Author: Napier Lopez / Source: The Next Web
Instagram has been adding features at a relentless pace the last couple of years, but it doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. Recent explorations into the app’s code suggest Instagram is toying with several new features. There’s no timeline on when most of them would arrive, but they’re still worth keeping an eye out for.
1 – Universal portrait mode
As first reported by TechCrunch (via Ishan Agarwal) Instagram appears to be working on a portrait mode for the app. Decompiling the Android version’s code shows a file called “portrait_shutter_icon.png”. This button would replace the normal shutter button while shooting within the app’s portrait mode camera.
At first glance, this appears to be a sort of ‘universal’ portait mode, independent of your device’s hardware. In theory, it should be able to create portraits using AI, even if your phone doesn’t have the typical hardware necessary.
You might think a software-only portrait mode would lead to sucky images, but that’s not necessarily true. The Pixel 2, for instance, mostly uses AI for its single-camera portrait mode. Although the rear camera sensor has some mild depth-sensing capabilities, the front camera does not; the latter uses AI exclusively for portrait photos. Indeed, we’ve already seen the Pixel 2’s camera tech ported to other phones without any specialized hardware.
All that being said, a more pedestrian explanation for the appearance of the portait button would simply be that Instagram is adding the ability to leverage your phone’s built-in portrait mode on compatible devices.
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