Instagram has announced a number of new features during parent company Facebook’s F8 developer conference. Firstly, you can now share to the Stories functions directly from third-party apps, without actually switching to the Instagram app. With compatible apps, Instagram will automatically pull the content in question into its editor where you can tweak the image file or add filters as usual.

On the one hand, this makes Stories operation a little easier and more seamless; however, it also means you don’t have to connect your Instagram account with any third-party apps to post a Story, avoiding any sharing of account information.

The new feature will initially be available for Spotify and the GoPro app, but more apps will follow at a later stage. The feature is rolling out to Instagram from today.

There is also a new video chat feature that allows users to talk one-on-one or within a group-chat. This could potentially make Instagram an alternative to existing video chat services like Skype.

Finally, a redesigned Explore section is expected to debut within the coming weeks.

It looks like Instagram is slowly but surely moving away from its core-function as an image sharing app and transforming into a do-it-all communications platform, offering many of the same services as sister apps Facebook and Whatsapp. It’ll be interesting to see how the new features will be implemented, and what this means for photographers who have built a sizable following on the [formerly] image sharing app.