Instagram to test ultra-tall photos to fit full-screen reels

Instagram may have stopped its controversial redesign, but the company plans to stop focusing on full-screen content. During his weekly AMA Anything today, CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed that Instagram will start testing ultra-tall 9:16 photos "in a week or two."

"You can have tall videos, but you cannot have tall photos on Instagram," Mosseri said. "So we thought maybe we should make sure that we treat both equally." Instagram currently maxes out at 4:5 when displaying vertical images that have been cropped accordingly. But the introduction of support for slimmer and taller 9:16 photos and will help them fill the complete screen as you scroll through the app feed.

Some photographers criticized Instagram's TikTok-like redesign for the way it forced all photos to display awkwardly in a 9:16 frame. The new feed also added gradient overlays to the bottom of posts to make the text easier to read. But clashed with the original appearance of the photographers' work.

During Instagram's shaky redesign test with users, Mosseri admitted that the full-screen experience wasn't ideal for photos. However, Instagram is still intent on showcasing that ultra-high-end photography experience without requiring it across the board.

The company's data showed that some people didn't like Instagram's revised design so much that they started using the app less often. "I think we need to take a big step back, regroup and figure out how we want to move forward," he said in an interview last week. Instagram has also said that it will reduce the number of recommendations shown to users until it is better at curating content that they will actually enjoy.