Instagram is testing a stop-motion feature, and here’s how you can use it

While it’s not widely available yet, Instagram is currently testing a stop-motion feature for Instagram Stories. The feature will allow users to string together multiple pictures to create a personalized gif, adding a jolt of creativity to how you broadcast your day. Similar to Boomerang, the feature will allow users to add motion to a series of photos, which could change Instagram Stories as we know it.

The feature was released just days after the company introduced the Superzoom tool, which was added as a camera option just in time for Halloween. Superzoom works simply by pressing the shutter button. Afterward, the camera zooms up on your shot for a dramatic effect. It’s clear that Instagram’s team of creatives is busy thinking up new, inventive ways for their users to express themselves.

Since Stories — which debuted in 2016 and functions quite similarly to Snapchat’s key feature — has been such a hit with users, we can imagine the company’s goal is to make the feature more interactive, engaging, and user-friendly. Instagram confirmed to The Verge that the new stop-motion feature was in the testing stage, but the website couldn’t confirm whether or not the experimental tool will stick around.

If you’re curious to see whether or not you have the stop-motion feature, just open your Instagram Stories.

At the bottom, you’ll see a bunch of options — including another way to use SuperZoom. To the right of SuperZoom, you’ll see the option for Stop-Motion. Once you select it, you’ll be able to take a series of photos, which Instagram will help animate.

From there, you can save it or add it to your stories. Pretty clever, right?

We’re hoping that stop-motion is a feature that rolls out for everyone and sticks around for awhile, since we already have plenty of ideas about how we want to use it. (First up: our weekend brunch stories.)