Think it might finally be time to delete Instagram? If it’s the social network’s lack of custom sticker making abilities that’s dented your faith, then hold fire as the feature is now being tested on the platform.
Instagram head honcho Adam Mosseri used his broadcast channel to show off how the new sticker creation tool will work over the weekend.
You’ll simply select a photo from your phone, identify the subject of it that you want to turn into a sticker, and presto: Instagram will make you a free-floating sticker to plaster all over your Reels and Stories.
Custom Stickers on Instagram Still in Testing
The good news is that Instagram is clearly considering adding custom stickers to its arsenal of ways you can pimp your posting.
Like other new Instagram sticker features, such as the ability to use AI prompts to generate custom stickers, it’ll be relevant when you post Reels or Stories on the popular social network.
🔎 Want to browse the web privately? 🌎 Or appear as if you're in another country?
Get a huge 86% off Surfshark with this special tech.co offer.
However, unlike that feature – which is now widely available – making custom stickers from photos on Instagram is still shrouded in mystery.
Apart from Mosseri’s recent broadcast, there’s been no official word from Instagram about the tool, so it’s unclear how many users are being asked to test it or where they might be based.
How to Make Custom Stickers on Instagram
As a result, the only hint we have as to how the new sticker creation feature might work – and where in the app it might be found – is based on Instagram’s existing sticker features.
These are available when creating a Story or Reel. Once you’ve selected or recorded the content you want to use in your post, you’ll see the 
Tap this and you’ll be taken to all the available sticker options, as well as the current customization options. These include ‘Add Yours’ where you can use AI prompts to get Instagram to make you a custom sticker, or you can currently tap the photo icon to overlay your Story/Reel with an icon of another photo.
However, these don’t appear as free-floating stickers like the feature Mosseri demoed on his broadcast – you’re literally just cutting and pasting one image on to another. You can also make yourself a custom avatar, but again this is different to what users are now being promised.
Instagram’s Busy 2023 Continues
It’s been a busy year for Instagram. On the positive side, the Meta-owned social media platform has introduced new AI features by the boatload, as well as unveiling one of the best Twitter alternatives in the form of Threads.
On the flipside, Instagram’s settlement of a major lawsuit has seen it forced to cough up over $68m to users who had their privacy rights violated by the app according to Illinois state law.
There’s no saying where adding free-floating sticker creation would rank in the platform’s year, but one thing is sure: it’d be an especially neat addition if it rolled out to users in time for Halloween.
