Tag: Instagram »

Recently Facebook-acquired, Instagram, is one of the most popular photo-sharing services available. It has a beautiful and popular iOS app and has recently released an Android app as well. And, despite the new iPad’s upgraded camera, Instagram still does not have an official iPad app. Instavue is an Instagram viewer for the iPad.

While users may not be able to upload pictures from Instavue to the photo-sharing service, the viewer displays Instagram photos from friends larger than they would be displayed on the iPhone (or as the app description says, “view photos as big as your face”). Instavue didn’t leave out photo uploading voluntarily. As of now, Instagram still doesn’t have an API for uploading photos.

It’s possible that Instagram will released a dedicated iPad app for its service in the future. But for now, apps like Instavue are the only options for using Instagram on the iPad (short of stretching the iPhone app to 2x).

Instagram is a very useful and enjoyable app. I should know given my addiction to it and following others and their photos. It is a quite restrictive app, however. One such problem is the inability to private message other Instagram users. Fortunately, there's an app that fixes that problem.

InstaDM offers a full featured chat client all through the Instagram API. Users can chat privately to their heart's content with contact lists of users' favorites possible as well as push notifications. It's an ideal way to chat to friends and to make some new ones, thanks to the ability to search for any user from within the app.

Everything is shown in an attractive and familiar fashion, much like when SMSing someone from an iOS device. InstaDM is an ideal accompaniment for the regular Instagram user, adding a much needed way of socializing with people on the network.

InstaDM is out now and it's free to download.

Hipstamatic is about to storm on to Instagram's social network in a new update that lets users share their photos to Instagram directly from Hipstamatic. Part of the reason why Instagram is so popular, boasting over 15 million users, is not just because it's been on the pulse of the filtered photograph trend, but because of its social features. Not only is it easy for users to share photos to their friends on their existing networks, but its own Instagram network has become big in its own right, serving 10 million daily page views of the Instagram website and its photos.

Hipstamatic was about a year ahead of Instagram, and is popular in its own right, with its developers claiming that over 50 million photos are taken from the app on a monthly basis. Now, the app can share photos directly to an Instagram account as well as Twitter, Facebook (with the ability to tag friends directly in Hipstamatic), Tumblr, and even Flickr. As well, photos seen in Instagram with the #Hipstamatic tag can now be viewed directly in Hipstamatic. The new "tag equipment" option will also let users share the information about the photo's equipment and filters along with the photo itself. The free update is available now.

Do you enjoy tinkering with Instagram but wish there was some sort of game aspect? If so you're in luck as the Instagamer companion app has just been launched. This simple card matching game lets you enjoy some of the best pics you and your friends have taken while also introducing fun new content and ways to discover even more cool stuff.

Setup is simple, you can search by tags, your personal feed of pics or those of your friends, and you're off. The photos are spread facedown on screen and you have to remember where they're hiding in order to match up pairs. The game supports two players so you can take turns with a buddy, and if you see a photo you enjoy you can like it or get more info on who took it from within the app. This may not be much more than a simple companion app, but it's still a fun way to explore the Instagram library.

NewBlue Inc. a video technology company, re-launched an app that, if it works as well as it shows in the demo video, will allow users to get some amazing looking video editing results with no special skills. Vibop 2.0, a complete reimagining of the now defunct first version, hopes to do for for iPhone videographers what Instagram has for iOS photographers. That is, make adding really neat effects effortless and incorporate social network sharing to the utmost.

Using existing footage or that shot for a Vibop project on the fly, users can add professional-grade sounds, intros and mix and match any of the nine included themes: Silent Film, Super 8, Comic Book, Love Note, Tech Talk, Beatz, Postcard, and one theme that makes the app a potential standout, the custom Twitter theme. This feature uses a company's (or person’s) personalized Twitter profile to create a unique branded video. Additional effects will be available for in-app purchase.

Once the project is completed the social networking component kicks in with integrated one-tap posting to YouTube of course, along with Facebook and Twitter. The templates and examples suggest the app is not intended for making full-length movies, but rather sending video postcards with some Hollywood flair. A direct-to-YouTube desktop version of Vibop is also available.

In their press release announcing the new app, NewBlue co-founder, Todor Fay explains “anyone can capture and share video – but the magic is what happens in between. The Vibop 2.0 app allows people to showcase their creativity and make a statement, democratizing mobile video with fun and easy-to-use tools.” We can’t wait to give this a test-drive but if you get to it first, be sure to tell us what you think in the comments.

Love Instagram photos? Want to find ways to discover interesting photos outside of friends on Instagram or those posted to other social networks? Have an iPad and want to view friends' photos on the tablet screen? Instaflow is here to help. Instaflow offers several different ways to view Instagram photos. There's the ability to view the latest photos from Instagram friends, with the ability to like and comment on the photos. Photos can be swiped through, or pinch-zoom commands can be used to enlarge photos and to return to the main gallery. As well, liked photos and the user's own photos can be viewed.

Discovery of other users' photos is also here, and can be explored using the same swiping and pinch-zooming commands. The most popular photos can be viewed; unsurprisingly a lot of them are self-shots of pretty girls. As well, the ability to search by Instagram hashtags is also here, and partial tags can also be found. When searching for "Megadeth" because I was listening for them and testing this app out, I found pictures of someone's kitten that they named Megadeth. That's metal. Instaflow is available as a free universal app.

This week at 148Apps, writer Gianna LaPin continued the 500,000 Apps Interview Series by chatting with Colin Lynch of Freeverse. Lynch says, "There are plenty of skill-sets that are helpful in creating great apps and great games. An eye for design, an ability to analyze the market and spot opportunities, speed of thought and action to take advantage of those opportunities, great coding skills, flexibility to work around problems or change directions when events warrant."

Read the full interview on 148Apps.com.

Over at our kid-centric sister site GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a thorough look at Practice Book, a new iPad app that uses a familiar connect-the-dot approach to helping children learn letters and words. Solomon writes, "Because my son is new to creating letters, this is an app we work on together. I may demonstrate the correct way to connect the dots in terms of the up or down motions commonly used to make letters or give him simple instructions that he can follow by himself. Sometimes I hold his hand and together we trace over template in the hope that his muscle memory for writing these letters will develop. We often use a stylus as well to get used to holding a pencil to write."

Read the full review at GiggleApps.

And at Android Rundown, Carter Dotson comments on the new that iOS superhit Instagram is coming to the Android platform...sort of...maybe...one day. He writes, "Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom has announced that an Android version of their photo sharing service is “on the horizon” for Android. The app is very close to being real, as they don’t even have a team assembled to develop the app for Android. That is also sarcastic."

Read more of Dotson's commentary on Android Rundown.

Finally, here in the states, it's the Labor Day weekend. That means scads of sales on tons of apps. Keep up to date with the latest and greatest changes by visiting our Huge Labor Day Weekend Price Drop Round-Up. There are great deals to be had, and some amazing games to play in between bites of char-broiled goodness.

That's it for this week. Want to know the latest and greatest news about everything happening in the iOS world, including giveaways and contests? Join us on our Twitter and Facebook streams. You'll be glad you did. See you next week!

Google owned company, Slide, is currently in public beta testing for a new photo sharing app, Photovine. The app released yesterday, and is available on the App Store, though users will need a beta invite to actually use it. Interestingly enough, the app is not available for Google's own Android operating system.

Photovine distinguishes itself from similar photo sharing apps like Instagram with themed sharing albums, called vines. In the video below, one user takes a photo of a pomeranian puppy, titles it "warm and fuzzy," and passes it on to a friend. Other friends pick up on the theme and send along various photos to enrich it, including a big, friendly guy with a hairy chest in a speedo swimsuit. Check it out:

Heading to the app home page, users currently see a basic splash page with a button to request an invite, the teaser video, and a privacy policy page that shows the company's Google connection. The tagline, "plant a photo, watch it grow," is also clearly visible. Support is currently only an email address.

[Source: LA Times]

The idea of geotagging different forms of media has existed for quite some time.  Recently we have seen this become even more mainstream with applications like Twitter and Facebook implementing the technology as well.  Despite the information being recorded being rather mundane beyond geographic coordinates, a few apps have been able to make a practical use of the data.  The recently released app Instamap looks to put the bits to good use, while also indulging your inner photo nut.

Using Instagram's existing database of uploaded photography, Instamap will allow users to browse geographically, to find snapshots that interest them more.  The awesome new pinned interface shows shots as they come in, afixed to the region in which they were uploaded, which makes for an awesome new way to discover your inner artist.  It is worth noting that the app is not free, but honestly a $1.99 pricetag is a small price to pay for this interesting new interface.  Let us know if it tickles your fancy in the comments.

Instabam sounds familiar doesn't it? Near identical to Instagram, right? There's a reason for that. Instabam is an app that uses the Instagram API to enable users to quickly view photos that have been taken near them by people who have been using Instagram.

It's a neat little idea and one that produces some interesting results. Instabam shows all the photos taken near the user at the time of use. It's then possible to adjust the distance of the search as well as view the location of each photo on a map.

Instabam looks set to be a fantastic way of not only learning more about the scenery and interests of those around the user's local area, but also to find new people on Instagram to follow. An update for Instabam is promised with the ability to 'Like' and 'Follow' users from within the app which should make the app an ideal addition to fans of social photography.

Instabam is available now for free for all iOS devices.

If you happen to be curious which recently released iPhone apps and games earned top marks from critics then look no further than this month's breakdown of top rated games from Quality Index. Taking aggregate review scores from well-known outlets such as TiPb, Slide to Play and 148Apps (that's us, yo), QI has ranked the top ten apps and games in two handy-dandy charts. Here's the breakdown of the titles and their overall scores.

Top Ten Games

1. Sentinel 3: Homeworld -9.4
2. Stick Golf - 9.4
3. Galaxy on Fire 2 - 8.8
4. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 - 8.8
5. Wispin - 8.8
6. Stackster - 8.8
7. Bam Bam Dash - 8.8
8. Mushihimesama Bug Panic - 8.7
9. Monster Feed - 8.7
10. Infection Zone - 8.7

Top Ten Apps

1. MobileMonet - 9.7
2. Mario Batali Cooks! - 9.6
3. Disneyland Paris - 9.6
4. Tapatalk Forum App - 9.5
5. Calvetica Calendar - 9.5
6. Instagram - 9.4
7. ColorBlast! - 9.4
8. John Henry - 9.2
9. Stats for Halo Reach - 9.1
10. Audiogalaxy Mobile - 9.1

Given your own knowledge of the market and particular tastes how closely do your top ten lists from the past month match up with that of the professionals? Do we get to keep our jobs for another month or is it time to throw the bums out and let some folks who actually know what they're talking about?

Looking down the list I don't see any apps which I personally downloaded this past month, but looking at the scores now I'm definitely interested in Sentinel 3 and Stick Golf. I'm also not surprised to see LEGO Harry Potter did so well considering the fact that the LEGO game franchise is generally well-received by critics on top of being utterly adorable.

We'll be back with another batch of numbers when the December results go live, but in the meantime feel free to argue and debate these scores and generally carry on loud and angry conversations. This is the Internet after all; that's what it was made for. Well, one of the main things, anyway.