If you opened your Instagram profile today and noticed something odd, then you’re probably one of many affected by the app's new update. Yep, say goodbye to your immaculately curated square grids because vertical profiles are in!
Here’s Why Instagram Decided to Update the Classic Square Profile Grids
FYI, this refresh has been in the making since 2022 as revealed by reverse engineer and known news leaker Alessandro Paluzzi on X three years ago. It officially came to fruition in August 2024 when the platform began testing the rectangular grid on select users.
According to Instagram Head Adam Mosseri, the change is way overdue. “Squares are from way back in the day when you can only upload square photos to Instagram…The vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical. It’s either 4 by 3 in a photo or 9 by 16 in a video, and cropping it down to square is pretty brutal. So, I’m hoping we can figure out a way to manage this transition.” Prior to the testings, this rectangular-shaped aspect ratio was already being used for the reels tab of the profile pages.
Instagram did promise at the time that the change wasn’t final yet and that they would wait for user feedback before applying it to the rest of the platform. However it seems they’ve finally settled on sending it out to almost everyone this 2025.
Social Media Users React to the New Instagram Update
In his statement back in 2024, Mosseri acknowledged the huge adjustment users would have to go through, especially the meticulous folks extra fond of making their grids picture perfect. He said, “I know this can be annoying for some of you who really spent a lot of time curating and making sure everything lines up, but I would really like to do better by the content today.”
It seems he predicted right that not everyone would take kindly to the platform’s new look. Upon release of the major update, users quickly took to social media to express their discontent. "Instagram wants to be TikTok so bad. Instead, we get another unnecessary UI update with 3:4 rectangles no one asked for," said one X user.
Others were especially irked over the fact that their photos were no longer centered in the way they had intended them to be. Another user complained, “So…instagram updated…in a very ugly way, and the posts aren’t squared anymore so the whole layout is ruined.”
Check out more netizen reactions to Instagram’s update below.
What’s your take on the new Instagram grid? Let us know in the comments!
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