Tech
Instagram Launches Halloween-Themed Features, Including Secret Animations and AI Costumes!
Instagram is getting into the Halloween spirit this year with a new set of festive features designed to bring a spooky twist to Stories, DMs, and Reels. Available through November 3, these seasonal “Easter eggs” encourage users to enhance their interactions with playful effects, Halloween-themed templates, and even AI-generated costumes.
Halloween Surprises in DMs and Notes
The Halloween fun begins in DMs and Notes, where special keywords like “Happy Halloween” and “Trick-or-treat,” along with themed emojis such as 🎃, 👻, and 🕸️, trigger animated effects, including bats flying across the screen. These surprises add an eerie touch to messages and help users share Halloween cheer in a unique way.
Festive “Add Yours” Templates in Stories
In Stories, Instagram has rolled out five new Halloween-themed “Add Yours” templates, inviting users to share seasonal photos and answer themed questions. These templates can be found in the “Happy Halloween” section of the Add Yours Templates Discovery Surface, making it easy for users to engage with Halloween trends alongside friends and followers.
AI-Generated Costumes and Themed Fonts
Instagram has also introduced AI-driven costumes through Meta AI, allowing users to transform themselves into classic Halloween characters like vampires. The “Imagine Yourself as 🧛” feature enables users to generate and share their AI costumes while inviting friends to participate.
To enhance the Halloween look, Instagram has added a new “Halloween” font and a “Haunted” text effect, available across Stories, Feed, and Reels. Additionally, a Halloween-themed chat backdrop brings an extra layer of spookiness to DMs and broadcast channels.
Engaging Users Through Interactive Features
The integration of these features aims to foster user engagement by encouraging creativity and interaction during the Halloween season. By providing tools that allow for personalized expressions of holiday spirit, Instagram enhances its platform’s appeal as a social space for celebration.
Marketing Strategy and Community Engagement
The launch of these features is part of Instagram’s broader strategy to maintain user interest through seasonal content. By tapping into cultural moments like Halloween, Instagram not only keeps its platform lively but also encourages users to create more content, which can lead to increased engagement metrics.
User Participation and Feedback
Initial reactions from users have been positive, with many expressing excitement about the interactive elements that allow them to celebrate Halloween in unique ways. The incorporation of AI-generated costumes particularly resonates with younger audiences who are eager for innovative ways to express themselves online.
Conclusion
With these new features, Instagram allows users and brands alike to easily embrace the Halloween season, from eerie animations to fun AI-powered costumes. This initiative not only enhances user experience but also positions Instagram as a vibrant platform for seasonal celebrations.
As this campaign unfolds, it will be interesting to see how effectively it engages users and influences content creation during the festive period. The focus on creativity and community interaction reflects changing consumer preferences in social media engagement during holidays.
Paytm parent One 97 Communications has granted fresh employee stock options (ESOPs) worth about ₹16.7 crore to eligible staff under its 2019 ESOP scheme, highlighting a stronger push toward employee ownership and retention. The grant covers 1,23,908 options, each convertible into one equity share with an exercise price of ₹9, significantly below the prevailing market price. At Paytm’s recent share price levels, this translates into a notional value of around ₹16.6–16.7 crore for employees.
The ESOPs are designed to align employee incentives with Paytm’s long-term growth, giving high-performing team members a direct stake in future value creation. As the options vest and are exercised, eligible employees can participate in potential upside from Paytm’s expanding fintech and payments ecosystem, subject to standard ESOP vesting conditions. The company has also confirmed that the scheme complies with SEBI’s share-based benefit regulations.
This ESOP grant comes soon after Paytm’s payments arm secured key RBI approvals to operate as a payment aggregator across online, offline and cross-border transactions, strengthening its regulated payments stack. Coupled with rising operating revenues, the fresh stock options signal management’s continued focus on attracting and retaining top talent even as profitability remains under pressure. For SEO, key phrases around “Paytm ESOP grant,” “₹16.7 crore employee stock options,” and “One 97 Communications employee ownership” capture the core update for search and news discovery.
Apple’s recent iOS 18.7 rollout provides a secure alternative to the visually revamped iOS 26, empowering iPhone users to choose between system stability and next-generation features. While iOS 18.7 focuses on important security updates and bug fixes, it maintains the familiar iOS experience for users of older devices like iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and SE models up to the 16e. The update is lightweight—about one-fifteenth the size of iOS 26—which means quicker downloads and less storage consumption. It’s designed for reliability and fast installation, making it ideal for users who prioritize a stable and secure operating system over design changes.
In contrast, iOS 26 introduces Apple’s ambitious “Liquid Glass” interface with a transparent look across apps, enhanced widget and lock screen customization, smarter Siri, and improved camera controls. These innovations, however, come with a larger update size and compatibility exclusive to newer iPhones beginning from the iPhone 11 series. While early adopters can enjoy the futuristic interface and AI-powered upgrades, major OS launches may present initial bugs or app compatibility issues that cautious users typically wish to avoid.
Choosing between iOS 18.7 and iOS 26 depends on each user’s priorities—those seeking guaranteed stability and fast security fixes should consider sticking with iOS 18.7, while users excited about premium features and visual changes should migrate to iOS 26 if their device supports it. Both updates are available through Software Update settings, and Apple will support iOS 18.7 for only a limited duration, eventually encouraging all users to transition to the latest platform. This dual update strategy ensures every iPhone user can safely update their device for a seamless and secure experience in 2025.
Apple’s upcoming iOS 26 introduces a new privacy-focused safety feature for FaceTime that automatically pauses both video and audio calls when nudity is detected on camera. This feature, discovered in the iOS 26 developer beta, is part of Apple’s expanded Communication Safety suite aimed primarily at protecting children from exposure to inappropriate content during live video chats. When nudity is detected, FaceTime freezes the call and displays a warning message, allowing users to either resume or end the call.
The nudity detection runs entirely on-device using advanced machine learning, ensuring that no images or videos are sent to Apple’s servers, thereby preserving user privacy. Although originally designed for child accounts as part of family safety tools announced at WWDC 2025, the feature currently appears active on all accounts in the beta version, including adults, which has sparked discussion about its broader application. Apple stresses that this local processing method keeps user data private while providing real-time protection against sensitive content during FaceTime calls.
Alongside this new safety measure, iOS 26 brings several other updates across the Apple ecosystem, including a new Liquid Glass design and enhancements to Messages, Wallet, and CarPlay. While the FaceTime nudity detection feature has not yet been confirmed for the final public release, its presence in the beta underscores Apple’s commitment to balancing user safety with privacy in an increasingly connected world. The full rollout later this year will clarify how widely the feature will be applied and whether users will have control over its activation
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April 13, 2026 at 7:23 pm
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