Layout from Instagram Is Gone — Here Is What Replaced It
The official collage app was retired in 2024 and pulled from the app stores, and the "Layout" apps you find there now are imitations. Where the feature actually went, and what to use for each kind of collage today.
If you are searching for Layout from Instagram, the short answer is the one nobody puts in the first paragraph: **the app no longer exists.** Instagram retired its official collage app in 2024 and later removed it from the App Store and Google Play. Anything called "Layout for Instagram" in an app store today is a third-party imitation trading on the name. Here is what happened, and what to use for each thing Layout used to do.
What Layout was
Instagram launched Layout in March 2015 as a free standalone app: pick up to nine photos, get instant grid combinations, mirror or flip them, save the collage to your camera roll, post it as a single image. It was fast, had no watermark, and did one thing well — which made it the default answer to "how do I make a collage for Instagram" for nearly a decade.
It belonged to a family of companion apps from the same era — Boomerang and Hyperlapse — that Instagram quietly wound down as it folded their tricks into the main app. Layout lasted the longest: support ended on **May 29, 2024**, and the listings disappeared from the app stores in the months after.
Still have Layout installed from years ago? It may open, but it receives no updates or security fixes, and a phone upgrade or OS update can end it at any time. Treat it as already gone and move your habit to one of the replacements below.
Where each Layout feature went
| You used Layout for… | Use this now | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A quick grid collage for a Story | **Layout mode** in the Story camera — same name, same grids, up to 6 photos | Built into Instagram |
| A grid collage to post in the feed | A free collage maker: Canva, PicCollage, or Google Photos | Outside app, post the result |
| Posting several photos at once | A carousel — up to 20 photos and videos in one post | Built into Instagram |
| Mirrored / flipped photo tricks | Any photo editor; PicCollage and Canva both do it | Outside app |
The first row is the important one: Instagram did not kill the feature, it moved it. The Story camera's Layout mode is the direct descendant, and for anything grid-shaped it is the fastest option that is still official — steps in how to make a collage on an Instagram Story.
For feed posts, the honest replacement is not a collage at all. The carousel — up to 20 photos in a single post — is what Instagram built instead, and engagement benchmarks consistently rank it the best-performing format in the feed. The full decision tree between collage, carousel, and grid lives in how to make a collage on Instagram.
About those "Layout" apps still in the stores
Search any app store for "layout instagram" and you will find lookalikes with the old app's name and even its aesthetic. Some are decent collage makers; none are from Instagram, and the name is doing the marketing. Before granting one photo access, check the developer name — Instagram's apps are published by "Instagram, Inc." or Meta — and read what the free tier actually exports, since watermarks and subscription walls are where imitations usually reveal themselves.
If you just want a trustworthy free collage tool, the boring picks are the good ones: Canva, PicCollage, Google Photos, Adobe Express. Pixpa's roundup of collage makers covers the wider field if you want to comparison-shop.
The part Layout never solved
Layout arranged photos; it never helped you choose them. That half of the job — getting from 300 camera-roll shots to the six that deserve a grid — is what our PhotoDump app does, entirely on your phone. Sort a day in minutes, then hand the winners to whichever collage tool you have adopted. And if the result needs a caption, the photo dump caption library has you covered.
Yes. Instagram ended support for the standalone Layout app on May 29, 2024, and it was later removed from the App Store and Google Play. The layout feature itself lives on inside Instagram's Story camera.
For Stories, Layout mode in the Story camera — the same grids, up to six photos, built in. For feed collages, free makers like Canva, PicCollage, or Google Photos. For posting several photos at once, the carousel, which now takes up to 20.
No. The official app is gone; current listings using the Layout name are third-party apps. Check the developer field — Instagram's software is published by Instagram, Inc. or Meta — before granting photo access.
In Stories, yes: Layout mode arranges up to six photos in a grid, and the photo sticker places any number freeform. Feed posts have no collage tool — use a carousel or build the collage in another app.
Possibly, but it no longer receives updates or fixes, and an OS update can break it permanently. It is safer to switch to the Story camera's Layout mode or a maintained collage app.
For speed and no watermark, Google Photos' built-in collage is closest in spirit. For control and Instagram-sized templates, Canva. For playful freeform collages, PicCollage. All three are free to use.
