Before I get started with the main focus of this post, here is a little backstory:
I love Instagram for sharing photos of my life with my close friends and family, but soon after I started using it, I realized that accessing those images from my computer was rather tricky.
I could export my photos with Instaport.me but I wanted to automate the process.
I later discovered IFTTT, one of my favorite online tools. Using it, I created a trigger (known as a 'recipe') that saves a copy to Dropbox of any photo that I (or my husband) post to Instagram. Then, I can easily access all of our photos for printing, sharing or creating an annual yearbook of our life together, which I'm pretty sure will become a tradition.
And now, back to the reason for my post...
Instagram released video sharing functionality recently. After waiting a bit for the Android version to roll out, I was finally able to test it out today.
As soon as I was able to test out the video functionality, I wondered how it would interact with my IFTTT recipe. It seems that IFTTT doesn't support Instagram videos yet. Neither my video nor the still I chose to represent the video have been passed to Dropbox.
But, I found a manual workaround. I'm using Chrome, but I'm sure something similar could be accomplished with any other modern browser although a few steps might be different.
How to Save a Local Copy of an Instagram Video using Chrome:
1. Log into Instagram on your computer.
2. Locate the video.
3. Right click and choose 'Inspect Element.'
4. Locate the .mp4 file in the code that appears. It should be hyperlinked. Click on it.
5. Right click on the video that opens in a new tab.
6. Choose 'Save Video As'.
7. Choose a location to save the video on your computer.
And that's it!
Do you have any thoughts about the new video sharing functionality in Instagram? Feel free to share them by leaving a comment.
| Jenna Weiner is a rather geeky girl with average social skills and an affinity for: Google Apps, Salesforce.com, Pinterest, Firefly, dresses, indoor plants and life-hacking.
Have a suggestion for a post or a question? Feel free to get in touch.
Email: rathergeeky@gmail.com Twitter: @RatherGeeky LinkedIn: View My Profile |
