Life

Here's What's Different In The Instagram Update

by Megan Grant

It's perfectly normal for the apps on our phone to undergo updates and upgrades as developers find ways to improve appearance, user friendliness, and functionality. Instagram is the latest social media app to experience quite the makeover — so what's different in the Instagram update, exactly? Well, it might feature a new design scheme, but the app actually works the same way it did before.

On Wednesday, Instagram announced on their blog that they have updated the icon to maintain the rainbow gradient but feature a simpler camera. The design update extends to inside the app, as well. As I mentioned, the functionality hasn't changed a bit; however, the design is now simpler, with a greater focus on the content you're posting. There's virtually no color in the icons and on the outside edges now, and the notifications button has changed from a bubble with a heart in it to just a heart.

The change is taking a little getting used to for some of us. Out of the five years Instagram has been around, four of them have used the iconic, retro, Polaroid-style camera we all grew to recognize and love. But Instagram is a rapidly growing community, currently engaging more than 400 million users. It makes sense that the app needs to keep up with the evolving crowd. This is what you used to see:

LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images

And this is the new logo:

Here's what the inside of Instagram previously looked like:

And here's the updated version. The blue is gone from the top, the black is gone from the button, and one icon changed a bit.

Instagram has made headlines more than once as of late, thanks to an upcoming change in its newsfeed, the added option of switching between multiple accounts without having to log out of one and into the other, and more. The app is clearly working to keep up with the momentum of its quickly growing fanbase, so we can likely expect tons of forward movement as we all forge ahead in this high tech, digital world of ours.

Images: Instagram; Megan Grant, Cristina Arreola (2)/Bustle