Instagram announced last week that it’s now allowing users to upload landscape and portrait-oriented photos to its site.
That marks a departure from the square photo that had become an Instagram staple since the social network launched in 2010, SiliconBeat reported. Its square photo requirements even prompted tech titans such as Apple to update its camera app to include a square-shooting option on iOS 7.
But the company says it realizes its users want options outside of the box. The company says out of its 300 million users, one out of every five photos posted on its site includes some form of black or white padding on the side due to the square constraints.
Now users can upload horizontal and vertical photos on the platform as well as integrate those photo orientations with the square photos.
“Square format has been and always will be part of who we are,” Instagram officials note in a blog post. “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.”
Users can choose the orientation of their photo by tapping the format icon. The full-sized version of the photo will appear in that orientation in your followers’ feeds. However, “to keep the clean file of your profile grid, your post will appear there as a center-cropped square,” the company announced.
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