Social media profiles have become a reflection of who we are. Rather than posting random photos, most people strategize their content, even if it’s for their personal accounts. This week, we have an app that will make your Instagram grid — AKA where all your photos live — look as organized and well thought-out as those of all those influencers out there.
Mosaic — available for iOS with an Android version coming soon — uses artificial intelligence and image recognition algorithms to apply “smart themes” to your Instagram feed. Using the different themes, you can organize your photos and then preview how it will look on your feed before you officially post them. You can also manually edit specific photos straight through the app.
The app is simple to use and doesn’t require too much navigation. Once you download it, you’ll be able to search through your photos and pick which ones you want to use. You can then tap through the available filters to change the color of each photo simultaneously.
Within each theme, there’s a few customization options with a variety of different filters, depending on which one you choose. With the black and white theme, you’re able to pick from filters like “Neutral,” “Vintage,” and “Light.” There’s also the option to increase and decrease the intensity.
Once you’re satisfied with the filters, you can then preview how it will look on your Instagram feed. After logging into your account, your main feed will show up with the addition of the new photos you’ve chosen. Unfortunately, you can’t change the theme of the photos that already exist on your Instagram, unless you import them again through Mosaic.
If you want to edit a specific photo, you can do so by tapping on it and then selecting the pencil tool at the bottom. This will bring you to an array of editing tools ranging from lighting and saturation, to cropping, and more. Once you’re satisfied, you can tap the check mark in the right-hand corner and it’ll place the photo back to its spot.
While you can’t export the entire feed of photos, you can post them to your Instagram one by one through Mosaic. By tapping on the photo and then the Instagram camera icon within the menu, it’ll take you to your Instagram account. This is where you can post the photo to your feed or your Instagram stories. You can even share your photo to other social media platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp.
The same menu also gives you options like deleting a specific photo, or moving it around to a different spot. If there’s a photo you don’t want to move, you can lock it in place as well.
I do wish I could post all of the photos at once to my Instagram account, but this does mean that my followers’ feeds will be flooded with tons of photos — a move that’s looked down upon. But it’d still be nice to have the option for those who have a larger account and won’t lose any follows for posting an influx of photos.
As an Instagram user, I’m not one to overanalyze what I post. My photos are extremely random, whereas I’ve seen friends who will only post content that enhances their theme and aesthetic. As it becomes more popular to make your Instagram look presentable, Mosaic is definitely an app that helps you visualize the look you’d like to go for without committing to it.
While I don’t see publishers and social media influencers using the app, it’s perfect for those who aren’t used to keeping up with a theme or want to test out different options. It’s a great tool for learning how to get the hang of posting to a specific theme without sacrificing your entire theme.
Thanks to Instagram’s archive feature, it’s become acceptable to hide photos or even delete them. So if you want to start completely from scratch and start applying a new aesthetic, it’s an easy app to do so with. I also enjoyed being able to organize my photos and seeing which ones looked better next to each other — a detail I didn’t realize even made a difference. Let’s just say I started to view my Instagram feed more closely than I did before.
Mosaic is free to download but it comes with a set number of filters. You can also purchase each theme separately for $2, or unlock all of the themes for a subscription fee of $5 per month. This means that you’ll also have access to additional themes as they are added to the app.
