Instagram is the photo-sharing app that also created the timelapse-creating app, too. Now, Instagram is looking to conquer another corner of the mobile photography world with Layout, an app for making Instagram-friendly collages.
Launching today for iOS (and for Android in the coming months, as per usual), Layout basically does what third-party collage apps have been doing for years, with one key difference. Instead of presenting you with a sample grid that you shoe-horn your photos into, Layout uses a pinch-and-zoom method to let you create the exact image you want, which can produce some pretty trippy effects. Like so:
Other than that, the app is pretty run-of-the-mill with mirroring and rotating tools and sharing options via text or Instagram (of course), but you don't need an Instagram account to use Layout.
Hyperlapse was a pretty solid indicator that Instagram can find app success outside of its OG software and Layout's close integration with Instagram gives it a nice advantage over lots and lots of competition. We'll have to wait and see if lightning strikes twice.