Instagram 3.0 is a free photo-sharing app for iPhone and Android phones. The new version of Instagram introduces a few new features such as Photo Maps. The focus of the 14-person team behind this update was to tweak the user-interface to make it more responsive and organized, unlike the earlier releases that mainly focused on adding new features and filters.
Instagram 3.0 grabs geo-location information and saves it with each photo. It then uses this information to create a world map based upon the location where you took your images. When you are at the world map, you can zoom into any area to see photos for that location. For instance, if you have zoomed in at Indiana, you will be able to see photos taken in Indianapolis and any other cities within that state. Similarly, you can go zoom any location to see the pictures that were taken there.
You can add photos to Photo Maps by simply going to Add to your Photo Maps from the main screen. Apart from allowing users to add photos to world map, Instagram 3.0 has also provided for naming the location where the picture is being taken. You will also notice that now you can add lengthy captions to each photo, making it more fun when you have something lengthy to say about your precious memories.
Unlike the previous versions of Instagram, this new version doesn’t want you to click ‘load more’ on photos when you reach the end of a page. Instead, the bew Instagram has infinite scrolling, which means you will see more photos when you reach the end of a page, all happening automatically. Early testing results have shown that despite infinite scrolling, the new version of Instagram app for the iPhone is faster and smoother than ever.
Another long-awaited feature is enhanced comment management. Now you can rate individual comments under each photo. You can even report them being spam or obscene just by swiping the comment at the right. As you release the swipe, you will see a screen with two options, i.e. delete or delete and report the comment. This new feature has been in demand, and it was expected that an app update would introduce the feature for more fun and safety while sharing your photos.
Another interesting thing I noticed in the new Instagram is the way it lets users apply filters even before a picture is taken. Users can pick a filter, even before they start shooting.
Despite the major changes and introduction of Photo Maps, Instagram 3.0 fails to impress many business users as it hasn’t provided for any easy way to switch between accounts. So if you are taking pictures with your phone using two accounts, one personal while another one related to your business, you still have to sign out of one account to use another one without any user-switching available – pretty annoying for most.
Instagram 3.0 is a free update. The entire list of new features encourages users to take more photos and share them with the world. I recommend updating your app for a better and more responsive experience from your favorite photo-sharing app.
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