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Facebook acquired the hugely popular photo sharing app Instagram a few months back in April, and now we’re finally starting to see some of its input.
Instagram for iPhone has just been updated for the first time since the acquisition, with new version 2.5 launching via the App Store. The update makes changes to the visual aspect of the app rather than the functional side of things, with a tidier interface and easier ways of finding people and topics.
A new ‘Explore’ tab replaces the old ‘Popular’ tab, and makes it easier for Instagrammers to search and find friends, new people and pictures by a particular tag or topic. Much like Twitter, images can be tagged with a hashtag, which you’ll now be able to search for using the Explore tab. Searching features a new autocomplete function to make things quicker and easier, saving your poor digits those few extra taps of the keyboard.
We’ve gotten our hands on Instagram 2.5 already and immediately noticed a speed improvement. Loading images and comments seems to be much quicker, even via a 3G connection. Opening up the camera is also much, much faster.
Facebook obviously wanted to get its foot in the door of Instagram when it bought it, and now we’re seeing why. ‘Likes’ on Instagram are now linked to Facebook if you want them to be, although this can be turned off if you don’t want your taste in photos shared socially. A shiny new Settings page within the app lets you choose if you want your Instagram actions to be shared to Facebook, and if so, exactly how – likes and uploaded photos can be posted to your page or to your ticker.
Instagram for Android launched a way after it did for iPhone, and at the moment there’s no word on these new features coming to Google’s platform. We’re sure it will in the future though, so hang tight!
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
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