When the iPhone 7 came out less than two years ago, Apple introduced the first dual-lens camera for iPhones. The iPhone 7 Plus was slightly more expensive than before but came with a new mode that added bokeh effects to portraits. Portrait mode was then upgraded last year when the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were announced, while other device makers released their own alternatives, even if that meant using a single-lens camera and algorithms to achieve the same effect.
Instagram might be on the verge of launching a portrait mode of its own, one that would be available to all Instagram users regardless of what device they’re actually capturing photos with.
Discovered by the same user who dug up evidence of voice and video calling support, the portrait mode is in a dormant state for the time being. What TechCrunch reader Ishan Agarwal found was an image that would be used for Instagram’s portrait mode. The new icon would appear overlaid on the Instagram Stories camera shutter button when you select the corresponding mode.
There’s no guarantee that Instagram will indeed launch this portrait mode, or whether it’ll call it “Portrait Mode” in the first place. But if it happens then, it’ll be available on all devices, regardless of how many rear or front-facing cameras they pack. While Apple uses two cameras to achieve those bokeh events for portraits, Instagram may revert to software for the same purpose on devices that only have single-lens shooters. You know, like Google’s doing it with its Pixel 2 phones.
While all these rumored new Instagram features were discovered in the same Android APK, it’s unclear whether they will all be released at the same time. For the time being, Instagram isn’t making any announcements.
