Instagram has been making regular tweaks to its Stories feature since it debuted a few months ago. Today, the social network is adding a trio of tools to the collection of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. First, you can now choose to use Boomerang to capture clips for Stories. All you have to do is swipe right from your feed to access the Stories camera. Under the record button there will be an option for Boomerang mode. Once selected, simply tap record to shoot the short burst of photos that will play forward and backward in your Story.
In addition to the new Boomerang mode, Instagram also added mentions and links to Stories. Mentions are the same as if you were tagging someone in a comment or caption, just use the @ symbol followed by the username. Inside your Story, anyone you mentioned will be underlined and tapping on the username will display a pop up that links to the person's profile. If you're mentioned by someone you follow, you'll get a notification in Instagram Direct. If someone you don't follow mentions you, a notification will appear in message requests.
Links debut in Instagram Stories as well, but only for verified accounts. The company says the feature is in testing right now, adding a "See More" option at the bottom of Stories. To access whatever the link is pointing to, all you have to do is swipe up to view it with Instagram's built-in browser. Unfortunately, there's no word on when or if all users will be privy to the tool. On the plus side, all of these new items are available now for iOS, Android and Windows 10 via the latest update in each respective app store.