Although Instagram is most commonly used on iOS and Android, there is also a desktop version available that can be accessed via a web browser. Not all of the platform's features are available via the web version, though, including the capability for uploading and posting photos and videos. Images shared by a well-known mobile developer and leaker, though, suggest that this may change in the not too distant future.
Launched in 2010, Instagram's focus on photography and users' lifestyles delivered explosive popularity. Such was its success that Facebook came knocking in 2012 and purchased the platform for a cool $1 billion. That figure now seems like a bargain, with its value driven continuously upwards by Facebook's relentless development and roll-out of new features for Instagram, such as Live, Reels, and Shopping. Despite being a seemingly obvious and simple feature to add, the functionality for uploading photos and videos via the web version of Instagram has never appeared — perhaps due to an ever-increasing focus on mobile and a lack of apparent commercial value.
However, a tweet from Alessandro Paluzzi shows what appear to be screenshots of an uploading tool for the web version of Instagram. Paluzzi says the feature is being tested internally and was uncovered by reverse-engineering the platform. As noted by some respondents to the tweet, there are already ways to post to Instagram via other web services, but this is the first time it will be possible natively.
What Instagram's Leaked Web Uploader Looks Like
The images of the supposed web uploader give the look of a simple and intuitive tool to use. Supported image files are given as jpegs and pngs, with mp4s and QuickTime files indicated as being supported for videos. It looks as though users can click to browse their files for upload or drag and drop files over the upload form as is now common online.
Three other screens are shown. A 'Compose' screen shows an uploaded image with options for tagging it, adding a description, adding a location, inputting alt text, and adjusting advanced settings. A 'Crop' screen shows three supported aspect ratios and what seems to be an option to add another image. And an 'Edit' screen shows the filters and editing options that are available in the mobile versions of the app.
It may be the case that this is never rolled out, although that seems unlikely. When it would be rolled out is similarly unclear, but the screens shown appear pretty fully formed, so one would think it may be only a matter of months before it joins the rest of Instagram's features, rather than much north of a year. Anything that is rolled out, of course, may include some changes, but what is seen here would surely be very close to the final product.
Source: Alessandro Paluzzi/Twitter