Are you curious about how the people you follow on Instagram manage to get their Stories looking so dignified?
Because while yours may look like a random selection of poorly filmed clips of dogs, friends and a pigeon you saw that looked funny, somehow, Influencers manage to make their Stories look like a professional operation.
And that's because they're using apps to edit them. Which is in one way, depressing – downloading a whole other app to elevate a video of a dog to the Instagram equivalent of Crufts – but in another way, heartening. Because it means you've got the power to do exactly the same with yours.
There are plenty of apps out there which provide a Stories editing service, setting you up with a 9:16 ratio template (the Insta Stories size) and a whole host of borders, filters, texts and backgrounds which go far beyond the editing options offered in Stories itself.
Click through our slideshow of the best apps to help make your Stories look amazing. But if you're taking social media seriously, please remember to keep an eye on your mental health. Getting sucked in is super easy, but getting out is harder. Instagram is just a game, and no game is worth losing sleep over. Use these apps to make your dog look fly, then put your phone down and go and hug a human for a bit. Your brain will thank you for it.
Over
A really comprehensive app (albeit with a wealth of in-app purchases) which allows you to do pretty much anything with your Stories (and Snaps, and Pinterests and even LinkedIn pics) – the list of templates, filters, texts, colours, backgrounds and frames is endless.
Check out its online tutorials to see how to do all sorts of cool stuff, from creating your own colour palette to making your own logo to add to your Stories.
Sadly only available on iPhone right now.
Unfold
For those who are really serious about making their Stories look professional and influencer-y, Unfold is a big new name in the Instagram Stories editing world and is currently gaining 75,000 followers each day.
The app allows users to add handsome boxed text to their Stories and use more than one picture in beautifully designed layouts. Despite being super easy and fast to use, the detail will make your followers think you've spent ages on your Stories – it's up to you whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing. However, it's very limited on different looks at this moment in time.
Unfold is available for iPhone and Android (although iPhone currently has more options for themes you can buy).
Hype Type
This garishly coloured app allows you to place text on a video or image, animate it, choose between lots of different fonts, text backgrounds and even add music.
Create your Stories in the app, choose the "Stories" option and the video will resize to the correct spec.
Download to camera roll then upload to Stories.
Hype Type is available on iPhone.
Canva
This multi-platform graphic design app and website has templates for just about every form of social media going, from your Facebook cover photo to YouTube thumbnails.
To use it for Stories, select a blank canvas or one of its pre-prepared Stories templates and customise to your heart's content. It's generous with colours and fonts and, if you're really bad at being creative, there are even stock photos you can pinch.
InShot
Once the 9:16 ratio for Instagram Stories is set under "fit", InShot allows you to experiment with different backgrounds, text overlays and stickers for both videos and pictures. Use your own images to create more enticing backgrounds.
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