I heard yesterday that Facebook has released a new app for iOS called Facebook Camera. I immediately thought the end of Instragram is here. At first I was hesitant to give it a try due to my devotion to Instragram even though Facebook recently acquired it. However taking a look at the few screen shots in the App Store, I thought I would give it a try.
When I first launched the application, it already new who I was to facebook. I had the option of changing accounts if it was not correct, but it was so I just accepted and moved on. The main page if just like you would expect from an Facebook app. Other people lives on display, right in font of me. But this was different, this was peoples lives in photo's and photos alone. No status updates, no one complaining what would seem about nothing since they didn't say why they were pissed or upset, just photos. At first I thought, ok, this is similar to Pixable. Except in Pixable, photos are categorized by activity, these photos were just laid out in newest-to-oldest fashion. Along the top of the home screen you have two area's of options. The first option allows you to take a new picture, or select one from your Camera Roll. You will need to "scroll" the news feed down to view your entire collection. Or you can just click on one of the pictures that you can see from your camera roll to expand the entire collection. If you want to use an existing photo, just press on it and you will be presented with a new screen allowing you to add filters, crop and tag people in the photo. When you are done with your options, just click the blue pencil-and-paper icon on the lower right and you can then post it to Facebook. OR, you can add another photo in the same upload. This is something that I have not seen from any other Facebook posting app, including Instagram. You always had to add one photo at a time. This will be a big time saver.
All in all, Facebook Camera is well designed. It has just as many, if not more filters then Instragram, although I do wish they included the "filtered-blur" feature that i have come to abuse with Instagram. Keep in mind that if you want to save a copy of any photo you alter in the app, you will need to enable the "Save Filtered Photos" option which can be found in the Settings for the app. NO not those settings, you will need to leave the app, and head to your iOS setting, scroll to the bottom where your apps are listed, select, of all things, "Camera" and then turn this option on. Speaking of settings, the only settings available to you within the app are limited to Log Out, Help and Privacy and Legal mumbo-jumbo. Is Facebook Camera the Instagram kill?? Well that for Facebook to decide. The fact they are released their own photo app makes me thing that they will blend the two applictions more and more and then Instagram will be like Poloroid.
