iOS photo-sharing filter app Instagram now has 15m users, and has two people working on an Android version of the app which co-founder Kevin Systrom says will see the company “address an entirely new market” and see its audience double.
Speaking at LeWeb ’11 in Paris today, Systrom talked about its growth and why it has been an iOS-only app so far, a topic he had previously discussed with The Next Web several months ago.
Back in September, The Next Web reported on Instagram’s meteoric growth, and how the company had pivoted from its predecessor Burbn. At that time, in mid-September, it had 9m registered users so that means it has hit an extra 6m users in a little over 2 months, which isn’t bad going.
Indeed, Systrom announced recently that it hit 2m users in November alone, taking it to 14m users. So it’s growing real fast, driven perhaps by the recent launch of the iPhone 4S.
Almost every company mentions timing or an element of luck as key reasons to why they have succeeded where others have failed. When Instagram launched initially, the iPhone 4′s camera played a big part in its success, and as we noted in our review of the 4S, the camera upgrade was one its biggest selling points (the other being Siri).
It’s probably also worth noting that Instagram only has 10 employees, so it’s still a small company – 15m users is a significant milestone to reach. But with a fifth of its workforce working on an Android app, it’s likely to see a massive increase in uptake whenever it gets round to launching it.
You can see our interview with Kevin Systrom from September here, where we discussed why its first hire was a community manager, what it’s doing with its recent $7m investment and what he feels sets Instagram apart from other startups.
I call bullshit immediately on people working on the Android app. Why? It was almost exactly one year ago that Instagram told us they were working on an Android app for release "soon". Then they told us the same thing a few months into 2011 and said that "Android was a priority and a release will happen shortly". Then...they said the same thing two months ago. The only difference was in the last two times, they have stated they had hired a "team" for Android development. Based on this information, they've either gone through THREE dev teams or have never hired one to begin with.
Three times has Systrom himself said that an Android app was "coming soon" and that they already had an "Android team" working on it. Zero times has this proven to be true and guess what? It probably won't be true this time either. What tech writers have failed to realize yet is that either Instagram is entirely not serious about Android (my guess) or they are growing at such an incredible rate that they barely have enough time to keep their servers up, let alone develop new versions of their app(s) (unlikely since they keep updating it) but keep taking Systrom's bait about new versions.
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Likerfoshee Do you have links to examples of where Systrom says it's definitely coming? Please post here if so. I think he gets asked the question so often, I think some journos get carried away with their headlines whenever he says he knows it's important to people and they will build one eventually. He's always said they'll build one, but never - as far as I know - given a timeframe for it.
When I spoke to him in September, he said pretty much what you say there, namely that it's a priority, but he's never when it would be coming, or that he's actually got a team working on it. Today he said they're actually working on it, not 'about to', or 'know it's a priority'. Of course Android is a massive priority to him, why wouldn't it be? It's only the leading mobile platform, he'd be foolish not to.
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LikePaul Sawers Here's some:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/13/instagram-five-million-users/ - "it's coming, possibly by year end"
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/29/with-7m-users-in-his-pocket-kevin-systrom-says-the-biggest-opportunities-for-instagram-are-on-mobile/ - "in the future" and "we're working on it"
http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/21/instagram-one-million/ - from 2010, "it's coming, we're working on it" and "it's important to us", around this same time, he revealed they had a 'team' working on it
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/31/instagrams-web-app-new-filters-and-android-app-are-on-the-horizon/ - "android is a major priority" (basically saying the same thing he did in 2010). this is also where he said he needs to build a team for Android, which contravenes the information said in 2010 where they had people working on it already
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/instagram_plans_to_build_an_android_version_eventu.phpp - again, echoing that "android is important" but other things are getting in the way (some of those are totally understandable, namely insane growth)
So, for the last year nearly to the day, we've been hearing one common theme: Android is important to us and our ecosystem but we just haven't gotten around to it. As I said, I understand there are far more important things to worry about at times (keeping up with growth, server purchases, funding, etc) but at what point does it go from 'important' to 'placating soundbite'? I mean, a year is a long time and in that time, companies of similar sizes have gained as much popularity and have either simultaneously launched on or simultaneously supported iOS and Android, clearly Android's quirks and ecosystem are not the roadblock.
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Likerfoshee This is what I'm talking about, misunderstanding and misrepresenting quotes and confusing quotes with journalistic input. Systrom is asked the question everywhere he goes, he has to say something - he can't say "stop asking me the question." The articles you post back this up - he has never given a timeframe and never said he has a team working on it. There are no quotes in there that say that.
Article number 1: "As for the all-important Android question, same deal — nothing to share yet, but work continues. Systrom will say that the top priorities right now are to scale the service, scale the team, and improve the core parts of the existing iPhone app."
- Priorities are to scale the service and work on iPhone app. He doesn't say what you say he does in that article. The only thing that comes close is when the writer (not Systrom) speculates: "And none of that is taking into account the possibility of an Android app before the end of the year."
Article number 2: "In the final panel at the CrunchUp, Systrom did say that an Android app will be launching in the future. But no timeline yet." - all he's saying is that it will happen. No timeframe and doesn't say he's working on it.
Article number 3: "First up is likely an API, co-founder Kevin Systrom tells us. At this point, he believes that will beat their next big project out the door: an Android version of the app. Yes, they’re working on it, but Systrom says they don’t have any timing to announce on when it will happen. “Android is really important to us, and we know it’s important to lots of people too." - no timing, and he doesn't say they're working on it. It's a journalist reading into a situation.
The other two articles, yeah same thing. He says its important to them, but no timeframe and doesn't say they're working on it.
Today is the first time I've seen or read him actually saying they have people working on it. Please feel free to post first-hand quotes from Systrom though.
I'll bet that Instagram will be out on Android within 6 months. He's now announced - first hand - that people are working on it. So any longer than that you can feel aggrieved! ;o)
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petezin se sabe para cuando estara mas o menos el instagram para android ?
alexcalic I BET that instagram is destroying FS in active daily users and they probably passed FS a while back on that metric.
jaycbee looking forward to the android app.
indishoe grazie per il RT ;-)
Harbooq That is just amazing. They have been doing amazingly well.