Instagram Begins Experimenting With 'Save Draft' Feature for Posts

Instagram recently began testing a much-requested new feature that lets users save drafts of potential posts on the social network, instead of having to completely discard edits made to any photo (via TechCrunch). A small number of users mentioned seeing the "Save Draft" feature as far back as July, but Instagram seems to have expanded its testing phase in early August, without rolling it out wide yet.

The process itself to save a draft is fairly simple: after adding any filter or other fine-tuned edits to a picture, hitting the back button now prompts users with a dialog box saying, "If you go back now, your image edits will be discarded." Users can choose to ditch the photo, or now save the draft to work on again and post at a later time.

Saved drafts appear at the top of the camera roll when returning to post something to Instagram, and can be deleted permanently by tapping "See All," which shows every draft saved on the current account. Unfortunately, as one user discovered, Instagram is treating "Save Draft" more along the lines of an experimental test rather than slow public rollout and remained coy on its plans, telling TechCrunch, "We’re always testing new ways to improve the Instagram experience,” with no further details provided.

The company has been updating its popular app with major additions and changes over the last few weeks. Earlier in August, it added "Instagram Stories" to its roster of photo-sharing abilities, bringing it directly in competition to Snapchat's 24-hour feed of "Stories." Before that, Instagram revealed a plan to introduce customizable comment moderation features on user posts so each can tweak rules to their liking, since "different words or phrases are offensive to different people."