Instagram adds live video broadcasts and disappearing photos

Instagram is rolling out two big new features today: the ability to broadcast live video and a change to direct messages that will allow users to send disappearing photos and videos privately among friends. To see if it has reached your app yet, swipe to the right from your feed to open the camera and look for the “Start Live Video” button.

In a blogpost, Instagram announced that over a 100 million people are using “Stories” everyday on the website. You can also check new live stories on Explore. Your followers and friends will instantly get a notification that you’re live and you can keep streaming for up to one hour, which is more than enough for a live stream. Swipe right on a live video to see more, or go to the search page to discover who’s live right now. You’ll also be notified if the person replayed or took a screenshot of whatever you sent.

You can download Instagram from the App Store for free.

As well as this Instagram has also launched disappearing videos and photos within Instagram Direct which you can send to anyone who is following you. Live Video on Instagram is actually part of its Stories feature which was inspired by Snapchat.

This feature adds a whole new layer on top of the Instagram experience, turning the app’s lightweight messaging functionality into a more addictive one.

Starting a live video is easy. Send anything you want, from inside jokes to your worst selfies.

A new paper air plane icon is being added to the app as an inbox for this content. If these disappearing videos and images become popular on Instagram, why not add the features to Facebook or Facebook Messenger too?

As on Snapchat, when someone has watched your video or viewed your photo, it will disappear. The feature is rolling out globally over the coming weeks.

The second major feature to be released by Instagram is a change to direct messages, both one-on-one and to groups.