Instagram Introduces New "Focus" Camera Format

Instagram has launched a new “Focus” camera format that allows you to easily take portraits of yourself or your friends. Along with the new camera format, the company also introduced a @mention sticker that allows you to mention other accounts in your stories.

There’s a new camera feature on Instagram that is bound to change the way you take portraits of you and your friends. After launching “Superzoom” last year, Instagram is now introducing a new camera format called “Focus” that you can find when accessing your camera on your app. Tap on the “Focus” option and point your camera (front or back) at a person’s face. You will notice that their face will remain in focus as the background gets blurry. You can either tap to take a picture or hold to make a video.

You can now take great portraits of yourself or your friends – on Instagram. Just choose the “Focus” feature found next to Superzoom

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When you’re finished, you can still use the same creative tools that are usually available. For example, you can add filters, stickers, and text to your photo or video before sharing or sending to your friends on Instagram Direct. You could also add the image to your story if you like.

The feature is available on Instagram version 39.0 for iOS and Android – and works on iPhone SE, 6S, 6S+, 7, 7+, 8, 8+ and X, and “select Android devices.”

With the above, Instagrammers on iOS get another feature – the @mention sticker – which makes it “even easier to connect with friends” in stories. After capturing a photo or video in your stories camera, you can use a @mention sticker available from the stickers tray. After selecting the sticker, just start typing the username of the account you would like to mention, and select it from the ensuing list.