Instagram at last brings search to Web version

By Trevor Mogg July 21, 2015

instagram at last brings search to web version — Instagram

Nearly three years after it rolled out a Web version of its photo-sharing service, and a month after it gave that Web version a much-needed revamp, Instagram has introduced a search feature we’re certain will get plenty of use.

The developer team have clearly been working hard on Instagram’s Web offering of late, with the new search tool taking the service a step closer to its full-featured smartphone app.

Announced Monday via its Twitter account, the new search feature enables logged-in users to hunt down images and videos by hashtag, location, and user name, with results appearing in a list below the search box.

The introduction of search for Instagram’s Web offering comes just over a month after the Facebook-owned company showed some serious love to its website, unveiling a brighter, cleaner design displaying larger images than the preceding, stale-looking format.

Instagram for Web is designed to be complementary to Instagram’s mobile app, and the recent revamp certainly makes for a much more enjoyable browsing experience than before. While the features and layout for the Web version have improved significantly, the ability to edit and post content to your Instagram account remains only with the mobile app.

Instagram launched back in 2010 before bing acquired by Facebook two years later for around $1 billion. Available for iOS and Android users, it now has more than 300 million users, with spin-off apps such as Hyperlapse and Layout also adding to the San Francisco company’s body of work.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Social Media

Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Computing

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Social Media

I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.