Instagram will soon test ultra-tall photos to match its full-screen reels

Instagram is currently focussing on bringing full-screen content to its platform. Turns out, the photo-sharing app is currently working on a new format for photos.

During the weekly Ask Me Anything, CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed that Instagram will begin testing ultra-tall 9:16 photos "in a week or two." "You can have tall videos, but you cannot have tall photos on Instagram. So, we thought maybe we should make sure that we treat both equally," Mosseri said.

Currently, Instagram tops out around 4:5 when displaying vertical images that have been cropped accordingly. But introducing support for slimmer, taller 9:16 photos will help them fill the entire screen as you scroll through the app's feed. CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed that Instagram will be testing this feature during the weekly Ask Me Anything.

Earlier, this 9:16 ratio was criticised by photographers as it degraded the picture quality and made it look awkward as well. As per a report by The Verge, "The new feed also added overlay gradients to the bottom of posts so that text would be easier to read. But that clashed with the original appearance of photographers' work." Also Read – How to use Instagram's dual camera feature on Android, iOS: A step-by-step guide

Mosseri has acknowledged that this format is not ideal but the company still intends to roll out the ultra-tall photo format. However, it will not make it mandatory for all the pictures. Although this format was highly criticised, it was reported that people reduced their time on the app. To this, Mosseri responds, "I think that we need to take a big step back, regroup, and figure out how we want to move forward."

For the unversed, Instagram recently rolled back its UI changes that included full-screen video posts in feeds (something very similar to Tiktok). The platform has even reduced the recommended posts based on algorithms. This happened after Instagram faced massive backlash for these changes. The most prominent celebrities and influencers like Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian decided to talk about these changes made by the image-sharing social media platform.