Why Instagram's minimal redesign for iOS 7 needs more work

By Susie Ochs | Tech Hive US on September 25, 2013

Tweets by @digital_arts!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); if (typeof tilecount == "undefined") {tilecount=1;} else {tilecount += 1;}if (typeof adKeywords == "undefined") {adKeywords=getMetaForAds();}adSrc = "http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/news2;kw=@@KEYWORDS@@;gs_cat=' + gs_channels + ';;sec=news;akw=;stg=false;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1380611785725;tile=" + tilecount + "?";if (window.Krux.dartKeyValues) {adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';'+window.Krux.dartKeyValues+';ord=');}adSrc = adSrc.replace("@@KEYWORDS@@",adKeywords);adScript = '';document.write(adScript);

Look at Instagram. Now look at me. Now look at the App Store's iOS 7 updates. Now me. Now look at Instagram again. Notice anything different? Sure you do. Look harder, maybe?

Instagram on Wednesday rolled out version 4.2 of its iPhone app, with the pleasantly succinct description, "Design updates and performance improvements for iOS 7."

The company goes into more detail in a blog post, but all you really need to know is that this is an eye-rollingly minor update that makes the photos stretch to the very edges of your iPhone's screen (good) while rudely shoving your square profile pic into a round hole (bad).

Calling it a redesign is a stretch, and this update doesn't change the functionality of Instagram at all: same controls, same buttons, same filters. You still can't pull to refresh, instead having to tap the oh-so-iOS-5 refresh button at the top-right. The fonts look a little more iOS 7-ish, and the background is appropriately white.

The circular-avatar move is pretty baffling for an app that made square pictures all the rage. My profile pic, for example, looks downright weird, due to the frame of the original photo – I made it in Instagram, after all – showing up at the top and sides of the circular cut-out even while the frame's corners are cut off.

And if you try to select a new profile image, you're asked to crop it into a (you guessed it!) square. Hopefully the company will improve that in the next so-called redesign. Anyway, the 4.2 update is available now for iPhone users, while the Android app is still on version 4.1.2 for now.

Please enable JavaScript to view comments

if (typeof tilecount == "undefined") {tilecount=1;} else {tilecount += 1;}if (typeof adKeywords == "undefined") {adKeywords=getMetaForAds();}adSrc = 'http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/news1;kw=@@KEYWORDS@@;gs_cat=' + gs_channels + ';;sec=news;akw=;stg=false;sz=300x250,336x280,300x600;ord=1380611785725?';if (window.Krux.dartKeyValues) {adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';'+window.Krux.dartKeyValues+';ord=');}adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';tile='+tilecount+';ord=');adSrc = adSrc.replace("@@KEYWORDS@@",adKeywords);adScript = '';document.write(adScript);> iOS 7 Design Guide: discover the new normal of interface design" href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/topic/apple-ios7/">

> IBC 2013: the Digital Arts Guide to the hottest new VFX & video post tech launching in Amsterdam" href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/topic/ibc/">

if (typeof tilecount == "undefined") {tilecount=1;} else {tilecount += 1;}if (typeof adKeywords == "undefined") {adKeywords=getMetaForAds();}adSrc = 'http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/news2;kw=@@KEYWORDS@@;gs_cat=' + gs_channels + ';;sec=news;akw=;stg=false;sz=300x250,336x280,300x600;ord=1380611785725?';if (window.Krux.dartKeyValues) {adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';'+window.Krux.dartKeyValues+';ord=');}adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';tile='+tilecount+';ord=');adSrc = adSrc.replace("@@KEYWORDS@@",adKeywords);adScript = '';document.write(adScript);> Digital Arts visits the Brighton Digital Festival: Read interviews with leading creatives, and see inspiring new art and design projects" href="http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/topic/brighton-digital-festival/">

if (typeof tilecount == "undefined") {tilecount=1;} else {tilecount += 1;}if (typeof adKeywords == "undefined") {adKeywords=getMetaForAds();}adSrc = 'http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/news2;kw=@@KEYWORDS@@;gs_cat=' + gs_channels + ';;sec=news;akw=;stg=false;sz=300x250,336x280,300x600;ord=1380611785725?';if (window.Krux.dartKeyValues) {adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';'+window.Krux.dartKeyValues+';ord=');}adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';tile='+tilecount+';ord=');adSrc = adSrc.replace("@@KEYWORDS@@",adKeywords);adScript = '';document.write(adScript);if (typeof tilecount == "undefined") {tilecount=1;} else {tilecount += 1;}if (typeof adKeywords == "undefined") {adKeywords=getMetaForAds();}adSrc = "http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/adj/digitalartsonline.co.uk/news2;kw=@@KEYWORDS@@;gs_cat=' + gs_channels + ';;sec=news;akw=;stg=false;sz=120x600,160x600;ord=1380611785725;tile=" + tilecount + "?";if (window.Krux.dartKeyValues) {adSrc = adSrc.replace(/;ord=/i,';'+window.Krux.dartKeyValues+';ord=');}adSrc = adSrc.replace("@@KEYWORDS@@",adKeywords);adScript = '';document.write(adScript);

View the original article here