

Instagram for Android — Available Now. - hornokplease
http://blog.instagram.com/post/20411305253/instagram-for-android-available-now

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kenjackson
I still don't get the popularity of instagram. Is it the filters or sharing?
There are tons of apps that let me apply a filter and instantly share to FB.
As someone who doesn't use instagram have I missed something?

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funkah
Instagram doesn't use Facebook, and is instead its own network.

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kenjackson
Didn't know that. Interesting. So are you generally sharing with friends or
strangers? I've never had anyone ask me to join instageam to see a picture,
which is why I ask.

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tomflack
You post them in your stream, you can choose to only show your photos to
people who you've friended or you can choose to post them all publicly. There
is no middle ground.

You can share the photos outside of instagram on Twitter, Facebook, Posterous
and via mail. People can view the images in their browser if you send them a
URL or if they use a third-party website to browse photos.

It's quite flexible and a lot of fun sharing and commenting on other's photos.
If you want to get more activity on your photos, you need to #tag them. Some
people go overboard with obnoxious 20-30 tag posts.

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Urgo
Instagram. Ruining perfectly good pictures since 2011.. or whenever they
started.

No offense to the company but I really hate this trend of filtered pictures.
Am I the only one who prefers actual pictures rather then low quality "old
looking" ones? I'm all for sharing pictures easily but keep them real!

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funkah
Taking a photo is a creative endeavor, not necessarily an effort to flawlessly
recreate how something actually appears to the human eye. Engineers frequently
do not get this.

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tsunamifury
Really? Because it seems to me that a lot of engineers at instagram figured
out that using the same set of preprogrammed filters over and over again
allows users to feel like they are being creative.

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freehunter
And is there anything wrong with people feeling like they are creative?

Same argument applies to Guitar Hero. People may make the argument that
they're not playing guitar and therefore should stop playing Guitar Hero, but
many people find it fun. You can disagree with them, but that doesn't make it
less fun.

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metageek
>And is there anything wrong with people feeling like they are creative?

Yes, there is, when they _aren't_ being creative. When they're just choosing a
cookie cutter, telling them they should feel creative is cheating them of the
real thing.

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zobzu
I actually have a feeling it makes peole dumb. Seriously. No more self
thinking, it's all about riding the wave, feeling like you're doing something
"cool", yada yada.

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freehunter
But people will do that anyway. Not everyone is creative. There are people who
legitimately think pop music is the best music they've ever heard. They're not
wrong, that's just what they like. Forcing them to listen to indie would just
make them hate indie more. (as an example)

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metabrew
Signed up; around 40% of pictures in my feed are photos of cups of coffee. Is
this normal?

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starwed
I downloaded it this morning in a coffee shop and the first picture I took was
of a cappuccino cup.

I could see that being a common reaction! It's that or a computer screen.

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stevenspasbo
hah, I just installed it, and my first picture was of my macbook

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starwed
Heh, a few days ago I signed up to be updated on when this was available, but
apparently reading hacker news is more effective...

It didn't show up in the Play store when I searched on my phone, but
installing directly from the play web site worked.

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rradu
Same here. Was on my phone, but it wouldn't show up in Play Store app search,
only on the web interface. Since there's no mobile web version of the Play
Store, I had to navigate the desktop version using my mobile device.

Really poor downloading experience overall--took 10 minutes to get an app
which I don't think is nearly as good as the iOS version. It's missing blur
functionality, the filters don't seem to be as effective, and there are WAY
too many unlabeled icons which you have to tap to figure out what they do.

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fpgeek
Here's a tip: Instead of using the Play Store app search search for the
following:

<thing you want to search for> site:play.google.com

Not only are you much more likely to get what you're looking for, but the
result links you get back will give you the option of opening the link in the
Play Store [1] (through the magic of Intents), so you won't have lost anything
in terms of integration.

I really, really, really don't understand why someone at Google hasn't chucked
the default search in favor of a site search of play.google.com (or, back in
the day, market.google.com). I used to be befuddled as to how Google, of all
companies, couldn't implement a decent search for their app store. Now I'm
amazed because they've also implemented a good one and just aren't using it!

[1] Presuming you're using an Intent-aware browser (e.g. Browser [best bet],
Chrome, Dolphin not Firefox or Opera) and presuming you haven't picked a
default for the browsing Intent. Though if either of those apply to you, you
probably know how to work around it.

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arien
I have never used Instagram. Could anyone please explain/justify the 13Mb size
of the App?

I'm just wondering, because the biggest App I have on my phone is Google Maps,
which takes around 12Mb. The next one takes 6Mb at most. I know games heavy on
graphics might take more, but a how does a photo App take so much?

Just curious.

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starwed
The two other similar photo apps I tried before instagram was available take
~8Mb each. Maybe it takes a lot of data to specify the filters?

They might also rely heavily on a non-java codebase, in which case they can't
just use the built in libraries that most android apps can rely on.

Both Chrome and Firefox's mobile versions use a lot of space too. (Firefox is
down to 20MB, but chrome is 50.)

And wow, apparently Google+ takes 30MB! Not sure what that app does that makes
it larger than firefox...

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daeken
The filters are just simple image transforms. Generally they're just specified
as GL shaders, which means that even in the largest case, you're talking about
a kilobyte or two. Considering that they're compressed (as all APKs are), you
can divide that by half, if not more.

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laconian
The reaction from some iPhone users is rich.
[http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/iphone-users-
disgust...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/iphone-users-disgusted-by-
android-instagram)

~~~
tatsuke95
Well, my opinion of the average person just got a lot worse.

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tapsboy
Also, they think that if Android users follow them, they will start receiving
their instagram shots in their feed

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tuananh
Blindly porting iOS app to android app without adopting Android UI/UX. Just
like what Readability did.

~~~
metageek
They're not even using the Android sharing system. The only way to share from
the Instagram app is to upload to Instagram, and optionally tell it to forward
the photo to one or more of the sites they support (Facebook, Twitter,
Foursquare, Tumblr). If you want real Android sharing, you have to switch to
the Gallery and share from there.

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andrewpi
It's very annoying: I kept looking for the Android 'Share' button and
eventually realized that it just didn't exist on Instagram.

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nollidge
Searching for "Instagram" in the Play store only brings up clones of the app.
I would guess the search algorithm takes total downloads (which will be higher
for existing apps, for now) into account over matching the app name.

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pook1e
I'm fairly certain it's just not indexed yet. Give it some time.

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nollidge
It shows up in search now, but it's about the 20th result (may have been true
earlier as well, I didn't try scrolling far). But even if it wasn't indexed
immediately (which is still ridiculous - it's all their system), they're still
not taking app name _or_ current trends into search results.

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pook1e
I certainly won't disagree with you there. I scrolled quite deeply through the
list earlier and didn't see it, which is why I assumed it wasn't indexed yet.
The searching could definitely use some tweaking to weigh the name / trend
more heavily.

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mattberg
Curious about their decision to go with custom tabs at the bottom of the
screen. Not being a full-time Android user, I always thought tabs were
displayed across the top. Are more and more Android apps using tabs at the
bottom?

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RobAtticus
I don't personally use tabs at the bottom in my apps, nor do I see it as a
prevailing trend in apps. However, I can see why you'd want tabs on the
bottom: it's closer to your thumb if you're holding the phone one-handed. This
makes it easier to use the tabs, since you don't have to reach across the
screen.

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veeti
A new design pattern in Android 4.0 (and available via Google's compatibility
library down to 1.6) is that you're supposed to be able to swipe between tabs,
so in theory there is no advantage to having them at the bottom. (Tabs in
Android have always been at the top.)

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lleims
Big question now: how long it will take Instagram to double its user base?
Considering how many people were expecting this launch I'm sure they will
become one of the most popular apps on Google Play pretty soon.

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zalew
> This app is incompatible with your HTC Wildfire.

Not that I even wanted to use it, but other photo making, photo editing, photo
filtering and photo sharing apps work on my modest little smartphone. F.ex.
Flickr, even the mobile Photoshop.

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freehunter
Such is the difficulty in targeting a non-standardized system. Developers have
a hard time making apps for platforms that vary wildly. It's a lot more cost
effective to hit the big, easy targets on Android then focus your effort on
iOS. Single-platform, more purchases, and less development work.

~~~
zalew
Boo hoo, quit dropping those cliches in here. From what I see, Instagram is
one of the few for whom it was too hard (can't recall what was the last time
an app didn't work for me). "Requires Android: 2.2 and up" so it's either they
excluded lower resolutions or it requires too much RAM for my device to handle
or sth, neither of which is a system problem as apps of similar and bigger
photo functionality work just fine and smooth.

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freehunter
_"Requires Android: 2.2 and up" so it's either they excluded lower resolutions
or it requires too much RAM for my device to handle_

Note that I didn't say developers couldn't handle it, I said it's not always
cost efficient to do so. If someone is still on Android <2.2 or if their
device doesn't have enough memory, that's an Android issue. Android
exclusively is the only platform to have devices with wildly varying system
versions, RAM, and resolution.

I don't see anything in your post that even begins to make an argument against
that. On the other hand, I've seen at least one post of a developer making a
high profile exit from the Android community because of the differences.

It's not that Android is hard, it's that is _harder_ , and for less return.
Most mobile developers can't afford to buy every system to test on, and can't
afford lengthy development and support cycles.

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zalew
I wouldn't mind that a single dev or some indie team starting up can't handle
their workload or afford a device to test on. They are funded 7mil so
affordability shouldn't be an issue, they just supposedly can't make this app
work on lower requirements than their competitors' products and that only was
my point.

If they don't care, it's their problem and I'd have left after my first post,
but pardon me, I'm tired of every comment like that where someone is trying to
excuse developers by raising some Android cliches that there are too many
phones around. There are apps more powerful than Instagram which work on my
entry-level htc, theirs doesn't and it's their fault, not the OS, not the
devices'.

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codenerdz
A hint to those not finding the app in Android Play store: Navigate to

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram.android)

from your Android's phone browser and install from there.

I simply did google search for 'google play instagram' and and navigated to
the first link.

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nextparadigms
It still looks more like an iOS app than an Android one. That is unfortunate.
Both Android and iOS have pretty much the same userbase right now, and it
deserves the respect as a platform. You wouldn't expect to see a Mac-style app
on Windows, or a Windows-style app on Mac, and that's with a much larger
difference in userbase. Even Linux apps get their own style.

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canthonytucci
One more checked off my list!

Just gave it a try and it works as smoothly and plesantly as on my iPhone.

I have to wonder why they still don't have pull to refresh though.

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Mavrik
Android Design guidelines actively discurage this pattern - it supposedly too
"iOSish" and protected by patterns.

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justindocanto
you mean it's too intuitive? would actually work? offers a sense of
familiarity? wouldn't want that on android... nooo sir.

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SCdF
Your first point is subjective, your second point is confusing (pull to
refresh is the only way refreshing works?) and your third point implies that
people are already familiar with it (on Android you're mostly not, I've only
ever seen it on lazy iOS ports).

<http://android.cyrilmottier.com/?p=598> is a really nice blog about why it's
an anti pattern on android (and no, it's not to be different from iOS).

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canthonytucci
iOSey or not, it's quite easy to discover, and is accessible from anywhere
within the thing that you're pulling. On a phone as big as my Galaxy Nexus, it
would be nice not to have to reach all the way to the top of the screen, as
this requires me to adjust how I am holding the phone when I was previously in
a "casual scrolling through items" position.

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ing33k
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram.android)

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EnderMB
I'm disappointed that Android users have flocked over to Instagram considering
they've been running on the iPhone happily for a long time now without any
real wish to ever bring their service to Android. There are many similar apps
already on Android and considering the Android community I would have imagined
them to not back Instagram's move out of principle.

Personally, I wouldn't ever use the product, but I'm glad to see that they've
finally brought it to the Android platform after so long.

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rbarooah
Android is the world's most popular smartphone OS.

Most users use it because it is the OS that powers the phone that they thought
best fit their needs when they bought it, not because they have any special
loyalty to a 'community'.

Why wouldn't they flock to a popular service that lots of people say is fun?

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bishnu
Really happy to see this since I'm making the switch from iOS and this is the
one thing that either didn't exist on Android or have a similar analog.

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bookwormAT
Isn't Lightbox doing more or less the same thing as Instagram on Android? And
Lightbox has some nice features, like explorer views for pictures from your
facebook and twitter streams. The Lightbox also adapts much better (e.g. to
larger screens) than instagram so far.

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lightbox.a...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lightbox.android.photos)

~~~
bishnu
There are lots of Instagram clones out there but choosing one of those means
losing Instagram's social network, which (as a moderate user of Instagram) I
wasn't so hot on doing.

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oflannabhra
Instagram opened up its API recently to Hipstamatic [1] (which I think
predated Instagram, not sure though). Interesting to see Instagram realize
that their value is in their userbase and not in their specific filters. I
don't know if they have plans to become a platform or not, but with millions
of users (and with this Android release, millions more coming), they've
definitely got that as an option.

[1] - [http://www.fastcompany.com/1824797/exclusive-hipstamatic-
ins...](http://www.fastcompany.com/1824797/exclusive-hipstamatic-instagram-
partnership-api-import-photos-social-network-kevin-systrom)

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Prophasi
Just look at that obnoxious period hanging out there slyly at the end of the
non-sentence subject. It's full of "just a period here, not an exclamation
point, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna be pretty ebullient anyway" faux-
understatement. None of their other post titles end in periods.

So annoying, riiight? Guys...?

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oijaf888
Why does it require access to my contacts?

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skeletonjelly
To search for friends. You still have to trigger this step manually and it
lets you know that you're about to send Instagram your contacts.

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michaelmior
One thing that surprised me about this app is the completely blank screen I
was greeted with after installing. No CTA, no idea really what to do next. Of
course I can play around with the app and figure it out, but it seems like a
huge oversight not to help me along.

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xelipe
Instagram = filters + social. Istagram doesn't have the best platform for
filters or social, but is a case where the sum is greater than its parts. For
filters, I prefer Camera+ and for this type of sharing I like Tumblr. If only
Tumblr had a photo filter app.

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iamdave
"If only Tumblr had a photo filter app."

 _scribbles this down_

~~~
there
Instagram has the ability to automatically share on Tumblr, so I'm guessing
most users that would want to do that already do.

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daimyoyo
I'm so glad this app is finally available for Android. I sold my iPhone 4 last
August and I've missed this app so much. I also miss Path, but it's not
currently compatible with my Samsung Replenish. Oh well. If you don't have
this app yet, I highly recommend it.

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yaix
Why does Instagram need access to my phone's address book? Will it steal that
data too, or ask me before copying anything to their servers? Just want to
know before install. I don't want to share photos with /everybody/ in my
address book.

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sp332
It does ask first, I checked. Plus I'm pretty sure it looks for people for you
to _follow_ , not send pics to.

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dabent
Link as it won't isn't showing up in the Play store search just yet:
<http://instagram.com/android/>

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king-coconut
I heard the Instagram hype all over internets and tried the software, but
deleted it right away when I saw it required an account. I can see why they
are doing this, but from my perspective it's just greedy. No need to integrate
everything, I just want to take some pictures not register to a service. Soon
we will have calculator apps that force you to make super-calc-account where
you can share your calculations with your friends...

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rbarooah
Instagram is a photo sharing social network. How would you expect it to work
without creating an account?

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perlpimp
In Russia it isn't available, at least in search results. Whats up with that.

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pook1e
Same thing in the US. It probably hasn't been indexed yet, but you can access
the link directly:

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram.android)

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eLobato
Honestly I was expecting this so badly... and got terribly disappointed. Will
stick to Picplz.

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thabest
I cant get instagram on my htc wildfire and it pissed me off!

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jasonhitchcock
Instagram is the most overrated app of the year.

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drivebyacct2
For those confused about the confused, if you've not used Android, it's
trivial to share to any capable app via the default Camera/Gallery. It's very
fast for me to snap a photo and share it over FB/Twitter, so unless you're
into "hipster filters", Instagram doesn't really add a lot of value to the
experience.

That, and I don't know anyone that uses it. I'm surrounded by iPhone users in
the Midwest but I don't know a one of them that have used Instagram, most
don't know what it is.

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vibrunazo
I don't use iOS, so I'm not familiar with its sharing capabilities. Does
Instagram solves any problem with the sharing there?

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RKearney
No. Either way you're going to have to launch an app in iOS to share a message
to Facebook. You can tweet pictures straight from the photo gallery, but if
you want to post to Facebook then you have to launch the Facebook app and
upload the picture from there. Instagram doesn't really solve any issues
because now you're just launching another application instead of Facebook.

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fpgeek
I thought the initial problem Instagram solved (before its own network became
popular) was that you could launch one application are share multiple places
(and I suppose eliminating another app from the flow with filters).

However, since I'm an Android user I could easily mistaken about this.

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funkah
Now it will REALLY take off!

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varunsaini
Download are really going to high, but time will tell how people are going to
use it...I am definitely going to download and try it on my android phone.

