Instagram Brings Back Retro App Icons To Mark 10th Birthday

Get your party hats at the ready, 'cause your trusty friend the 'Gram is 10-years-old.

The social media site was launched on 6 October 2010 and has gone on to consume innumerable human hours over the past decade. To mark the anniversary, Insta is offering you the chance to enjoy a blast from the past with retro app icons.

The platform - which was acquired by Facebook when it was two - hinted at the celebratory flashback in a cryptic emoji-ridden tweet.

Thankfully, a kindly Twitter user posted a video in the comments decoding the puzzle for any Insta boomers who couldn't make head nor tail of it, which you can watch below.

All you have to do to access the feature is go to settings in the app. Then, simply pull down the screen until emojis appear, and you will be ushered through to the app icon menu.

From there, you can choose from a range of options, including retro icons and different colourways, such as Gold, Sunrise and Pride Rainbow.

"WOW, what an amazing gift - what's the catch?", I hear you ask. Well, there's kind of two catches.

Firstly, it's only available on the new iOS 14 update - so there shall be no blast from the past for you Android users.

Secondly, the feature will only be available until the end of the month - so there shall be no blast from the past for anyone come November.

But hey, better to have nostalgically enjoyed retro Insta app icons for a month than to have never nostalgically enjoyed retro Insta app icons at all, eh?

It's strange to think though that none of us would have heard of Instagram 10 years ago - or 10 years and a few days ago anyway. Now, it's a huge part of the lives of millions.

Lord only knows what the next decade has in store. If 2020 is anything to go by, it should be a cracker*.

*Please note sarcasm.

Topics: Instagram, Technology

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey