The Instagram carousel feature, which allows users to post up to 20 photos or videos in a single post, is one of the app’s most popular engagement formats.
Now it’s getting a major upgrade.
As of Thursday morning, users can add captions to individual slides on a carousel post. Previously, the only caption option was the traditional one that would be seen on the bottom of the post.
That caption would remain the same for all slides. Users would have to manually edit text onto individual slides if they wanted to write something specific, or write in the caption what each slide represented.
According to Meta Platforms—which owns Instagram, along with Facebook and WhatsApp—this update makes that process a lot easier, by allowing multiple different captions to appear on the bottom of the screen while the user swipes through a carousel post.
How does it work?
When making a traditional carousel post, users will see a drop-down menu on the final step before posting. In the menu, they can select between writing a single caption, or multiple captions.
Users who choose the latter will be able to swipe through each slide and write individual custom captions. The caption will appear while swiping through the carousel under the selected photo.
This will allow companies and individuals to showcase different products or more easily make in-depth recommendations.
Along with the increased productivity, this feature will make Instagram more accessible. Users who rely on assistive technology to interact with posts will have the same narrative flow as sighted users, without relying on alternative text opportunities.
This feature, which began testing on select accounts last month, was shown to have high success rates. It may now be enjoyed by all users. It follows an update Instagram made earlier this month when it finally let users rearrange their profile grids—something people had been clamoring for.