Instagram – Now available for Android!

Features & Use

Test devices:
-Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4.0.4
-Acer Iconia A500 4.0.3 Custom ROM

I would label Instagram as a social network for images. Use different filters to edit pictures, upload pics, see other people's pics, 'like' other people's pics...

Instagram was recently snatch up by Facebook for a cool 1 billion US dollars, which leads us to assume that the service has quite a lot to offer.

Sign up with Instagram and then scan your Facebook, Twitter and address book contacts to see who's already using Instagram. You can then follow others in order to see the pictures they post (unless they post private pics).

The main view affords you on overview of the Timeline in which allow of the photos posted by users you follow are displayed. You can access the Timeline via the first tab. You can also read comments, access your profile and see who has liked your photo.
The second tab reveals the most popular photos posted on Instagram.
The third tab harbours the actual camera function. You can use either the front or back camera as well as select already existing pics from your gallery.
There are 18 different filters to choose from. These filters add effects to your images, including black + white or sepia. You can also edit to a certain extent, for instance if you've taken a photo of a sunset you can enhance the image's colours. You can also deactivate the frame at the top, boost the contrast and rotate the pic. Once you finished editing you can label and image, share it via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Tumblr, mark it according to location and, of course, post it.
The final tab reveals your user profile and a search function for other users or markings.

The settings are well hidden but can be accessed at the top right. Change your the access rights to other services, your profile picture and more.

Bottom line:

The developers did a good job adapting Instagram for Android, but there are a few things that bother me nonetheless. Images are sized down once they have been uploaded and it isn't even possible to zoom in. Also, why are the settings so difficult to find and why didn't the developers simply incorporate a menu, rather than copy and paste the iOS version?

Question: How useful are these types of apps really? I can't imagine that professional photographers would use these filters, especially seeing as images are scaled down when uploaded. Hence, I can only conclude that it's the thrill of sharing personal pics that makes this app so appealing. Thoughts? Please comment below.

Screen & Controls

The Android version of Instagram looks exactly like the iOS version—in other words: sleek and functional, as well as easy to navigate. Hidden menus are a bit of a no-no and Android provides plenty of options for circumventing this.

A tablet version isn't yet available.

Speed & Stability

Instagram does well in this category. The loading times are minimal and the performance is very solid and reliable overall.

Price/Performance Ratio

Instagram is available for free and without any ads whatsoever from the Google Play Store. We like!