I was never really fond of Snapchat but I’d force myself to use it from time to time simply because most of my friends are there and I had no other alternative to Snapchat’s My Story feature.

Well not anymore! Instagram just introduced its “Stories” feature and it kicks ass. It basically works the same way as Snapchat stories does, except it’s much easier to use, has much better filter options and the pictures come out much nicer than Snapchat. You can upload your Boomerang shots as well as hyperlapse content for your stories. Oh and no one can see when you screenshot! Lenses are still not available though.

Via Gizmodo

There are other cool features as well:
1 – You can hide stories. Go to your profile, choose story settings from the menu and then tap on Hide My Story From.
2 – You can post your stories as regular pictures. Just go to your story, tap on the three dots on the bottom right and click “Share as Post”.
3- You can save your stories by tapping the three dots and saving the photo.

Instagram Stories is already available to all users. Tap on the plus button on the top left-hand side of your Instagram and tap the circle to take photos or hold the button to shoot a video. I’m sure a lot of people will still use Snapchat and I know that what Instagram did was a rip-off but the feature was needed on Instagram and I love it!