Instagram is cool, but its interface can quickly devolve into a cluttered mess of ads, likes, comments, hashtags and captions. If all you want to do is concentrate on the pictures, you’ll have to find another way.
ACNE, a production and marketing company, aims to create the go-to platform for Instagram joy with SwipeMy.Pics, a new Web app launched today, designed to let you view unadulterated Instagram images. SwipeMy.Pics is a free, lightweight app that works on all browsers and devices. Updates to the service are automatically incorporated with a browser refresh.
SwipeMy.Pics revamps the Instagram experience to eliminate distracting elements from view and aims for a fresh design. Users can swipe through a gallery from left to right and zoom in on images, by either double-clicking or tapping — features not currently available on Instagram.
The navigation swipe for phones, coupled with a zoom function, offer the biggest advantage over Instagram. Each image on SwipeMy.Pics has its own showcase: there’s one image per window that sits on top of a blurred background of the same image.
There’s no comments or grids. You can enter a public Instagram handle to view a specific feed or sign into your own account.
Instagram’s interface has long been a source of angst so it’s not like many others haven’t already tried to tame Instagram. One recent entrant into the arena is Grids, a $3.99 Instagram viewer available from the Mac App Store that’s based on a grid design and supports almost all Instagram features.
From ACNE’s viewpoint, it’s not enough because not only does it maintain a tired grid interface, it only works on the Mac and does not function in the browser or on mobile devices. Plus, Grids updates must be downloaded and relaunched.
SwipeMy.Pics, which is open source, is built with the Instagram API and the code will soon be available on ACNE’s GitHub. The company says it is not designed for commercial purposes and is not being optimized for the Internet Explorer browser.
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