Eric Butow - Instagram For Business For Dummies

1 Tap the App Store icon.

2 Tap the Search icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

3 Tap the Search box, at the top of the screen, and start typing the word Instagram.After you type the first few letters, Instagram appears at the top of the results list.

4 Tap Instagram in the results list.The app information appears on the screen, as shown in Figure 1-5.

5 Tap Get.If you need to sign into the App Store, type your password in the Sign In to iTunes Store window and then tap Buy. If you have a newer iPhone that doesn’t have a Home button, follow the prompts to complete your transaction. If your iPhone has a touch button and you use Touch ID instead of typing your password, place the appropriate finger or thumb on the Home button.

6 Tap Open.

The next time you want to open Instagram, swipe to the Home screen that has room for icons — because that’s where you’ll find the Instagram icon.

Now Instagram is ready for you to start using it, so move ahead to the “ Starting to Gram Instantly” section.

FIGURE 1-5:The Instagram app in the iPhone App Store.

Instagram has yet to create a native app for the iPad, which is another one of life’s great mysteries (but not at the level of where missing socks go). However, you can use the iPhone app on the iPad.

Here’s how to install Instagram on an iPad:

1 Tap the App Store icon.

2 Tap the Search icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

3 Tap the Search box, at the top of the screen, and start typing the word Instagram.After you type the first two or three letters, Instagram appears at the top of the results list.

4 Tap Instagram in the results list.

5 In the upper-left corner of the screen, tap Filters ⇒ Supports.

6 Tap iPhone Only, as shown in Figure 1-6.

7 Tap the Instagram app's Get button (see Figure 1-7).If you need to sign into the App Store, type your password in the Sign In to iTunes Store window. Then tap Buy. Or if you use Touch ID, place the appropriate finger or thumb on the Home button instead.

8 Tap Open.

Now that you’ve installed Instagram on your iPad, go straight to the “ Starting to Gram Instantly” section to learn how to start using Instagram.

FIGURE 1-6:Yes, tap iPhone Only when you’re installing Instagram on your iPad.

FIGURE 1-7:The Instagram app is in the upper-left corner.

After Instagram was satisfied with the development of its app on the iPhone, staffers turned their attention to developing Instagram for the Android platform. On the first day the app was released, in April 2012, more than a million users downloaded it.

Here’s how to install Instagram from the Google Play Store:

1 Tap the Play Store icon on the Home screen.If the Play Store icon isn’t on a Home screen, tap Apps on the Home screen and then tap Play Store in the Apps screen.

2 Tap the Search box at the top of the screen, and start typing the word Instagram.After you type, Instagram appears in the results list.

3 Tap Instagram in the results list.The app information screen shown in Figure 1-8 appears.

4 Tap Install.

5 Tap Open.

It’s time to start Instagramming, so skip ahead to the “ Starting to Gram Instantly” section.

FIGURE 1-8:Tap the Instagram icon to read more about the app.

If your company doesn’t allow you to install unauthorized apps on company smartphones, you can still access the Instagram website on your smartphone or computer, but there is less functionality.

Open the Instagram website by typing www.instagram.com in your browser’s address bar. You can log in to Instagram on the web in one of two ways:

Instagram username and password: Type your Instagram username in the Username box and then type your password in the Password box. Then click or tap Log In.

Facebook account: If you prefer to use your Facebook account, click or tap Log In with Facebook. (If your browser doesn’t have your Facebook account information stored in a cookie, the Facebook window appears on your screen so you can type your username and password.) Then click or tap the Log In As button.

If you haven’t created an Instagram account yet, bookmark this page and read Chapter 2to learn how to create an effective profile.

After you log in, you see the home page with the latest photos and videos from users you follow. The top of the screen features the Instagram logo at the left, the Search box in the center, and five icons to the right of the Search box, as shown in Figure 1-9.

FIGURE 1-9:The Search box is at the top of the page.

Home icon: Opens the home page. When you’re on the home page, this icon is black.

Paper airplane icon: Opens the Direct Message page so you can read private messages from, and send private messages to, other Instagram users.

Compass icon: Opens the Explore page so you can view a list of posts from other users whom Instagram thinks you may want to follow. To follow a user, click the Follow button.

Heart icon: Displays a list of notifications, such as when someone comments on one of your photos or videos.

Profile icon: Displays your Profile page.

If you’re on the Explore or Profile page, you can return to the home page by clicking the Home icon or the Instagram logo.

Scroll down the screen to see photos and videos from other Instagram users you follow. You can double-click the photo or click the heart icon to like the photo. You can also add a comment: Click the comment icon (a text bubble) to open the post page shown in Figure 1-10, click Add a Comment, type the comment, and then press Enter.

FIGURE 1-10:You can view comments from other users to the right of the photo(s).

Note the three dot icon to the right of the person who posted the photo. (If you’re following this person, the icon appears to the right of the word Following, as in Figure 1-10). Click this icon to open a pop-up menu that enables you to report the photo or video as inappropriate, unfollow the user, open the post, share the post, copy a link to the post, embed the photo on a website, or cancel the action and close the menu.

If you’ve installed the Instagram app on your Windows PC or smartphone, you should use those versions instead of the tablet versions or the website because they have more functionality. And if you have a choice between using a PC or a smartphone, remember that iPhone and Android smartphone versions of Instagram have the most functionality of all.