Instagram announced that it has added new search functionality to its iOS and Android apps that will allow users to find photos by location, discover real-time trending searches, and more.
The all-new Explore page will comb through the 70 million photos and videos published to the social network each day to discover trending tags, places, and people.
Another new addition you’ll find in the Explore page is curated collections. These collections will be featured right at the top of the Explore page, and updated regularly. Some collections you may find will include things like interesting accounts, extreme athletes, architecture, ancient ruins, and more.
At this time only US users will have access to the new Explore page, but the company says it will work on bringing these features to more countries after it “fine tunes” the experience.
Unlike Explore, all Instagram users are able to use the new search functionality. After tapping on the search bar you will now be presented with four tabs: Top, People, Tags, and Places.
The new ‘Top’ tab is a powerful new way to search across people, places, and hashtags all at the same time. Using the Places tab you will now be able to search for pictures and videos taken at a specific location, something that wasn’t so easy to do before.
Previously you had to find a photo or video that was location tagged, and then tap on that tag to reveal other photos and videos that were taken at that location.
Now you can search for the location just as you would anything else on Instagram — from restaurants, to convention halls, to vacation spots — it’s easier than ever to drop in on the location of your choice.
The new Search and Explore features are available today on the iOS App Store and Android’s Google Play Store.
Image Credit: blog.instagram.com
