You can now pinch to zoom in the Instagram apps on iOS and Android. For some bizarre reason it has taken Instagram years to implement a pretty basic feature, one that has apparently been requested frequently.
The pinch zooming feature is pretty basic, expanding photos beyond their usual frame so long as your fingers are still in contact with the display. When you stop pinching, the photo snaps back to its original size, making the feature most suited to peeking at small items in photos.
While zooming really should have been available in Instagram from the very first version, the platform isn't exactly suited to exploring fine image detail. Instagram caps the size of all images to 1080 pixels wide, which is lower in resolution than some 1440p smartphone displays commonly seen in high-end handsets.
Zooming was originally expected to come to the iOS app first, with an Android update rolling out "in the coming weeks", however some users have reported seeing the functionality already in the Android app. Whatever platform you're rocking, head into the app store and update your Instagram app: you might just find the zooming feature is available for you already.