App Store and Google Play. 

Updated on May 1 to include Spotify’s similar Stories sharing feature