Facebook today released Camera,
a standalone iOS app that lets users take photos, add filters and share
them on the social network. It also includes a photos-only feed.
The app, which sounds a lot like Instagram, was developed by Facebook
alone since the Instagram acquisition has not yet closed. Camera is now
available in the App Store, but there’s no word on a release for Android yet. A recent update
to Facebook for Android included a shortcut to the camera within the
main app, but it did not have all the features of the new iOS standalone
app. [Update 5/24/12 11:57 a.m. PT - Previously this
story said that Facebook for Android still included a camera shortcut.
We have corrected it since a more recent version of the app removed the
shortcut features.]
On first impression, the most useful aspect of Camera could be the
bulk upload feature. The main Facebook for iPhone app does let users add
photo albums or attach multiple photos to a single post, but most users
are unaware that this is possible. The process is also pretty slow. The
standalone Camera app seems to have sought to improve this.
The launch of a mobile photo-sharing application is a bit of a
surprise considering Facebook’s recent $1-billion purchase of Instagram.
Screenshots of a Facebook photo app leaked last
summer, but when the app didn’t launch and the social network bought
Instagram, we figured the company had moved on. Facebook says that it
will continue to let Instagram operate under its own brand and allow
sharing to networks like Twitter. If Camera takes off, Facebook could
ultimately merge Instagram with the app.
This is third standalone app from Facebook. In addition to the main iOS app, Facebook offers Messenger and Page Manager.
We can imagine the company continuing to develop standalone apps to
provide additional functionality without bogging down the main app,
while also gradually taking over users’ home screens on iOS and Android
devices. For example, Facebook could develop an events app that makes it
easier for users to organize spontaneous meet-ups and find out what
their friends are doing. This could be separate or combined with a
location-based app that helps users find their friends and new people
around them, similar to Glancee, which Facebook acquired last month.
