Instagram finally addressed one of its most highly requested features — the ability to zoom in on photos — last month. With its latest update, the app has tackled another major issue: poor lighting.
Now, when you go to take a photo or video in a dark restaurant or outside at night, Instagram Stories will show a small half moon icon to the left of the camera button. Press that, and your photo will look noticeably warmer in color.
Of course, the tool still isn't perfect. We tried using it in some areas that were dark, but the app didn't register them as so. Meanwhile, in other rooms that seemed brighter, the half moon showed up. That being said, when it did appear, it brightened the overall photo, making it look more natural than it would if you added a filter to try to correct the lighting.
Your iPhone's camera isn't particularly well-suited for taking photos in low light, so it's important for a frequently used photo app like Instagram to offer a solution. Apart from a few small glitches, the major downside is that this update is limited to Instagram Stories — for now, anyway. It makes sense to see it there since Snapchat has a very similar, half moon tool that appears when you're snapping in the dark.
But maybe brighter Stories will inspire Instagram to shine the light on non-Story photos and videos, too. Until then, try editing those photos in other apps first.