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Creative hacks to improve your Instagram Stories

Using only Instagram and native phone apps

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Instagram has become an outlet for a lot of creatives over the years. It’s evolved from a platform where we share mundane photos of food and moods to hyper-curated grids — until Instagram Stories was introduced, that is. If you’re one of those people who barely post anything other than stories, here are some easy and not-so-simple ways on how they can look better so you can tell your stories better:

Use the native camera app

Photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10’s wide angle camera, ultra-wide angle camera, and night mode

Most phones released in 2019 now have at least two different cameras — a combination of wide angle and telephoto, or wide angle and ultra-wide angle. Some even have up to three or four in total. Take advantage of these lenses by taking your photos on the native camera app instead of going straight to Instagram. By using an ultra-wide angle lens you can fit more in your shot without walking several steps backwards. If your phone has a built-in night mode, your low light shots will also turn out much better when you take them using the camera app instead of  Instagram’s camera.

“Wrap” your caption around shapes

If your caption is a bit long, get creative by wrapping them around your subject’s shape. If you have a photo of food or coffee for example, you can type the letters one by one around the plate or cup.

Apply your video camera’s built-in filters

Smartphone cameras are getting more and more features each year. On the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 for example, there’s a feature called Live Focus Video where you get a TV glitch filter. This adds a retro, vaporwave aesthetic to your videos without having to install a third party app.

Add doodles

Make your subject pop by doodling around it. You can add dots, lines, hearts, stars, or broken lines around it — whatever you can think of! Doodles can also add a better narrative to your story than captions when Spider-Man appears out of nowhere for instance.

Animate your captions 

By simply adding small GIFs like stars around your caption, or integrating word GIFs into your caption can make it look like it’s animated. If you have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10, you can also get animated handwriting with the S  Pen using the phone’s native editor whether that’s on a photo or a video.

“Mask” your subject 

Another way to make your subject stand out is by “masking” lines or handwriting behind it. Simply write over your subject using any of the pen shapes, then erase parts of the lines or handwriting to make it seem like it appears over and under the subject.

Mix fonts with your handwriting

Instagram’s font selection may be limited but doesn’t mean your imagination should be. Pick any font to write your caption with — ideally anything but Neon — then pick one word to replace with your handwriting. You can also play around with tracking by simply adding spaces in between letters.

The trick in making your Instagram Stories look better is to not overshare and not overdo any of the effects. Just because you can add GIFs doesn’t mean you should plaster the entire screen with them. While it should feel more raw than your posts, be more purposeful in what you share — always try tell a story whether you’re sharing a photo or a video. It’s called Instagram Stories for a reason.

How do you make your Stories different? Share your tips with us in the comments section below.

Apps

Huawei to release self-developed GoPaint app

Designed specifically for tablets

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GoPaint

Huawei will soon have its own painting app specifically designed for tablets: GoPaint. This makes the manufacturer the first to have its own self-developed painting app.

Huawei already teased its audiences with a short clip posted on its socials with the caption “Creation begins here.” GoPaint will go live on May 7.

The app will come with a wealth of brushes, and brings easy-to-use features for painting. The eventual launch of this app eliminates the need for beginners to download third-party apps, like ibis Paint X and Sketchbook.

With the integration of GoPaint along with Huawei’s capable hardware-software architecture, Huawei is pushing itself to be a creation go-to for tech users. Previously, the brand held a GoPaint Worldwide Creating Activity last year, which saw creators around the world participate.

 

The app will surely complement Huawei’s recent lineup of tablets which includes the MatePad 11.5 PaperMatte edition and the MatePad Pro 13.2.

The PaperMatte edition tablet eliminates glare and prevents reflection and fingerprints, replicating the feel of traditional paper. On the other hand, the MatePad Pro 13.2 offers users a smooth and seamless experience for creation, work, content consumption, and more.

The MatePad Pro 13.2 particularly features an OLED screen and works with Huawei’s 3rd gen M-Pencil for more than 10,000 pressure sensing levels. Both tablets support multi-device interconnection, remote PC access, and multi-screen collaboration.

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Here’s why Grab Philippines is now focusing on dine-in too

A pivot to support consumers and partners’ needs

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Grab Next

In a bid to strengthen its omnicommerce strategy, Grab Philippines is pivoting to an approach that sees the app put equal priority to both dine-in and food pick-up and delivery.

Although Grab’s food delivery arm GrabFood has been known throughout the years for its food pick-up and door-to-door services, Grab is working on also enhancing the dine-in experience. This aligns with Grab’s even bigger goal of meeting the needs of both consumers and MSME merchant partners.

So why dine-in “using” Grab?

As discussed during the GrabNext 2024 conference, Grab is pivoting to support the shift in consumer preferences, while integrating digital convenience to in-person dining. This move is largely due to the resurgence of dine-in culture after the pandemic.

Grab’s hybrid service model incorporates both physical presence and digital efficiency, so Grab’s restaurant partners can capitalize on the increased foot traffic.

Pay With Grab, Instant Deals

To cater to both diners and its MSME partners, Grab has rolled out two new services: Pay With Grab and Instant Deals.

Pay With Grab allows diners to pay using the Grab app for contactless transactions. They may connect bank accounts or other e-wallets that they already have used for Grab to complete the transaction.

On the other hand, Instant Deals allows restaurants to offer customizable and timely promotions to attract more customers. These deals can be adjusted in real-time to reflect trends or even weather conditions. The deals will be shown on the restaurant’s GrabFood page.

How do I exactly dine-in with Grab?

Look at it this way: Grab is trying to have more consumers search for restaurants using the Grab app itself. Say for example you’re undecided where to eat or what to eat, Grab will help with that.

Oftentimes, Filipino diners ask out loud, “Saan puwede kumain (Where to eat)?” and “Saan ba masarap kumain  (What’s a good place to eat at)?” With Grab’s new approach, they can simply open the app and see for themselves. If you end up finding an interesting restaurant that suites your cravings for that moment and also happens to have promos at the time, that’s a win for both you and the restaurant.

This is why Grab is incorporating particularly the Instant Deals service. As a return, their partner restaurants also benefit from more sales. After all, Grab isn’t the “all-in-one super app” for nothing.

Better support for MSMEs

Grab has also strengthened its support for MSME partners with enhanced omnicommerce that focuses on seamless integration.

First, Grab has unified the dine-in, pick-up, and delivery services into an easy-to-use platform for MSMEs to access. This tool supports inventory management, order tracking, and customer relationship management.

Moreover, MSMEs are provided with data-driven insights to better understand customer preferences, peak times sales patterns, and more. These  advanced analytics will be useful for strategic decision-making on the restaurant’s part.

Grab also offers financial flexibility for its partners by offering access to GrabFin loans and faster settlement times.

Lastly, an Improved Marketing Manager tool empowers MSMEs to efficiently create and deploy marketing campaigns. This allows them to connect better with both digital and dine-in customers.

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New X users must pay a dollar per year to post and reply

Rolling out globally now

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New users on X might soon face a tough time on the platform. The social media website will likely start charging new accounts a small fee for the right to post on the platform.

Now, the fee isn’t a new one. Almost six months ago, the company tested the paid system in New Zealand and the Philippines. New users in those countries had to pay a dollar per year for the ability to post and reply to content.

As spotted by X Daily News on the same platform, the company might be ready to take the experiment to a larger market. New text strings have shown that the policy is rolling out worldwide.

The policy is designed to combat a wave of bots appearing on the platform. By preventing new accounts from creating posts, X hopes to stave off the standard behavior of bots these days. You might have noticed them as OnlyFans creators in unrelated posts, peddling NSFW content on their bio.

Though the global rollout was only just spotted, owner Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed the change. Replying to X Daily News, Musk says that it is “the only way to curb the relentless onslaught of bots.” He says that the current breed of bots can easily bypass simple checks these days.

SEE ALSO: X will no longer let you hide your blue checkmark

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