Instagram Working on Several New Photo Features for iPhone 7 Series - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Instagram Working on Several New Photo Features for iPhone 7 Series

by

Photo sharing app Instagram is set to become one of the first platforms specifically designed to take advantage of the iPhone 7's powerful new camera features.

Details of the upcoming update were shared by Instagram's head of design Ian Spalter during yesterday's Apple event in San Francisco, where he demonstrated how the app would make use of several of the new phones' capabilities.

Instagram at Apple event
First of all, the iPhone 7 Plus telephoto lens will be controllable simply by dragging a finger up and down in the Instagram camera window, allowing users to adjust the level of optical/digital zoom. Meanwhile, Apple's new Taptic Engine feedback will let users know how much zoom they've enabled when composing stills as well as during video recording.

Instagram is also revising all of its photo filters to take advantage of the iPhone 7 display's wider color gamut, allowing users to see a broader range of hues in their pictures.

Other additions revealed on stage included a 3D Touch action for the Instagram app icon that will let users quickly add a photo to an Instagram Story – the platform's new sharing feature aped from Snapchat.

Lastly, the app will make use of iOS 10's new Live Photos API to convert the video clips into Instagram Boomerang GIFs, which play back and forth on repeat.

The updated version of the app launches later this year, presumably after iOS 10 is released on September 13 and the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have made it into consumers' hands. Preorders for the devices begin Friday, September 9, with shipments scheduled to start on September 16.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

Abazigal Avatar
126 months ago
That's what I like about the Apple ecosystem. It's huge enough that other platforms cannot afford to ignore it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
126 months ago
...and still no iPad app. This makes absolutely no sense.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Avieshek Avatar
126 months ago
Imagine, if the world was only about androids and Samsung. While others move forward, Apple carries the whole industry with them as well, always.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
Instagram Feature 1

Warning: Instagram DMs Lose End-to-End Encryption Starting Today

Friday May 8, 2026 12:37 pm PDT by
As of today, end-to-end encryption for Instagram direct messages is no longer available. DMs that you send to people on Instagram will no longer feature full encryption, and your conversations are not protected from Meta. Meta can potentially see what's in messages shared between users on Instagram, and that information can be shared with law enforcement agencies worldwide. End-to-end...
Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...