Since Instagram began, users have been limited to posting in a square format. It helped the app to standout at first, but eventually, users got tired of the constraints and began using workarounds.

Scroll through posts in your feed today and you'll see all sorts of orientations. The Instagram team also noticed users have been taking advantage of third-party apps in order to post photos/videos in both portrait and landscape orientations, so it has officially (and finally) added those orientation options.

"It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren’t in the square format, and we know that it hasn’t been easy to share this type of content on Instagram," explained Instagram in a blog post.

So now, when choosing a photo or video, you'll be able tap a format icon to adjust the orientation to portrait or landscape instead of just square. The full-sized version of it will be shared to all of your followers, but on your profile grid, the post will appear as a center-cropped square.

Instagram emphasised that the new update will also make widescreen videos look cinematic. To go along with this update, Instagram has also ditched separate filters for photos and for videos. All filters will now work for all types of content. You can even adjust the intensity of filters on videos.

instagram steps outside the square you can now post in portrait and landscape image 2
Instagram

The latest version of Instagram is now available for iOS and Android.