From the beginning of Instagram to now, it’s safe to say that the app has definitely evolved. Not only is it used to share your “highlight reels,” but now it has become an outlet for people to expand their businesses, pursuits, share their hobbies, and to even make instagrams for their dogs (but hey, I’m not complaining)! With that comes a little bit of a something I’d like to call creativity. Instagram has a feature called Instagram Stories where you can upload a photo or video and it’ll stay up for exactly 24 hours. People have taken instagram to a whole other level: Vintage styled videos to graphic collages to cute and aesthetic templates. If you take your instagram seriously or enjoy having fun with it, here are some apps that’ll make your instagram stories A1 and allow your creativity to spark!
Minimalist Look
If you’re trying to achieve a minimalist look for your instagram stories, I’ve got the perfect apps for you. First off, there’s the “Unfold” app. This app has taken Instagram stories to a whole other level. It has a variety of templates to choose from such as polaroids, collages, mixing videos and pictures into one, and the list goes on. It’s a great app to use if you want to get that cohesive, yet minimal look.
Another app to add onto that is “Storyluxe”. Essentially it achieves the same thing as the Unfold app, but it is a totally completely different style. While the color scheme of Unfold is black and white, Storyluxe’s theme is more of a pink and gold tone. Both are free, but some templates offer in-app purchases. Nonetheless, both are great apps that will make help your instagram stories POP.
Vintage Vibe
I love everything classic: From movies to music to photography, if there’s anything with a vintage vibe.. Sign me up. That’s why this next app is a true favorite of mine. “8mm” is a vintage camera that allows you to capture videos of anything you like with a variety of vintage filters of your choice. It truly makes your videos seem like an authentic old film, which is honestly my favorite part. Though it is $1.99, but it is so worth it if you’re into a vintage style!
Graphics and Stickers
Want to make your instagram story stand out? Well, let me tell ya, these apps will do just the trick. PicMonkey and A Design Kit are my go-to apps when I want to add a little bit more to my instagram stories. The reason why these two apps are great is because it adds life onto your photography. PicMonkey has so many features to use such as effects for your photos, adjustments, touch ups, texts, and amazing sticker options! You can even get a PicMonkey subscription to access everything PicMonkey has to offer.
A Design Kit has so much to offer as well such as cool text fonts, beautiful colored brushes to add onto your photo, and the cutest sticker options. These two apps will truly add a pop of color to your instagram stories.
Filtered Photos
As a literal instagram enthusiast, I love to play with different filters, adjust the photo’s exposure, saturation, clarity, and more, and make my photos as cohesive as possible. Therefore, I will always add a little filter onto my photos before I post on my regular instagram and on my story. Three apps that are great to filter your photos are Lightroom CC, VSCO, and Afterlight.
Lightroom does not come with any presets, but you can always use the adjustments option to enhance your photo, or even buy a preset(s) if you’re interested in that as well. While VSCO has so many filters to choose from. On top of having a variety of filters to choose from, it also allows you to adjust your photo with all the options they have (clarity, exposure, saturation, grain, fade, etc.). Lastly, I have been using Afterlight since middle school. It is THAT good. When it comes to filters, I’m not the biggest fan as I am a fan of VSCO and Lightroom in that aspect, but it has one of the best dust features I’ve ever seen. The dust feature adds a vintage look to your photos (can’t you tell I’m obsessed with vintage everything?) and it’s one of the most aesthetic ways to enhance your photo as much as possible. They have so many other features that other apps don’t have, so I 100% recommend buying it, as it is $2.99 on the app store.
Templates on Templates on Templates
And… more templates. The apps Canva and Over are the it apps if you want to find aesthetic templates for your story. Canva is so useful because not only can you find templates for your story but, they offer templates for a resume, logos, invitations, Youtube thumbnails, business cards, and so much more. You can use the templates that they offer, or even make one from scratch. Meanwhile Over also offers the ability to use their beautiful templates, and it’s a great app to make collages. Both these apps offer so many templates to enhance your brand, or niche for your instagram.