Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, and other stuff.
Itâs Instagramâs 10th birthday â yes, itâs now been in our lives for 10 years, and no I donât feel old at all. As a treat for users this month, Instagramâs giving users the option to change their app icon to one of the old classics. Hereâs how you can do it.
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â Instagram (@instagram) October 6, 2020
The icons are somewhat hidden in the app itself, so youâll have to do a little snooping to find it. To start, youâll have to go to the settings within the Instagram app. Once youâre there, pull down as hard as you can. Youâll see a string of progressively more curious emoji.
Pull down as far as the present emoji, and youâll get some confetti and youâll be directed to the secret menu where youâll see all of the icons you can switch to from the current sherbet-colored tile. Youâll even be able to switch to the very vintage full Polaroid camera icon, and the pre-launch âConfidentialâ lens icon. In addition to the classics, you can also change the icon to different color variants of the current logo. The colors include âPrideâ (rainbow, natch), âDarkâ and âLight,â and âGold.â
The text on this hidden menu says itâs to âcelebrate our birthdayâ in the month of October, so itâs not clear how long the color swap you pick will remain â at the very least, I would presume theyâll be gone by November. Itâs a shame, too, because the color options are very attractive and the Instagram logo is still very recognizable on each of them. The old-school Polaroid-style icon looks delightfully vintage next to modern apps.
And thatâs it! Take advantage of this while you can, because who knows when itâs going away. Good luck!
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