One of the most asked for features for viral photo and video sharing app Instagram was the ability to pinch to zoom. Previously, Instagram’s 500 million-plus users couldn’t zoom in on a photo or video. Until today. Instagram just announced that pinch to zoom is finally debuting on its iPhone app, with the feature arriving on Android in a few weeks.
With the new feature, users can use the pinch and zoom gesture on their iPhone screen to zoom on photos and videos in the main feed, on other user’s profiles, and in the explore tab of the app.
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While it’s not a monumental addition, the ability to zoom in is just one of many features Instagram has been adding to its app as it looks to compete with rival messaging and photo sharing app, Snapchat.
A few weeks ago, Instagram debuted a new feature called Stories, which is similar to Snapchat’s feature with the same name. Like Snapchat’s Stories, the Instagram version allows users to collect a number of individual photos and videos into a “story” that they can share with their followers. The Facebook-owned app also recently launched an events-themed video section, which is a feature that Snapchat has been offering for some time.
Earlier this year, Instagram started filtering its main feed using an algorithm, following in the footsteps of parent company Facebook (FB).
