Instagram Rolls out Update with iPhone 7 ‘Wide Color Gamut’ and Live Photo Capabilities

When Apple first unveiled the iPhone 7 with its “wide color capture” feature, Instagram promised to update its app to support that capability. Today, Instagram made good on that promise with a backend update.

Cofounder Mike Krieger announced on Twitter that support for the iPhone 7’s wider color gamut, as well as for Apple’s Live Photos, would slowly rollout to users — all without the need for iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus owners to update their devices.

Instagram reportedly had to update its photo filters to work with the iPhone 7’s upgraded camera capabilities. The newly rolled out filters will allow iPhone 7 owners to see and snap pictures with a wider variety of colors and hues, according to MacRumors. The result should be brighter and more vivid pictures for owners of Cupertino’s newest flagship.

In addition to wider color gamut support, Instagram is also working to add Stories support for iOS’ Live Photos feature — first introduced with the iPhone 6s in 2015. Users can now upload Live Photos as Boomerangs with 3D Touch, without having to use the standalone Boomerang app, directly into Instagram Stories.

Instagram has been rapidly releasing updates with new functionality in recent months to keep up with its chief competitor Snapchat, according to AppleInsider. In August, Instagram unveiled Stories — a feature that, understandably, drew some comparisons to its competition.

In addition to color gamut and Live Photos, in September, Instagram also promised support for the iPhone 7’s telephoto lens. The Facebook-owned social media platform has yet to rollout support for that feature, however.

The color gamut and Live Photos features should trickle out to most users in the near future, since neither requires an app update. So if you haven’t received support for either feature yet, there’s no telling exactly when they’ll become live on your device.