Instagram, the popular photography app recently acquired by Facebook for $1 billion (£618m), has released an incremental update for iOS.

The refresh enables the image sharing service to provide support for the expanded 4in screen featured on Apple's latest handset, the iPhone 5.

While Instagram's user interface and base capabilities haven't been altered, the app has been scaled to utilise the new iPhone's additional display space, making for more viewable content per screen.

Other changes being touted by Instagram include an expedited registration process, improved password recovery, and the standard array of bug fixes, designed to improve the app's performance on Apple's recently unveiled mobile operating system, iOS 6.

Instagram version 3.1 is currently available to download for free via Apple's App Store and is compatible with devices running iOS 4.3 or above. The lag between availability of the iPhone 5 and roll out of the updated app stretched to just four days.

News of the refresh comes shortly after social networking giant Facebook finally completed its buyout of the photo capturing and sharing software

The deal was announced as far back as April, but wasn't finalised until recently, after both America's Federal Trade Commission and the California Department of Corporations green-lighted the deal.

Mark Zuckerberg's controversial Internet superpower will no doubt welcome the news that its stablemate has completed a speedy iOS 6 update.

Facebook found itself mired in another privacy row to kick off the week, with shares of the social network dropping a further 9.1 per cent yesterday amidst ongoing speculation regarding the publication of old private messages on to users' timelines.