Skip to main content

Instagram now tells everyone when you’re active, here’s how to hide it



Another day, another feature nobody asked for. Facebook subsidiary Instagram has now enabled activity status in direct messages: this means that practically all of your friends will now be able to see w

hen the last time you were actively using the app was.
The feature rolled out as part of the latest updates for Android and iOS – so at least you know everyone is getting the same deal.
In case you were wondering how this looks, Instagram now displays a line indicating the last time a user was active on its platform directly underneath their username. The activity status is currently only visible in direct messages.


While some might find this change slightly annoying at first, it is not all that surprizing to see it in the main app. Indeed, Facebook integrated the same feature in its Messenger app ages ago.
The good thing about the new addition is that Instagram has given users the option to opt-out from having their activity status visible to everyone. Here’s how you can do this:
  • Open the app and head to Settings.
  • Scroll down until you see the new ‘Show Activity Status’ option.
  • Toggle the feature off.


Please note that opting out of activity status means you won’t be able to see other people’s last activity either.
But that seems like a totally fair trade-off to me.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Skoda Kamiq SUV front and rear first sketch revealed

For those keen on the Skoda Kamiq’s development, the company has now revealed two design sketches. It’s much awaited world premier will result in the vehicle showcase at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. In line with the Czech automaker’s SUV design language, the new sketches show off design highlights, and split headlight with daytime running lights (DRLs) above, a first for Skoda. This is a design feature that we’ve seen in the recently launched Tata Harrier. The new two-part LED headlamp design encompasses daytime running light strips positioned above the main headlights. Skoda Kamiq features dynamic front and rear indicators. Keeping it premium are the headlamp lenses with crystalline effects and LED units. Skoda Kamiq SUV features wide, upright radiator grille double slats upfront, in line with Skoda’s SUV design language. As with any longish Skoda bonnet, its sculpted lines stand out in a tall, muscular stance that takes care of the SUV’s side profile. Considering ...

Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S9 next month

Samsung will unveil its next flagship handset, the Galaxy S9, next month at Mobile World Congress (MWC). The company’s smartphone chief, DJ Koh, confirmed the launch to  ZDNet  at CES yesterday. Koh didn’t offer a specific date, but MWC will run from February 26th to March 1st this year, so expect the unveiling to fall somewhere in that time frame. The S9 (and, presumably, an S9 Plus) will be the successors to the S8 and S8 Plus, which launched at a Samsung event in New York last March before going on sale in April. The S8 and its bigger brother were a hit with critics, who praised the phones’ gorgeous design and brilliant cameras. The phones were even good enough to make consumers forget about the disaster of the Galaxy Note 7 and its exploding batteries. Not much is known about the Galaxy S9 at this point, though we’re not expecting any radical departures from the S8. A handful of leaked renders suggest it will look near-identical to its predecessor, with a sl...

Google guves Rs 71 lakh to Chinese researchers for Pixel devices

Google awarded over  USD 112,000 to a Chinese security researcher for reporting an exploit in Google Pixel smartphones. The Android security team posted in the Google developers forum that Guang Gong of Alpha Team, Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. had submitted a working remote exploit chain in August 2017. This was the first such exploit since the expansion of Android Security Rewards (ASR) program. “For his detailed report, Gong was awarded USD 105,000, which is the highest reward in the history of the ASR program and USD 7,500 by Chrome Rewards program for a total of USD 112,500,” Mayank Jain and Scott Roberts wrote for the Android security team. Gong in a  blog post  also outlined the bugs he and his team discovered. The issues reported by Gong and others as well were resolved as part of the December 2017 monthly security update. The company thanked researcher community for their contributions. All pixel devices will automatically install these update...