Instagram’s new ‘Layout’ app lets you easily create photo collages

Instagram has launched Layout, ‘a new app that lets you easily combine multiple photos into a single image.’

Apps like this are nothing new to most Instagram users, but up until now, users have had to rely on third-party applications to get the job done, which adds extra steps to the process of posting an image to Instagram.

The Layout app is as simple as it gets, with the same aesthetic as the Instagram and Hyperlapse apps. Upon opening the app, you’re presented with previews of custom layouts that you can then import your camera roll images into.

After choosing what images you want in the photo collage, you can then adjust each image individually to fit your aesthetic preferences. In addition to a drag-and-drop method for moving the images around the frame, you can also pinch in and out to adjust the size of the image. You can also flip and mirror your images if it better suits the aesthetic.

There are two additional features that stand out within the Layout app. The first is the ability to sort through your camera roll with a built in ‘Faces’ feature that automatically pulls out all of your photos that contain a person in them. The second is a ‘Photo Booth’ option that starts a countdown timer and captures photos that will then instantly be seen in the pre-selected layout.

Following in the footsteps of Instagram’s other apps, Layout is clean in design, simple in its interface and focuses on doing one thing and doing it well. You could argue that both Hyperlapse and Layout could be integrated into a single app, but keeping each app separate, with its own focus, allows simplicity to stay at the forefront of the user experience.

Layout is only available for iOS devices as of now, but Instagram assures Android users that a Layout app will be headed their way ‘in the coming months.’ You can download Layout for free in the App Store.