Instagram is a popular video and picture sharing app owned by Facebook. In April, the app crossed a milestone by reaching 700 million users worldwide. A new update for the app has now been introduced, which is sure to make some fans happy. The update changes some important aspects of the audio settings in Autoplay videos.

What does the update add?

Through the latest update, Instagram addresses an issue regarding the sound in autoplay videos.

Previously, users had to turn on the audio for each autoplaying video, individually. This felt like a chore for most who wanted the audio to be turned on for all of the videos in their account. The update now lets users turn on the audio for all of the autoplay videos with a single tap.

When the users open Instagram, the autoplay videos will be muted by default. However, if the user decides to turn on the audio for any one of the autoplay videos, the sound on the rest of these videos will also be enabled simultaneously. Users can turn on the sound by clicking on the speaker icon below any of the videos.

The audio will be turned on throughout that session of use. Once the app has been closed, however, the audio settings will be rest. This means that the next time the users access Instagram, the autoplay videos will again be muted by default. So, toggling one video's sound on/off will subsequently turn the sounds of all other videos on/off as well.

The audio settings reverting back, once the app is closed is a useful feature in some cases. For instance, the user may have turned the sounds on for the autoplay videos the last time that they accessed Instagram because they either had their earphones on or they were at home. However, the next time around, the user may access the app in a public area without the headphones.

So, if the sounds settings were changed permanently, users may feel shocked or embarrassed in these conditions.

How this update will benefit Facebook

Previously, users did not turn on the audio of every single video and only did so for a select few. The ads mostly played without any sound. This severely limited the effectiveness of the advertisements. Now, with this feature, users will hear more ads playing on Instagram as well. It is likely that Facebook will start getting more advertisers for the Instagram platform. This change also showcases how important video content has become over the last few years, with Instagram housing millions of videos on its portal.