Why it matters to you
While Twitter and Facebook have long allowed you to save your live-streams, Instagram has lagged behind. That all changes today.
If it was good enough to share with the world, it’s probably good enough to save, right? That, at least, seems to be what Instagram thinks of your live video, as it now gives you the option of saving your broadcast to your phone when you’re done streaming. This is likely a welcome feature to users who also tend to share stories via, say, Twitter’s Periscope or Facebook Live. But while these two social media platforms have long allowed users to save their content when they’re done, this will be the first time Instagram introduces such a feature.
“Starting today, you’ll have the option to save your live video to your phone at the end of a broadcast,” Instagram announced via a blog post. Don’t worry — your home movies will still appear just as ephemeral to everyone else, as the live content will still disappear from the app itself when you’re finished. But you’ll have the option of holding onto your video and playing it back (for posterity) later. After all, what if, as Instagram suggests, “something exciting happens during your broadcast that you want to remember or share?”
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In order to access this new feature, you’ll just have to tap the new Save option that will appear in the upper right corner of the Instagram app after you’re done broadcasting live to your followers. Then, just tap “Done,” and your video will be saved to your camera roll. Keep in mind though that you’ll only be able to save the video itself — not the comments, likes, number of viewers, or any live interactions.
“We are excited by how our community is using live video to connect with their friends and followers in the moment,” Instagram concluded. “This is just the first of many improvements we’ll be making to live stories this year.”
The Save feature has been made available today as part of Instagram version 10.12, and can be downloaded for both iOS and Android.