Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Instagram’s latest update replaces its iconic square profile grid with rectangles.
- The platform briefly tested this change last year and has started rolling it out to users this weekend.
- Instagram is also introducing a new feature in the Reels feed to show users videos their friends liked.
Instagram is rolling out a fresh update over the weekend that will surely annoy users who have spent hours meticulously curating their profile grids. The update changes the profile grid layout, replacing the iconic squares with rectangles.
Instagram briefly tested this change last August and the platform’s chief, Adam Mosseri, has now confirmed that it’s rolling out to all users over the weekend. Mosseri announced the update during a recent AMA session and said:
“I know some of you really like your squares. And square photos are sort of the heritage of Instagram. But at this point, most of what’s uploaded, both photos and videos, are vertical in their orientation…and it just is a bummer to overly crop them.”
Expecting user outrage, Mosseri acknowledged that the new profile grids might be a “bit of a pain.” However, he added that users will “over the long run, be excited that more of their photos and more of their videos are actually visible as intended in the profile as opposed to aggressively cropped.”
Along with the new profile grid layout, Instagram is adding a new feature in the Reels feed that will show you videos your friends like.
