The thing about having Instagram and loving every second of it is that you never have just Instagram. There's VSCO and PicStitch and FaceTune and, now, a new Instagram app called Layout. The app for piecing together photos, mirroring images, and making collages out of all your favorite shots. But before you get all excited, let's go back to one key word and make sure things are clear: Layout is an app, not a feature within Instagram itself. Because that would just make too much sense, I guess.
Don't get me wrong, Layout is very, very cool from what I can tell right now. As someone who felt the trendy impulse to post a mirrored selfie one day and spent about half an hour in the app store searching for an easy way to create the image, I love the idea of Layout. Of course I do. But why on earth did Instagram not work the feature into the app itself? At first glance of the promotional photos that describe how the app works, you think you're looking at Instagram, not another, standalone app. I saw the photos, restarted my IG, and expected to see the new feature pop up — but it wasn't there. So I read the press release again and eventually I put it together. Layout isn't in Instagram, it's another tool you use before Instagram. You know, like all the apps you already used, but in a cool, Instagram-approved package.
In case you're wondering some of the ways you can use the app itself, the photos speak pretty much for themselves. And yes, they all look very, very cool. Suddenly, I want to climb a mountain just so I can create a cool, trippy photo at the top. Or, better yet, the mirrored selfie of my dreams.
For fashion lovers, the app is great. Piecing together different shots of outfits or creating a cool, artsy layout of your favorite accessories is easier than ever and yes, I'm excited about it all. But do I wish I didn't have to use another app to do that? Yes. What can I say? I'm a little bitter.
See? Pretty neat. But why oh why did we need a whole other app to do this? Was it too complicated to work it into Instagram itself? Was it too expensive? Or is having another, separate app just a handy way for the company to make more money, somehow. I certainly don't know the answer, but I am already predicting the confusion of everyone waiting for their IG to update to have a feature that doesn't actually exist within the app itself.
Images: Instagram (5)
