News
Instagram Has Started Rolling Out Comments For Stories
Mutuals will soon be able to publicly engage with Stories.
Instagram has begun rolling out comments for Stories, which until now, could only be replied to using direct messages. The upgrade offers a more visible method for users to interact with posts, with a representative from Meta adding that “comments live only on your Story”.
It will be possible to turn off Story comments for individual posts. However, when enabled, they will be seen by anyone following the account, but only mutuals have the ability to leave comments. As with the Story post format, comments will also disappear after 24 hours. Small profile pictures of commenters will appear at the bottom of a Story icon, so you’ll know if comments have been added before tapping to view a post.
Users can still opt to respond to a Story via DM if the account posting them has been set up to accept those messages. There will also be an option to send a DM in response to a Story comment, which can be found by swiping left on the text and tapping the DM icon.
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Instagram has also been adding more ways for users to jazz up their Stories, including customizable templates, AI-generated backgrounds and interactive stickers.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
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Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
