Instagram, the most popular social network for sharing and filtering personal photography and video, has always had one genre defining caveat: all pictures and video must be cropped to a square with a limited 1:1 aspect ratio. As of today, however, that has changed.

Instagram now supports landscape and portrait photography and videography. The announcement was made on the Instagram blog where the company was quick to point out that its iconic “Square format has been and always will be a part of who we are”, but the progression to offering support for traditional aspect ratios stems from wanting to ensure that “the visual story you’re trying to tell should always come first”.

Before today, users have had to resort to third-party software in order to display landscape and portrait media within Instagram’s cramped square. Naturally, the change is a very good one, especially for amateur and professional photographers.

Interestingly, the simple change not only gives users more creative freedom, but it is also makes the social network the perfect platform for advertisers – like in the example below.

In addition to the change in aspect ratio, Instagram now also allows all of its iconic filters to be added to any supported media, whether that is a photograph or video.

The latest update to Instagram should now be available on the Apple App store and Google Play store.

[Source: Instagram]

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Owner, founder and editor-in-chief at Vamers, Hans has a vested interest in geek culture and the interactive entertainment industry. With a Masters degree in Communications and Ludology, he is well read and versed in matters relating to video games and communication media, among many other topics of interest.