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Instagram could potentially be working on a new portrait mode for its Stories feature. The Facebook-owned social network currently offers a number of different camera options, not to mention various Snapchat-like lenses. Despite the wide variety of choice, though, it appears the photo-centric social platform could be preparing yet another new option which could bring bokeh-like blurred backgrounds to the mainstream.
Currently, bokeh effects are limited to users who own one of the few devices that support the effect. Now, although the effect is gradually making its way to a wider range of users, a new icon found within the Instagram Android application package hints at plans to bypass the wait altogether by introducing a bokeh background shutter button to the app. The colorful icon looks set to be placed between the current Live and Rewind camera options on Instagram Stories, meaning users will be able to simply swipe in order to access the feature. Nonetheless, it’s currently unconfirmed if the new camera option will be limited to the bokeh effect, or if other studio lighting options will be available, in a similar way to Apple’s Portrait mode. Instagram could possibly even limit the new mode to users who utilize devices with native support for the effect. However, if the company chooses to bring the feature to everyone, it’ll remain to be seen what kind of results the app’s software trickery will be able to produce, especially on low-end devices with basic camera sensors.
The possibility of a new bokeh effect comes shortly after files relating to both voice and video calling were discovered. Within Instagram’s APK, a number of call-related icons were recently spotted, pointing towards the eventual introduction of the feature to Direct messaging, something that would users to communicate more effectively while also increasing the engagement between them. Both the calling support and the bokeh effect could still potentially be scrapped before any release ever takes place, but with the features likely to spark the interest of a high number of users, it seems unlikely this will happen. However, with relatively minimal evidence found in the APK related to them, it could be quite a while before the additions make an official appearance on Android devices.
