Instagram Introduces App Shortcut for Android

Back in 2016, Android introduced support for app shortcuts with Android 7.1 Nougat, and depending on your habits, either they’re some of the most significant stuff on your home screen or they’ve gone totally unused. They give quicker and more accurate use of your applications for the former, saving you from wading through pesky navigation drawers or getting caught up in a news feed. Instagram may be little late to the party, but app shortcuts are starting to show up on the Android app for a few lucky users.

Instagram is one of the world’s largest, most widely used applications. It decimated Snapchat with its shameless copying of the story feature. However, posting stories is very complicated, at least on Android, which should make up a nice 75% of their user base. And right there is the perfect solution, app shortcuts.

Instagram initially added support for the iOS app shortcut equivalent to launching the iPhone 6S 3D Touch in 2015. Now, hot on the heels of Android 10’s dark mode assistance, it seems that some individuals may also get shortcuts to the app. These provide uninterrupted access to: Direct, View Activity, New Post and Camera, just like the present iOS shortcuts.

App shortcuts do not appear to be enabled through an update, suggesting that Instagram enables remote access, and at this stage it appears to be quite restricted. A quick look through the APK, however, confirms that there are the names and icons for the shortcuts along with the required statements in the manifesto.

Now that we understand that there is no strict rule against it, perhaps it would be a nice thing now.