Instagram for Android is Finally Here!

Transformed by Instagram

Android smartphone users have been left out for some time now if they want to take amazing photos, as compared to their iPhone peers. Personally, I had been using Picplz to take and edit photos on my Galaxy S2, but nothing can be compared to Instagram.

No doubt about it. It is simply the best tool out there for taking beautiful photos. It is FREE too. I had been wishing for it to be available on the Android market (it's Google Play now) for ages. Finally, today is the day!

For those of you who is unfamiliar with Instagram, I am going to show you what it is in this post and the amazing things you can do with it.

Update 10 April 2012: Facebook has acquired Instagram for USD $ 1bn. This shows how valuable the application really is. It is really THAT good, I will tell you.

What is Instagram?
From it's website:

It’s a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family.

Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it's as easy as pie. It's photo sharing, reinvented.

I call it photoshop on your smartphone, without all the bells and whistles that comes with Photoshop. Basically, it lets you take a photo, process it with various filters to enhance your photo and then enables you to share it easily on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Here are some of it features as listed on Google Play:

• 100% free custom designed filters and borders 
• Lux works its magic by making your photos more vibrant and brings out details in your photos you couldn't see before
• Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare (Flickr coming very soon)
• Interact with friends through giving and receiving likes and comments
• Works with Android versions 2.2 and above that support OpenGL ES 2
• Full front and back camera support

• And much much more...

For an app that is less than a day old in Google Play, it has already been rated 5 star by 24 thousands people. What can this tells you about its popularity and quality?

My Instagram Gallery:
Take a look at some of the Instagram photos that I take on my Galaxy S2:

Some Final Thoughts
For me, Instagram is going to replace Picplz from now on. It is just faster and better than Picplz in terms of processing speed and features. If you have Android version 2.2+, try it out now.

Also, Instagram has provided some tips and tricks to help new users takes better photos on their blog. Beginner photographer might find this particular tip, The Rule of Thirds, useful for them from the blog.

What's your thought on Instagram Android? How do you like the app?

Care to share with us the photos that you had just taken with Instagram on your Android?

More to come. Until then happy snapping.


My unofficial instagram gallery ->here