Instagram is square no more

SINGAPORE — Update your Instagram app: At long last, Instagram has stepped out of being square.

Early this morning (Aug 28, Singapore time), Instagram announced on its blog that users can now choose to share photos and videos in both portrait and landscape orientation. This spells an end to those square cropping sessions when you will need to (awkwardly) leave a friend out or make a compromise to a stellar scenery shot.

“The visual story you’re trying to tell should always come first,” Instagram explained. The photo-sharing app is probably addressing the rampant practice whereby users are using third party applications to keep a landscape or portrait photo in its square frame. “We want to make it simple and fun for you to share moments just the way you want to,” it adds.

When choosing a photo or video, users can now tap the format icon to adjust the orientation to portrait or landscape instead of square. The full-sized version will show up on users’ feeds, while posts will still appear in the profile grid as a centre-cropped square “to keep (it) clean”, Instagram said.

The photo-sharing app launched since 2010 is quick to defend its stand on staying square all the while, however, saying that this is “square format has been and always will be part of who we are”, even with this new feature.

Along with this application update, Instagram has also made all filters work on both photos and videos. Users can now adjust the intensity of filters on videos too.

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. WONG PEI TING