Facebook is constantly updating Instagram to help it stay competitive; occasionally, a smaller feature goes unnoticed in the midst of larger app updates.
One of those little-known features is what you can do with Live Photos on your Instagram Story. If you upload a Live Photo the way you would any other picture or video and hold it down, it comes to life and turns into a boomerang – the popular GIF-like video that goes back and forth (and back again).
It’s a useful little trick since Live Photos often unexpectedly turn into better boomerangs than the ones you plan. And while the iOS 11 update does let you do that same thing in the camera roll itself (scroll down from the photo and you’ll see an option to convert to “Bounce”), this is a good alternative if you don’t want it to be saved that way to your camera roll permanently.
If you’re new to Live Photos or Instagram Stories, here’s a quick run-through:
When you take a picture from your iPhone, make sure the circle in the top center is yellow, indicating it's in Live mode.
Open your Instagram app and swipe left from your Feed or tap on your own Story icon in the top left-hand corner to get to the camera for your Story.
Tap the camera upload icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen and choose your favorite Live photo.
The date the photo or video was taken will automatically come up when you upload from your camera roll - you can delete it by holding it down and dragging it to the trashcan.
Hold down the image for a moment. A circle will appear briefly before it says BOOMERANG across the screen, and your picture comes to life.
Hit the "+ Your Story" icon, like you would for any other picture or video, and add that new Boomerang you didn't even mean to take.