Instagram updated to version 4.1, brings video for Android users and auto horizon straightening tool

 

 

Instagram 4.0 brought video to the ultra-popular photography app, but only for iOS. Now, with version 4.1 of the app, video sharing is, finally, available for Android phones, and there are several cool new features, including automatic horizon straightening.

Announced on Instagram's blog, the updated app gives Android users some of the tools that were iOS only before. But Instagram 4.1 also adds some more iOS specific features, leaving Android lagging again.

The big announcement is that Android 4.0+ users can now use Instagram for video, which was previously restricted to iOS devices. Also, you can now upload videos from the phone's library into Instagram to share, rather than having to record them from within the app.

Instagram did debut one iOS specific tool, though, for automatic horizon straightening. They describe it as:

Automatic Straightening for iOS There are few things more distracting than a crooked horizon in a photo. We’re happy to announce that we’ve developed a brand new technology that brings you straight photos instantly. When you take a photo with the in-app camera, you can now tap the new Straighten icon and your photo will correct to be level—it’s that simple. The straightening tool also includes a slider so you can rotate and adjust any photo—including ones imported from your photo library—as much or as little as you’d like.

We haven't had a chance to play with the new edition yet, so we're not sure how well this "brand new technology" works at detecting horizons, and how well it handles complex landscapes — but the inclusion of the manual straightening should cover any problems you might have.

Instagram is available to download through Google Play or the App Store.