I'll come right out and say it: I'm not a big fan of Instagram. And no, it's not because iOS users have had their underpants in a wad over the Android release, but because for me, it really doesn't live up to the hype. (Their new privacy-invading terms of service makes them pretty unappealing, too). Here's why, and more importantly, here are some just-as-good alternatives for Android users (and some for iOS users too!) who want to take and share photos with or without those filters that make a 5-megapixel cell phone camera look like a 70s Polaroid.
Why I Have No Love for Instagram
Look familiar? We originally published this post shortly after Facebook's acquisition of and the Android launch of Instagram. We were concerned then about the influence Facebook would have on it, and now it's borne fruit in the form of an invasive terms-of-service agreement. The agreement gives Instagram rights to and ownership of your photos to sell and use in ads as they see fit. Sure, you probably don't care if they sell that photo of your coffee foam, but you and your friends may care if they sell photos of your faces or likenesses to a company that uses your shot in their ad material. Unfortunately, at this stage the only way to opt-out is to close your account and move to another service, like some of these great alternatives.
Update: Instagram says they're listening to user concerns and are making changes to the privacy policy that clarify ownership and advertising rights. It's not perfect, and it's not a reversal, but it's something.
Here's the thing—putting aside the fact that some very vocal iOS users are very upset that their precious app has descended to the likes of Android users (let's be clear, some iOS users, not all - most people understand that the device you use, OS you prefer, or browser you surf with is not who you are) and the social commentary the whole depressing fiasco gives us, the truth is that while Instagram has great hype, slick sex appeal, and a bolted-on social aspect, it doesn't do anything that a half-dozen other apps for iOS and Android don't do. In fact, some of those Android apps do it just as well or better.
Instagram's real appeal is the closed nature of its product—the fact that it's walled off by default, with no open browsing of user photos by just anyone, and before its Android release, built a brand off of being iPhone only, private, and that thing that a select few used to take photos on their phone and then, for fear that no one would see it, pushed it over to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, or anywhere else that people actually hang out. Aside from design and marketing, there's little that makes the app special to this writer. (Your view may differ, and if so, that's cool. You should use Instagram!)
That said, it's good at what it does, the product is sound, it's the aura around it that's misplaced. That and the fact that it's been dangled in front of Android users for far too long only to culminate in an arguably unfinished version (no tilt-shift? really?) when it was teased as "in some ways, it's better than our iOS app," according to one of the app's founders. Combine the aura that and the fact that so many iOS users don't want you playing in their sandbox anyway and it's worth looking at some alternatives.
For the Super-Social: Flickr
PicPlz used to be my personal favorite, until pressure from Instagram on Android forced them to shut down. In their place though, a new challenger has risen—one with an old name. Flickr's new Android app brings most—if not all—of the same features that Instagram offers and combines them with Flickr's own photo-centric social network where your photos belong to you and no one else. Flickr's new Android app lets you take photos straight from your camera and apply filters to them if you choose, then share them with friends on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else you choose.
Fire up the app, and when you tap to take a picture, you're shunted to your phone's default camera app to take your photo. Snap it, and you're returned to Flickr to edit it. Best of all, Flickr gives you ultimate control over the licensing of your photos. You can make them public or private, license them yourself via Getty, make them remix-friendly via Creative Commons, or keep them locked down, all rights reserved to you. And contrary to previous reports, Flickr is still a buzzing social network with thousands of users and thousands more photos.
For the Filter Freak: Pixlr-O-Matic
What started out as a webapp we've discussed before turned quickly into one of both iOS and Android's premier photo tweaking apps. If you love adding borders and filters to your photos, playing with the colors, or adding sepia tone to make them look like old-timey snapshots or 60s-era polaroids, Pixlr-O-Matic is the app for you.
It doesn't bother with a social network on the back-end (and honestly, why bother if your friends are all on Twitter or Facebook and you're going to send the photo there anyway) which we can't fault them for. The real focus of Pixlr-O-Matic is the filters, the borders, the tweaks, and all of the changes you can make to your photos. In the end, you get over 2 million different permutations and options to make your photos look just right (or all wrong, depending) before you save the finished product to your camera roll or gallery and then share it with your friends.
For the Hipster: Hipster
The aptly named Hipster borrows a lot from Instagram, including the snappy photo shooting and all of the great filters you can apply to your photos. Hipster also allows you to add text captions to your photo "postcards" before sharing them, and then post your photos to Twiter, Facebook, Flickr, or Tumblr for others to see. It's fast, easy to use, and probably the simplest to get started with in the roundup.
There are over 20 different filters and borders to choose from, and you can opt to geo-tag your photos with the location where they were taken. Hipster also has a social network behind the scenes here too, and even if we don't think it's terribly useful, it's full of gorgeous photos and really intimate views of the lives of the people who use the app. Plus, it's essential for any good Instagram alternative. If you opt to join, or connect with people who are also using the app, you can look at a map of where other users near you are located and sharing their photos. Oh, and yes—this app is available for iOS and Android as well.
For the Feature Fanatic: StreamZoo
SteamZoo has long been touted as a great—if not better-alternative to Instagram, partially because of the way it turns editing and sharing your photos into more of a social game that's addictive to play. You can earn badges—much like FourSquare—for sharing photos, adding effects and borders, or even for taking pictures of specific subjects, like your dog or your dinner. Whether you encourage the behavior or not, StreamZoo is a pretty addictive app to use.
The app supports 14 different filters, 15 photo borders, and operates a social stream much like Twitter where you can @-reply other users and follow # hashtags to see photos of specific places, topics, or events. You even get the missing-from-Instagram tilt-shift option for your shots, in rectangular, elliptical, circular, and parallel varieties. Finally, you can also edit your photos—crop them, rotate them, edit the contrast or color balance, whatever you choose. It's also available for both Android and IOS, and with the number of features it's packed with, it's surprising it's not more popular than Instagram.
There you have it. Four great—if not better—alternatives to Instagram. I admit, I don't hate the app as much as I implied earlier, but it's difficult to watch great apps and alternatives get swept under the rug simply because of trendiness and flash rather than substance and features. Still, you may not agree with me—perhaps you've used one of these apps and still prefer Instagram, if only to make iOS users angry? Perhaps there's a killer Instagram feature I've overlooked, or a killer alternative worth mentioning? Whatever you think, agree or disagree, share your thoughts in the discussions below.