Instagram Introduces New ‘Focus’ Camera Feature for Portraits

Instagram has today announced the launch of a new “Focus” camera format, that lets you take some great portraits of yourself or friends for instant sharing. The Focus feature is available only on iPhone SE, 6S, 6S+, 7, 7+, 8, 8+ and X and select Android devices, and can be accessed by opening the camera, where you’ll see find it next to Superzoom under the record button.

When you use Focus to take a selfie or switch to the back-facing camera to find a friend, you’ll notice the person stays in focus while the background softly blurs, making sure they stand out in a striking way. You can either take a photo or record a video in this mode. Once done, simply can add creative tools like filters, stickers and text to your photo or video before sending to your friends or adding to your story.

Instagram is also rolling out the @mention sticker on iOS, which makes it even easier to connect with friends in your stories. To use it, open the stickers tray, tap the @mention sticker, start typing the name of the account you want to mention and select from the options that appear.

You can download the latest version of Instagram for iOS from the App Store at this link.

More information about the Focus camera format is available here.