Instagram now allows non-square rectangular photos and videos
As of today we all live in a completely different world as the latest Instagram update allows for photos and videos that aren’t square. ???
Here is the full announcement from the photo- and video-sharing site:
Thinking Outside the Square: Support for Landscape and Portrait Formats on Instagram
Today, we’re excited to announce that — in addition to square posts — you can now share photos and videos in both portrait and landscape orientation on Instagram.
Square format has been and always will be part of who we are. That said, the visual story you’re trying to tell should always come first, and we want to make it simple and fun for you to share moments just the way you want to.
It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren’t in the square format, and we know that it hasn’t been easy to share this type of content on Instagram: friends get cut out of group shots, the subject of your video feels cramped and you can’t capture the Golden Gate Bridge from end to end.
Now, when choosing a photo or video, you can tap the format icon to adjust the orientation to portrait or landscape instead of square. Once you share the photo, the full-sized version of it will appear to all of your followers in feed in a beautiful, natural way. To keep the clean feel of your profile grid, your post will appear there as a center-cropped square.
We’re especially excited about what this update means for video on Instagram, which in widescreen can be more cinematic than ever. While we’ve historically had separate filters for photos and for videos, all filters will now work on all types of moments. You can also adjust the intensity of filters on videos, too.
We continue to be inspired by the creativity and diversity of the Instagram community, and we can’t wait to see what you create next.
To learn more about the changes in today’s update, check out the Instagram Help Center.
Instagram for iOS version 7.5 is available today in Apple’s App Store, and Instagram for Android version 7.5 is available today on Google Play.
“We think most people will continue to post the majority of their moments in square on our platform,” Instagram product manager Ashley Yuki told the Daily Dot. “[But] sometimes people have moments that are really important to them that they want to share, but don’t fit into a square.”
From the Daily Dot:
The default sharing setting will still be a square, but on the lower left side of the editor, an icon with two corners on it will let you switch between square, horizontal, or vertical format. Your profile grid will still include square thumbnails, cropped in the center if they’re shared as a rectangle.
It’s unclear what the impact of adding the rectangular option will be for the company that became so popular in part because of the limiting square format. As a pop culture blogger, I LOVE the decision! It’s DEFINITELY going to add a little variety to my day-to-day life! 🙂 What do you think? Will abandoning the “hip to be square” mentality cause you to think about jumping off the Instagram ship?
While you ponder that, here’s a glimpse into Instagram future via the Instagram past:
