Have you ever been editing a photo within the Instagram app or just finished adding the perfect caption paired with the correct user tags only to get booted out and brought back to the news feed? Ugh, it's the worst! Thanks to the social media gods for building in a feature to save drafts within the app in the final stages of an upload. The feature doesn't seem to be available to everyone so take a look at how it works below!
Ok, maybe it's not been as widely of a needed feature as you might think but its certainly been one of the pain points for me over the last few years ever since Instagram added the option to edit on top of add a caption and user tags. As a professional photographer if you aren't running into it then you are widely under utilizing the features within the app. They are amazing. I always seem to be working on a caption or adding tags or finishing touches with the built in editing tools in the uploading, only to move away from the app and back realizing it never saved anything. The answer has always been to add the feature to allow drafts. I think they have added this perfectly and you can see how it's treated below.
To begin, you must actually select an image and make some sort of structural change to the edit with sharpen, contrast, or whatever. You can also make a caption or add a tag and when you try to go back to your news feed it will give you a warning to save draft, or discard.
Overall I think its a strong addition to the UI and one that heavy users or professional photographers might use more often than you think. People continue to tell me they are losing interest in Instagram and how its engagement rates are far under performing what they are used to. To me, if you want to grow a following or build a great portfolio of work, you need to continue to shoot and post fresh and interesting content. I still find Instagram to be my favorite social network and it excites me when they push out new features that are well made and useful.
What do you guys think? Is Instagram still as fun or fresh as it was 3-4 years ago? Have you lost any interest because the platform is becoming more like the mothership Facebook? Or are these types of updates and add ons keeping you around and interested in the future of the platform?
I've definitely had that same problem. Just checked to see if I have that feature available. Looks like I'll have to wait.
I think Instagram screwed it moving to an algorithm. It's so easy to miss posts that I would have liked to have seen and see ads and crap I could care less about. That particular change ruined the service by serving up less apppealing content first, which is why I would guess the interaction rates are falling.
As if you would see those changes...
I find I really like to put my posts together when I'm on the train on the way to, or way home from work – however these are not ideal times to publish.
To be able to save drafts will be a game-changer for me. I can compose my posts, get my images correct and then save them as drafts to publish when it will be most relevant. Great news!
This is a welcomed feature. It happens to me all the time when I'm posting from sporting events with less than ideal cell reception. My beef with instagram is the new algorithm and its killing off of third party apps. It has made viewing my news feed much less unenjoyable. I never used to wonder what I was missing, but now I do.
In response to your last comment, not sure... I can't wait to see reports of reaching falling from 100% of followers to 10% of followers to pressure everyone needing their followers to look at their feed by boosting everything.