The problem with Instagram is that you can only post one cat photo at a time. For people with multiple cats, this creates a bit of a problem. They don't want to play favorites, but it's also bad form to clutter friends' feeds with too many posts.
Instagram is changing that today with a brand new app called Layout. The free app, available just for iOS right now, lets you make mini-collages of photos. It makes it possible to cram multiple cats, babies, sunsets and beach shots into a single Instagram-ready square image.
The very basic app lets you choose up to nine images. You pick one of the arrangements and from there you can resize or flip each photo. There's also an option to take a series of photos directly in the app, like a photo booth. After you're done tweaking a creation, just open it in Instagram to add filters or make other adjustments.
Instead of including the new features in the existing Instagram app, the company has spun them off into a completely separate one. Facebook (FB), which owns Instagram, has been pushing to get more individual apps on people's phones. It spun off Messanger last year, and Instagram previously released a standalone app for timelapse movies called Hyperlapse.
The idea for the app isn't original. There are multiple collage apps for iOS and Android that people have been using for years. But the fact that it integrates directly with Instagram just might appeal to devoted users and enthusiastic pet owners.
Correction: An earlier version incorrectly stated the availability of Layout. It is currently only available for iOS.
