How To Enable The Microphone In Instagram

Almost all the apps that you downloaded on your phone need certain permissions to work as designed. Most people don’t think much about these permissions and have a tendency to just enable them when asked. But there are also those who are a bit wary of giving apps access to stuff like storage, camera, and microphone.

The jury’s still out on whether there’s an actual reason to worry. While you obviously shouldn’t give sketchy 3rd-party apps permission to everything on your device, it’s safe to say that Instagram doesn’t fall under this category.

Let’s see how to give Instagram permission to use your microphone, and then we’ll dive deep into why you need to do it.

Enabling Microphone Access

Like any other app permissions, you can enable microphone on Instagram from within your device’s Settings menu. If you’re an Android user, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Apps.
   
2. Select Instagram, then go to Permissions.
   
3. Allow access to microphone.
   

And if you’re using an iPhone, take the following steps:

1. Go to Settings > General, then scroll down to Privacy.
   
2. Go to Microphone, then toggle on the switch next to Microphone.
   

And there you go! Once you go back to Instagram, it shouldn’t ask you for microphone access anymore. You’ll be able to use all of Instagram’s features without annoying pop-ups.

What Does Instagram Use Your Microphone For?

Some users said that the app asked them for microphone access when they were trying to take a photo. They said that it wouldn’t let them share any of their stuff if they didn’t give the permission.

As crazy as this may sound at first, it actually makes more sense than you think. After all, almost all of Instagram’s features require microphone access, so the user experience wouldn’t be complete without it.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to use the microphone when you post videos. You can turn off the audio by tapping the speaker icon at the top.

This goes for both videos and Stories. Regardless if you’re uploading or directly recording, you can mute the sound and post just the video.

Aside from this, there’s another feature requiring microphone access that deserves special attention.

Voice Messages

Recently, Instagram has joined the voice message trend and enabled the feature on its platform. You can now record 60s messages and share them in your DMs.

You’ll find a microphone icon in the text bar, and all you have to do is to hold it until you’re recording your message.

In addition, you can swipe up to record the message without having to hold the button the entire time. When you do this, you should see a lock icon indicating that the message is recording hands-free.

As soon as you release the button or the 60s timer expires, the message will send automatically. If you don’t want to send the message, swipe left to cancel it instead of releasing the button.

And if you accidentally send the message, you can unsend it the same way you would a regular text message. Just long-press it and tap the Unsend button.

Start Some Noise

As mentioned, you’re able to use many Instagram features without enabling microphone access. Now that you know how to do it, you can enjoy everything that Instagram has to offer.

Remember not to give microphone, camera, and especially storage access to apps that aren’t from the official app stores (unless you know better). This can open you up to risks like having your data stolen or your device infected with viruses. Of course, there’s little cause for concern if you’re using official apps, and in the case of Instagram, you can quite safely enable microphone access, wouldn’t you think?

Do you have any more questions about Instagram and any of its features? If so, go ahead and ask them in the comments below.