Instagram Stories Now Comes with Three New Features

Instagram Stories flexes its might with a bunch of cool features.

Instagram Stories is shaking off its “Snapchat rip-off” label by adding a bunch of unique features.

If you’re a verified user, you can now add hyperlinks to their stories, which will appear as “see more” text at the bottom of the screen. Tap or swipe up to open the links inside Instagram’s in-app web browser.

Now, you can also tag friends in your stories, simply by adding “@” in the text (e.g. @straat0sphere). They’ll receive a notification and anyone else who views the stories can also check out your friends’ profiles.

Last but not least, the standalone Boomerang app now comes as a feature within Instagram itself. Tap on the icon to create a sequence of up to five photos which will loop infinitely, and you can add twists to your “shots” by zooming or switching to the front-facing camera while shooting.

You’ll need Instagram version 9.7, which has already been rolled out to the respective app stores by now, to enjoy these new features.