Have you ever browsed social media only to be disconnected suddenly due to your WiFi cutting out, or suddenly losing reception on your phone? It can be annoying and it most definitely interrupts your activity. The good news for Android users is that if you’re an avid Instagram user, being offline will no longer be an issue.
Announced today at Facebook’s F8 conference and reported by TechCrunch, it seems that Facebook will be giving Instagram users on Android an offline mode. What happens here is that offline users will continue to be able to see content that was previously loaded on Instagram’s feed. They can also leave comments on posts, like them, save media, or unfollow users, all of which will then be applied once the user’s connection has been restored.
If this sounds familiar, it is because WhatsApp (another Facebook-owned product) recently gained offline mode where messages sent offline could be queued and resent once the user’s connection has been restored. Note that this offline mode for Instagram will be initially available on Android only, since Android-powered devices are preferred in developing markets.
However Instagram did note that they will be exploring an iOS version which could receive a similar update in the future, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that.