Instagram Reportedly Testing Multi-Photo Album Uploads on the Android App

HIGHLIGHTS

• Feature was spotted by users of the Instagram v10.7.0 Android app
• It lets users select multiple files from their smartphone galleries
• For now, the testing doesn't allow posting to the photo-sharing network

If you feel constrained by your inability to share multiple photos on Instagram in a single move, a new feature will soon make your vacation look beautiful in a single album.

According to a report in Droid Life on Thursday, Instagram is testing a new feature in the Android app that lets users share multiple photos from their smartphone's gallery as an album on the photo-sharing network.

Only advertisers are able to share multiple photos from their gallery currently which users can swipe through horizontally, but with the test, it looks like the feature may make its way to all 600 million Instagram uses soon.

 

"Users can select up to 10 photos from their galley, slap on filters to each photo they choose, then upload the photos as an album to your timeline. From your followers' perspective, they will see the album and can then slide through the various shots, liking photos as they go," the report noted. While users can select photos and apply filters, they cannot yet upload the entire album to their Instagram timelines.

So for, only limited users can see the feature on Instagram v10.7.0 for Android, the latest version of the app that's available from Google Play. The Facebook-owned company looks to be testing the feature with select Android users for now, as not everyone with the app can see it. It's probably a server-side update that may be enabled in a future version, or, in switched on for other users soon. Some users report that they are seeing the feature in the beta version of the Android app - there's no telling when iOS devices will get the new feature.

Do you see the new feature in the Instagram app for Android? Do let us know in the comments section below.

The view count on videos, which was first spotted by BuzzFeed's Dorsey Shaw, is now showing up for some people right next to the usual timer, as pointed out in a report by Mashable.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The view count is visible right next to the usual timer on videos
• View count could possibly be used to rank content going ahead
• Twitter spokesperson has confirmed that test is being conducted

Twitter has reportedly started showing view count on videos for some users as the social network continues to experiment with video related features on its platform. Much like other social media platforms, Twitter has also been trying to figure out video features that are desired by its users so that it can stay relevant.

The view count on videos, which was first spotted by BuzzFeed's Dorsey Shaw, is now showing up for some people right next to the usual timer, as pointed out in a report by Mashable.

Photo Credit: Twitter/@dorseyshaw

"As video consumption continues to increase on Twitter, we are constantly experimenting with ways to provide a rich video experience," a Twitter spokesperson told Mashable via email. "View counts provide helpful context on the popularity of a video, and we are exploring this feature to help surface the best content," the spokesperson said.

With this test, it appears like Twitter will soon be ranking content on the basis of their popularity, possibly for its Explore tab, which was added with the aim to make it easier to find interesting content.

The spokesperson has also clarified that within this test the views will be counted as "[Media Rating Council]". This essentially means that the view will be counted by industry standard of "2 seconds consecutively in view at 50 percent visibility," Mashable said citing the spokesperson in its report.

It remains to be seen when this new feature will eventually be rolled out to everyone. Twitter recently started looping all videos posted on its website with duration less than 6.5 seconds after the conversion of Vine into a pared-down camera app.

Google Allo No Longer Features in Top 500 Apps on Google Play

HIGHLIGHTS

• Google Allo has seen a drastic ranking drop in last one month
• Google recently added a chatbot named Lucky to the app
• The app has consistently dropped out of top 500 in recent weeks

It seems like Google's experiment to simplify messaging and video chats with the release of its Allo and Duo apps is not going as well as the search giant would have hoped - Google Allo is not featuring even in top 500 apps on Google Play in the US currently.

On the basis of Google Play data provided by App Annie, it is clearly visible that Google Allo has dropped out of the top 500 apps several times in since November, with a sharp downward trend more evident in the last couple of weeks, Android Police pointed out in its report. You can see the times it has dropped off the chart as the blank spaces in the graph below, with yellow representing Communications app rank, red representing Applications rank, and blue representing overall rank.

Things aren't very different in India either - in the same period, Google Allo dropped off the top 500 charts in the first week of January, as you can see in the graph below.

Notably, Google introduced Hindi Assistant for India in December last year and Amit Fulay, Group Product Manager at Google, claimed at the time that the app had received tremendous response, especially in India, which he said had one of the highest number of Google Allo users.

Just two months ago, the text-messaging app was ranking consistently around top 200 apps but has seen almost a free-fall since mid-December, AP pointed out in its report.

Google recently added a new chatbot named Lucky to the Allo app that provides users with GIF images on the basis of their requirements. In order to get help from the chat bot, users need to simply type @lucky in the app followed by whatever phrase they want.

Considering that Google has been consistent with its updates to Allo since its launch, it comes across as a surprise that the app is failing to gain traction among Android users.