Instagram Update: 9:16 Ultra-Tall Photos Feature Testing

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed in his weekly Ask Me Anything that the plan of testing 9:16 photos to see if they can work just as well as full-screen reels in a week or two.

Mosseri mentioned that “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.”

The photo and video sharing app recently received a lot of criticism for its redesign, but that hasn't stopped the company from focusing on its full-screen content.

Technically speaking, it is not impossible to upload photos in this format on Instagram at present. Users can still post pictures of 9:16 through Stories, but they still need to save the pictures as Highlights, otherwise the pictures will eventually disappear 24 hours after they are posted.

Currently, the app offers 4:5 vertical displaying vertical images and anything beyond it must be cropped in order to fit. If the new testing proves to be successful, then we will be able to have slimmer and taller 9:16 photos on the feed. Adam Mosseri also confirmed that this feature test will be conducted on the weekly Ask Me Anything.