Instagram makes itself smaller, Facebook moves to TV and Tinder helps us get some matches!

Instagram Lite? Another New Feature?

Instagram has been making a lot of changes of late, adding new features and even creating new apps. And they’ve only gone and done it again with the launch of its new app, Instagram Lite.

Having reached the one billion user mark, Instagram knows that the only way to keep this growth going is to start creating apps that work with the developing world. Instagram Lite is less than 1MB in size and was launched on the Google Play App Store. However, there was no official announcement from Instagram, and the app description simply reads: “The Instagram Lite app is small, allowing you to save space on your phone and download it quickly.”

Instagram Lite is 50 times smaller than Instagram, which is 32MB. This begs the question, what do you lose when you switch? Well, it turns out, not much at all. Instagram Lite lets you filter and post photos to both your feed and story, watch stories, browse the explore page and obviously, scroll through photos shared by the people that you follow. BUT, Instagram Lite does not support video sharing and doesn’t allow direct messaging.

All in all, Instagram Lite is the perfect solution for users with older phones and slower network speeds.

Tinder Helps us Get a Few New Matches

Struggling to get those matches on Tinder? Aren’t we all? Well, Tinder is working on that to help us out! They are testing a new feature that will help paid users get better matches across different characteristics, such as jobs, education, hobbies and more.

The new feature “Tinder Picks” will only be available to Tinder Gold subscribers. The information that users provide will work to match them in groups. Brian Norgard, Chief Product Officer at Tinder, explained that “with Picks, we’re offering users a new way to discover the most interesting people on Tinder […] Picks delivers a personalised, premium user experience within Tinder Gold that puts a spotlight on unique characteristics that make our users stand out.”

Pick will surface the day’s top picks every 24 hours and will be accessed by tapping the diamond at the top of the screen. But, as a Tinder Gold member, users can buy more picks at all times; Super Picks will be sold in packs of 10, 20, or 30.

With the addition of this new feature, it looks as though tinder is looking to go head to head with the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel, as both work in very similar ways.

Facebook's Launching a TV?

Facebook have announced the launch of Oculus TV, a new hub where Oculus Go users can experience their favourite shows.

Facebook has had interests in television for a while now, and it’s gone and acted on them with this new release. Announced at the F8 2018, Oculus TV is described as “a hub for must-watch programming, like your favourite Hulu* and SHOWTIME* shows, sports programming including MLB Live games via Facebook Watch, the best in pulse-pounding esports, and more.” Oculus Go is basically an all-in-one cinema experience that you can take anywhere with ease.

The all new Oculus Go comes with Oculus TV built in, but if you already have the Oculus Go headset, you can just download Oculus TV from the Oculus Store.

Instagram Introduces 4-Way Group Video Chats

Instagram has launched 4-way group video chats, which lets you scroll through Instagram with your friends whilst you chat.

Announced at the F8 in May, the feature lets up to four friends chat in a group video call through Instagram Direct, whilst letting them also browse their feeds. Where other apps allow more people to join video chats, this is the first platform to allow users to browse the app while simultaneously in a call.

The group video chat lets you call any of your Instagram friends by hitting the video button in an Instagram Direct conversation. You can also block people from video calling you. As a group call takes place, more people can join – until you reach the limit of four of course. Along with this big new announcement, Instagram has sneakily added two new features to the app. Firstly, the Explore page will now be organised around several topic channels, based on what you have been interacting with. The second feature comes in the camera design; Instagram is adding camera effects designed by its partners, starting with Ariana Grande, BuzzFeed, Liz Koshy, Baby Ariel, and the NBA. However, you will need to follow these accounts for their camera effects to be available in your stories camera.