https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/instagram-focus-rollout/

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-instagram-portrait-mode-bokeh-feature-2018-4

In 2016, Apple released the iPhone 7 Plus, which had an interesting new feature called Portrait mode.  Through the use of dual cameras, this phone could mimic the depth perception that humans have, creating more vivid photographs.  However, recently Instagram has come out with its own version of Portrait mode, entitled Focus.

Focus is applying facial recognition technology to the field of photography, which creates a blurring effect in the background of photos.  This makes taking photographs through the Instagram app more natural, and could even make the Camera app on iPhones obsolete in the future.  While Apple’s Portrait mode only works from the rear camera, Instagram’s Focus works through the rear camera and the front-facing camera as well.  From a business standpoint, this puts Instagram in competition with Apple and Snapchat for the most clear and lifelike photographs.

Having just been released about one week ago, this software is not perfect yet, and the the dual cameras that Apple uses are still more accurate.  However, dual cameras are far more expensive than the software used by Focus, and frequent updates to Focus could put Instagram at the top of the industry for on-phone photography.  If this is the case, it will be interesting to see how this competition plays out over the next few months.