Instagram brings notifications to desktop users

Instagram has added a notifications tab to its mostly-ignored desktop website.

In an update rolled out quietly late Tuesday, desktop users of the photo-sharing service now see a stripped-down version of the app’s activity tab, showing people recent comments, likes and new followers in the top right corner after logging into Instagram.com.

Still, even with the enhancement, Instagram on desktop largely remains untouched since its launch three years ago. Users still can’t upload pictures, view the “Following” tab or send each other photos using the direct messaging feature. The Facebook-owned app did, however, bring search to the Web last year and has given it a cosmetic upgrade.

Traffic to Instagram’s desktop version has largely remained stagnant over the past six months, according to data from comScore. The platform boasts 400 million active members. But last month, the site attracted 17.8 million uniques in the U.S., down from its high last September when it attracted 21.3 million visitors. Of course, traffic on mobile has made up for the loss, growing month-over-month during the same time period, attracting 95.8 million U.S. visitors on mobile last month.

Instagram did not immediately reply for comment.

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