From yesterday (still catching up after a short vacation), Instagram is preparing to roll out higher resolution uploads on mobile devices. Vlad Savov writes at The Verge:
An Instagram spokesperson tells us that the company started “gradually rolling out 1080 across iOS and Android” last week, meaning that most people should already be seeing the higher-resolution images in the mobile app. Alas, Instagram on the desktop remains a second-class citizen, as Instagram says that “right now we are focused on mobile, with no plans to share on web.”
We’re rolling out 1080x1080 uploads (and higher-quality viewing) for IG on iOS and Android. Let me know if feed looks a bit sharper today :)
— Mike Krieger (@mikeyk) July 6, 2015
The often-derided (but also iconic) low-res nature of Instagram was instrumental five years ago to make uploads feel fast, but, given the progressive availability of 4G networks these days, the time is right for Instagram to bump up the resolution a little bit.