Instagram Tests Green Screen-Style Background for Stories
Instagram is testing a new augmented reality feature for Stories that allows users to replace their real-world surroundings with an image selected from their camera roll. The feature was uncovered by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who has built a reputation for identifying unreleased features within Instagram before they become publicly available.
The feature appears to be named “background”. It enables users to choose a static image stored on their device and use it as the backdrop while recording or taking a photo with the Stories camera. Once an image has been selected, the user’s actual surroundings are replaced by that chosen picture. Screenshots shared by Wong indicate that the feature is designed to create the effect directly within the Stories camera.
The functionality gives the appearance of placing users in front of a green screen. Rather than showing the environment behind the user, the camera displays the selected image as the background. Based on the screenshots published by Wong, the replacement effect is integrated into the camera view after the image has been chosen from the user’s photo library.
The feature appears to focus on still images instead of video backgrounds or more advanced visual effects. Its overall design resembles traditional green screen technology, although it is limited to static photographs. Despite those limitations, the effect shown in the screenshots appears fairly impressive and produces a result that closely blends the subject with the selected backdrop.
Many photo applications include filters that attempt to replace or alter a user’s background. However, such effects do not always produce consistent results. In the screenshots shared by Wong, Instagram’s version appears comparatively seamless. There are no obvious gaps or unusual outlines visible between the edge of the subject and the replacement background, suggesting that the effect has been integrated smoothly in the examples that were shared.
Instagram did not provide further information about the feature. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment. The company regularly tests new features during development, and those features may or may not become part of the platform’s public release.
The reported test reflects Instagram’s continued work on augmented reality features within its application. The platform has previously introduced several camera effects and creative tools for Stories, including Superzoom. Those additions have formed part of Instagram’s wider collection of camera-based features available to users.
Although Instagram has introduced augmented reality effects before, none has matched the level of viral attention generated by Snapchat’s gender swap effect. That feature was reported to have contributed to Snapchat adding close to 10 million new users, highlighting the level of interest that augmented reality filters can attract when they gain widespread popularity.
Interest in selfie effects has also been demonstrated by the popularity of FaceApp’s age filter. The widespread attention received by that feature illustrated how image-based effects can disseminate quickly via social media platforms. The reported Instagram feature represents another example of the company’s work on camera effects designed for use within Stories.
The newly discovered background tool is not intended to change a user’s appearance in the same way as filters that make people look older or alter facial features. Instead, it focuses on replacing the environment visible behind the user with an image selected from the camera roll. This creates a different style of augmented reality effect while remaining centred on the Stories camera experience.
The examples uncovered by Wong suggest that the feature has been developed to make the transition between the subject and the selected background appear natural. The screenshots indicate that the background replacement blends the chosen image with the foreground without obvious visual interruptions. The feature remains limited to still images and does not appear to handle moving backgrounds or more complex visual compositions.
The discovery of the feature adds to the list of experimental tools identified by Wong before their official announcement. Her previous results have frequently involved features that were still undergoing testing within Instagram. As with other unreleased features identified during development, there is no confirmation that the background tool will become available to all users.
At present, Instagram has not announced any release plans for the feature. The company has also not confirmed whether the background effect will remain unchanged if it is introduced publicly. For now, the feature remains part of Instagram’s testing activity and has only been observed through the screenshots shared by Jane Manchun Wong.
