Instagram has recently introduced quite a few nifty features that bring the creativity in you. One such feature was Boomerang, and now it has introduced another feature that could be just as fun. Instagram’s new feature dubbed Superzoom will automatically zoom your smartphone’s camera for an up and close photo or video. The feature has started rolling out for Android and iOS users. The feature gets activated with just a single tap in Stories.

The new feature also creates dramatic sound effects, along with zooming-in your photo. It will make it a cinch to record quick reaction videos or to add a dramatic flair to just about anything you think of. To use the new Superzoom feature, all you need to do is start a new story, swipe to the ‘Superzoom’ option, hold to record, add desired filters and effects, and you’re done. The feature allows users to send the final product via Instagram Direct, share as a story, or even push it out as a normal post.

Besides this new feature, with Halloween around the corner, Instagram has added five new Halloween-related face filters and Halloween stickers. These will be available through November 1. You can choose between looking like a zombie or a vampire or a ghost. The sticker options include pumpkins, candy corn, and other spooky things. 

Instagram, in its blog post said, “Whether you’re planning spooky activities with friends or just hanging out at home, get into the Halloween spirit by turning yourself into a zombie, transforming from a vampire into a flying bat or getting lost in a mysterious fog. You can also add Halloween stickers to your photos and videos as a final touch.”

As of September, Instagram had reached 800 million monthly active users, up from 600 million in December 2016. Instagram also said it has 500 million daily active users. The photo-sharing site recently introduced ’Polling stickers’, which allows you to ask a question, and provide two answers that users can choose from. The default responses are “yes” and “no,” but you can also ask users to choose between two different options.

{BGR}

Since Snapchat went big with its stories, and Instagram took some bold inspiration from the feature last year, we have been seeing the Stories feature on almost every social media platform now. Facebook has it, Messenger has it, and so does WhatsApp, which basically intended to replace the text status, with a Story status. Now, neither of these platforms allow you to download someone else’s story, for obvious reasons. However, where there is tech, there’s a hack, and there is one to download someone’s story as well.

However, before we actually demonstrate to you how you can download somebody’s story status, we want to urge you to not misuse the hack. You like a quote and you download it, that’s ok, but do not misuse the hack to invade someone’s privacy, by downloading their videos or pictures. It is someone else’s property and does not belong to be in your phone.

If you promise to not misuse it, following is a step-by-step demo of how you can now download a status story, instead of taking a screenshot. This hack was first spotted by Techook. First of all, you must know, every time you view someone’s WhatsApp story, it gets stored locally on your device for 24 hours. You can’t see them in your gallery, but it does remain hidden in your phone’s memory, and they disappear from your WhatsApp cached storage only after 24 hours or if it is pulled down by a user.

Now, since you know that the WhatsApp Stories stays put on your phone, move to your Android device’s file manager. Before you search for the file, head to the setting of the file managing app, and toggle on the option, which reads, ‘Show hidden files’. 

Now, go back to the main screen that opened when you launched the file manager app. On the top you will so two tabs, one of which will read ‘Categories’ and the other ‘Local’. Tap on Local > Internal storage. Scroll down to find a folder of WhatsApp and tap on it. Choose ‘Media’ from the folder, and right at the top, you will see a folder called ‘.Statuses’. When you will tap on it, all your viewed WhatsApp stories in the past 24 hours will show up. 

In order to save them, long tap on a video, and copy it. Create a new folder locally and paste it to that. Now you can view that status story, any time you want, even when the user pulls it down. 

{BGR}

Parrots can be smarter than humans, and are also understood better by Alexa, thanks to the exceptional mimicking abilities they naturally have. In an interesting instance of animal vs technology, a parrot, belonging to a London resident, successfully placed an order on Amazon for its human.

Corienne Pretorius, a resident of southeast London, posted her ‘parrot problems’ on Instagram, with the most interesting one where the gray feathered bird not only mimicked its owner’s voice, but also instructed a smart speaker to order a set of gift boxes for $13.50 (Rs 870 approximately).

According to The Sun, the five-year-old African grey called Buddy impersonated the owner when she was out, and placed the order using the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Buddy activated the speaker, and in its own gibberish way was able to place the order.

Pretorius noticed something was odd when a notification popped on her laptop saying an order was successfully placed. After ruling out her husband and son, she discovered it was actually Buddy who placed the order. She later recorded a footage of Buddy mimicking her saying the word ‘Alexa’.

Interestingly, Pretorius has never used the smart speaker to shop or place online orders using voice commands. As quoted in the report,”We’ve had the device for four months and I use it to play music or make ‘to do’ lists but I’ve never ordered anything online.”