Instagram Will Now Allow Users to Zoom in on Photos and Videos

Instagram is stepping up its game by introducing a new Zoom feature, allowing users to pinch and zoom on photos and videos.

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You know how it goes. Your dumb friend acquaintance posts a possibly incriminating photo of you from his equally dumb party, yet you can't really zoom in on Instagram to see just how incriminating it is. Well, Instagram has finally heard your anguish loud and clear. On Wednesday, the Snapchat-battling photo-sharing platform unveiled its fresh Zoom feature:

"Starting today, you can pinch to zoom on photos and videos in feed, on profiles, and on Explore," the company said in a statement Wednesday. "Dive into an adorable puppy's smile or into every detail of your friend's new shirt." Or, you know, your dumb acquaintance's party photos.

The past 6 months have seen a variety of changes for Instagram, including the ability to upload longer video clips and a fresh icon. The biggest change, however, has been the 'gram's introduction of its own Stories feature:

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In a press release announcing Stories at the top of the month, Instagram said the feature was designed so that people would no longer have to "worry" about oversharing. Excellent idea! The feature, however, was also noted by more than a few 'grammers as strikingly similar to Snapchat's own Stories feature.

Though the platforms don't offer the exact same service, the competition between Snapchat and Instagram has really heated up over the past few months. In June, detailed analysis from App Annie and Business Insiderfound that Snapchat had jumped over Instagram in one all-important metric: the amount of time users spend on the app itself. Damn.

Instagram's new Zoom feature is available for iOS users now. Non-iOS lames can expect access to Zoom within the next few weeks.

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