The 640×640 resolution that Instagram uses may have been acceptable when the service launched a few years ago, but it’s about time the company adopt some more modern image standards. The people at Instagram must be thinking the same thing, because apparently the service has started storing 1080×1080 versions of images as well as the usual 640×640, although it’s not displaying them, which implies that an update is coming soon. 

Just over a week ago, I wrote plaintively about Instagram’s archaic 640 x 640 resolution and the need to move with the times and give users the ability to upload larger images. This past Friday, it appears, Instagram has started addressing that very issue, as photos sent to the popular image sharing app are now being stored in a higher 1080 x 1080 size. The higher-resolution pictures are not yet being displayed as such by Instagram, which maintains its smaller default for now. But a quick check of the source code on Instagram’s web view reveals that new photos uploaded to it are being saved in 1080px resolution, likely in preparation to making a full and public switch to the greater size in the coming days or weeks. We have reached out to Instagram to find out more. The company’s last comments on the matter indicated that it neither uploads nor stores images at any greater resolution that its standard 640 x 640, so this is clearly a new development.