Instagram has announced that it will boost the image size of user posts' digital photos on its iOS and Android mobile apps, by about 40 percent. The photo sharing, video sharing, and social networking service will now allow users to store and show pictures with a photo resolution of 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels, supporting more detailed images.
The image size limit was first noticed on Friday when netizens spotted it while reviewing the source code of Instagram's app, according to PC World. An official switch to the bigger photos will likely happen within the next days or weeks.
It is notable that the 1080 pixel resolution is the real deal. Instead of simply being stretched out, the photos are close to the snapped photos' original quality.
An Instagram spokeswoman made an announcement on July 6, Monday about the upgrade, noting that the roll out started last week and the update is already available for most users. However, the company has "no plans" to include the better resolution for browsers that support desktops and laptop computers.
Another big question mark is whether Instagram has addressed the issue of highly compressed images on its Android app. However, the pics are certainly stored in the higher res.
Instagram was launched in 2010. Since then, the cap on its image sizes has been 640 pixels by 640 pixels, due to mobile cameras originally being unable to capture or display bigger images, according to The Verge.
However, the situation has changed over the years as smartphone cameras can now snap digital images with a higher resolution.
Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. The social network claims that it has about 300 million active users.