Instagram’s own collage app

The simple and clean Layout app has buttons to replace, mirror or flip selected images.

There are many apps out there that help us join our selfies. But, all of them are third party apps. Instagram has now launched Layout, its own collage app, to save you the trouble of downloading and using third party apps.

This app runs on iOS 7 or later and takes up 5MB of space on your phone. It works fine with iPads, but has been optimised for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6. On launching the app, you will be able to see a five-panel slideshow describing the functions. To get started, the app needs permissions to access the photos in your phone. You can us the app without having to log in or create an account.

The app has a clear and powerful interface, as would be expected from the developers at Instagram. Once you select a layout, you will be able to tweak it, tinker with it, and customise it. Layout is extremely simple and very clean.

It has three buttons along the bottom of the screen that you can use to replace a selected image, mirror it, or flip it upside down. Once that is done, you just have to save and share your creation. The share page has large buttons for Facebook and Instagram. It also has a More button for the social networks with fewer users.

To share it on Facebook and Flickr (provided you have installed those apps), you will receive an iOS Share Sheet that you can use to send the image directly to social networks with comments you might want to add. Also, Layout can share your work to any app on your iPhone that allows photo sharing via the More button. Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter are some of the available options. This app by Instagram is elegant while being simple to use with powerful capabilities. Its multi-purpose approach does not steal away from its ability to reach its objective with ease and aplomb.