Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom speaks at Facebook’s corporate headquarters during a media event in Menlo Park, California, on June 20, 2013. Facebook announced Thursday that it will add smartphone video-sharing to its Instagram photo-based social network, in a move that challenges Twitter’s popular Vine service. Instagram video apps tailored for iPhones and smartphones powered by […]
Credit: AFP
Instagram has just been updated to version 4.1 — the first major release since video landed in the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app.
With this update, users can now import video from their library, and iOS users can take advantage of a photo straightening feature. The most important change, however, is that users of Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich are finally able to share videos. Considering that ICS currently amounts to a whopping 22.5% of all Android users, this was a significant segment to leave unsupported.
The new ability to import video from your smartphone’s library — rather than having to record content within the app — contrasts Twitter-owned competitor Vine. For many, the absence of video import was quite frustrating, and this is a welcome change. It also means that videos can now be heavily edited pre-import, which will likely result in more commercials and other professionally-produced content on the service.
This update is rolling out now on iOS and Android. That photo straightening is absent on Android is a bit disappointing, but that’s not by any means a key feature for the app.
➤ Instagram: iOS | Android
Image credit: AFP/Getty Images
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