It’s the moment all Android users have been waiting for: Instagram is now available on Android. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has been hinting at the making of an Instagram Android app, calling it a “major priority” for the Instagram team. Up until today, Instagram has only been available on iOS.
Instagram launched in October 2010, growing to 1 million users in the first 10 weeks of existence. It grew to 27 million users in the first year, according to stats from the Apple App Store. Today, Instagram has more than 30 million registered users, who upload more than 5 million photos per day. Now that Instagram is available on Android, which claims to have users that are twice as engaged as iOS users. It’s also worth noting that Facebook has more Android than iOS mobile users. In terms of numbers, Android users make up 50% of the smartphone market.
The future of photo-sharing apps begins with Instagram. Instagrams are the new Polaroids, and they are also at least partly responsible for Kodak’s death by smartphone photography.
Android users have Google+’s Instant Upload, which we’ve deemed Google+’s killer feature, but Google+ is still seen as the “other social network” outside of tech circles.
As the smartphone camera grows in influence, social networks are increasingly becoming photo hubs. Facebook photo apps such as Shoebox and Photobox aim to organize the images you’ve already uploaded to the social network. Services such as Pictarine want to organize photos on all of your social networks, including Google+ and Instagram. But the positioning of Instagram as the new camera itself is undeniable. Its arrival on Android only confirms this. In the meantime, Instagram is busy working with Microsoft on developing an app for the Windows phone, further solidifying its place as the new camera in the age of smartphone photography.
Images courtesy of Instagram.
