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Here's how to use the new Instagram photo feature that brings the best part of the iPhone X to any smartphone

Here's how to use the new Instagram photo feature that brings the best part of the iPhone X to any smartphone

To find the feature, click the camera in the top left corner of the app as soon as you open it.

Here's what the Focus feature does.

The left is a shot in Instagram's Normal mode for photos, the right is the Focus mode. The Focus feature is much more noticeable when there's a lot of activity in the background of your shots.

Instagram's attempt to emulate the "bokeh" effect — the blurred background achieved by focusing on a subject in the foreground — is not as good as it would be on specialized camera phone that has portrait mode.

As you can see, Instagram's portrait mode produces a wonky kind of haziness in the background. It's reminiscent of other portrait mode apps I've tried, which use shortcuts to add bokeh to photos. One of the biggest problems is how much the haze in the background seeps into the subject of the photo.

So far, people are pretty jazzed about it.

Instagram has Focus mode which is bootleg Portrait Mode so why did I buy this phone if anyone can do it now

— baby d 🇭🇹 ♈️ (@demihenri) April 12, 2018

So instagram added a focus camera to stories and why does it look better than the portrait mode in the iPhone camera? Ok I see y’all

— 𝔪𝔬𝔟 (@missodessa) April 12, 2018

For comparison, Business Insider reporter Avery Hartmans reviewed the portrait mode in the Google Pixel 2 last year.

The left is a shot in normal mode and the right is the Pixel's portrait mode.

And here is an example of a portrait shot in the iPhone X's portrait mode of Business Insider reporter Melia Robinson.

As far as how controlled the background blur is, the portrait mode in the iPhoneX and the Google Pixel are obviously better. But if you haven't upgraded your iPhone yet and still have a 6s, like yours truly, then the Focus feature in the Instagram app is actually kind of neat, if you can handle the weird haze.