Never burst your data again!
Your beloved Instagram app may soon be available for use offline. Instagram is no stranger to constant changes, like the change in feed algorithm and the recent feature to include multiple photos in one post. It is always trying to expand and improve user experience and is now testing out a new offline mode, which means you can still use part of the app even when you do not have an internet connection.
According to a session description on the agenda for Facebook’s upcoming F8 developer conference, the tests will be carried out in countries with low bandwidth. The session description also stated that “the company is “testing offline experiences that keep the Instagram experience consistent and let people consume and engage with content, even if they don’t have service.” The session description also notes that the team will further share about their initial experiences.
For now, it seems like the offline option is still under development, and how this will work, or what features will function offline is still unclear. More information is expected to be made known after the F8 conference.
For Developing Countries
For industry experts, the interest of making the app easier to use in developing countries does not come as a surprise, though Instagram has not publicly discussed this as of now. The majority of the app’s 600 million users are now outside the US and is rapidly expanding to areas where data connections are hard to find and/or are unreliable and the move is important to maintain further growth.
This move also falls under the part of Facebook’s plan to make the internet accessible to as many people as possible, even those without internet at their disposal. Facebook itself took steps to optimise access to their network on 2G connections by launching the successful Facebook lite.
Full description about Instagram session on F8 developer conference is as follows:
“Instagram’s mission is to help people connect through shared experiences. 80% of the community is outside of the US, and as our platform grows, Instagram must perform across an increasing variety of devices and networks to keep people connected. For people in low-bandwidth regions, we’ve begun testing offline experiences that keep the Instagram experience consistent and let people consume and engage with content, even if they don’t have service. In this talk, we’ll introduce some of our initial explorations into offline features, and share learnings you can apply to your own apps.”
Up till now, Instagram has integrated features to improve user experience, including Boomerang, direct messaging, live videos, draft mode and Instagram stories. Maybe in the future, we can hope to have an integrated programming tool that can help marketers?
