Instagram for iOS Gets Multi-Account Support

Ever since Facebook acquired Instagram a few years ago, development of the photo sharing app has continued at a steady pace, with many features seemingly designed to bring Instagram’s functionality closer to that of Facebook, such as the ability to tag photos. The most recent major addition to Instagram, multi-account switching, follows this pattern.

To be more precise, multi-account support has been around for Android users since late last year, but the feature has now made its way to iOS users as well. For some users, it may not mean much, but for others the ability to switch between accounts easily has been hotly anticipated.

According to the official Instagram blog, accessing the new feature is pretty straightforward.

“Go to your profile settings to add an additional account,” reads the official announcement post. “From there, tap your username at the top of your profile to switch between accounts. Once you have multiple accounts added, you’ll see your profile photo appear in places throughout the app so you can always tell which one you’re using at the moment.”

According to Vincent Lanaria over at Tech Times, account switching on Instagram is an important step forward for the social app. This is because multi-account switching is hugely beneficial to social media managers and other heavy users that tend to use multiple Instagram accounts. There’s no arguing that the traditional manual method would get very tiresome after a while.

The trend of using several Instagram accounts is apparently more common than the average user would guess. It’s become prevalent enough of a practice that the slang term “finstagram,” commonly shortened to “finsta,” has been coined to stand for “fake Instagram account.” These accounts tend to be where more personal photos are shared. By contrast, “rinstas” or “real Instagram” accounts are more curated and are meant to put forth a certain public image, likely one tailored to potential employers.

Regardless of the specifics, multi-account switching for Instagram is a necessary addition to the platform.