Instagram's new update will now let you watch Stories outside of the app

Instagram will now let you break free from the app to post and view Stories from the web.

The Facebook-owned social platform announced new Instagram Stories functionality in a blog post on Thursday, trumpeting the spread of its Snapchat-clone to both mobile web browsers and desktops.

Starting today, users will begin to see the now-familiar window filled with ephemeral Stories on their browsers, giving them the full IG viewing experience no matter where they're logged on.

Watching Stories on web is different from the app, where users swipe and tap to bounce between bubbles to see what their friends are doing. The web experience offers some new arrows to navigate between the posts instead, presumably for the benefit of desktop viewers without touchscreens.

It's not clear exactly how the posting experience will measure up to the original. An Instagram rep said that Stories creation on mobile web will "start out very simply," but couldn't share exactly which tools, like filters, will be available at the start.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Instagram says the ability to view Stories on the web will be available to all users in the coming weeks, while posting stories from mobile web will roll out sometime over the next few months.

Instagram added the ability to post photos outside of the app back in May, so it was only a matter of time for Stories to make it to the web, too.

The new feature is a big move to expand the Instagram experience for people in areas without reliable data connections, making the platform more accessible for everyone in the billion-plus user base. That means more Stories for everyone — and with 250 million daily active users already, Instagram will continue to build on its massive base.