I started writing this post last weekend, before the big Facebook sale was announced, as I wanted to talk about – in light of the recent Android-owners backlash – I use (and enjoy) Instagram. It’s funny now though how that very same backlash has not only continued but also now includes all things Facebook. Incredible. C’est la vie.
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I love Instagram. There, I said it.
I also don’t own an iPhone.
So how?
Anyone who’s been reading this blog for any amount of time knows that I am a Nokia fan. My current phone du jour is the Nokia Lumia 800 and before I now I have waxed lyrical about its predecessors the N8 and the N86. Similarly, regular readers will also know that I am an iPad-owner also. Of that too, I am also a fan.
I am a social media junkie; If something is new and shiny, I take a(n educated and measured) interest and, in all honesty, the lure of Instagram was too much.
The next logical step? Install Instagram onto the iPad.
While there isn’t an official Instagram iPad app, the iPhone version doubles up just fine. Problem solved, right? Well, yes but that’s not enough. I own an iPad 2 y’see and, while it does have an onboard camera, you may as well give a packet of crayons to a pack of blind monkeys for all the use it’ll do you. A decent image it produces, not.
The great thing about Nokia devices however, is that the top end bad boys tend to come packing high-end mobile camera technology. Which is great, and as 99% of the images I snap with my Lumia end up on my Flickr account – all I need is a method of getting those images into Instagram.
Well, that’s where Flickr Studio comes in –
I can browse my Flickr photostream and download the images I want/need onto my iPad (you can see where this is going can’t you) which closes the circle nicely –
Lumia – >; Flickr
Flickr – iPad
iPad – >; Instagram
Yes, it’s a lengthy process and yes it’s not exactly ideal either but like I said, I like the network and I like the people I follow there. I installed Instagram onto my Nexus S a couple of days ago and I’ve hardly used it. I prefer the iPad experience. Plus, my pictures are infinitely better.
Since the Android release last week it’s almost too funny how much the elitist iPhone-owners have spat back at the network [EDIT: even more so now after the sale]. Apparently some slighted iPhone-Instagrammers are even flocking to new services to escape the influx of ‘tasteless’ Android-ers. Hilarious.
I’ve enjoyed being a part of the Instagram community and have never uploaded an iPhone-created picture, ever. That makes me happy inside and that’s how I use (and why I love) Instagram.
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PS. As I said earlier this week, post-sale, Instagram will be fine –
;
@DominicTravers I was thinking about that this morning, of the 30m+ users that Instagram has, they can’t *all* be Hipsters… it’ll be fine.
— James Whatley (@Whatleydude) April 10, 2012
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Whereas I’m a little disappointed with the sale to FB, I’m still an IGer and will be. I use a few ways to get images online.
Nice method of posting to IG. I love mobile photography with Instagram and Camera+ being my favourite apps.
On the subject of selling to FB. People were getting slightly hysterical about the whole deal in my humble opinion . I think hopefully it’ll be a great thing and that they won’t mess about with IG too much. I read a tweet from someone I follow on IG who, if you’re lucky, they’ve posted about ten pictures in nine months, of their dog! (hardly an avid user). He was decreeing that he’d be leaving IG and that no doubt his fellow ‘creatives’ would be leaving too leaving nothing more than another ‘faction’ of people behind. I mean what the actual F! Who’s to say that we aren’t all creatives? (in our own ways). I’ve always thought of myself as creative in my own way. I don’t work in the creative industry but I am quite hands on creative and having this outlet (Instagram) for one part of my creativity is great. I like to think I take some pretty nice photos on my phone. I think people need to get over themselves, this applies to those moaners who complained when the android app was released too. It’s just silly patter.
Also, to those people who are threatening to leave i say leave, but you could be cutting your nose off to spite your face. This could be quite a big deal – Face-stagram 🙂
Before I could install Instagram on my Android phone, I had a similar workaround. The new Dropbox app for Android has a feature to automatically upload your photos to a ‘Camera Uploads’ folder on Dropbox as soon as you take them (ShoZu-style).
So, whenever I snap a photo on my HTC Sensation, within seconds it’s been uploaded to my Dropbox, and I could simply pull it down to my iPad through the Dropbox app.
As mentioned, it’s a bit of a workaround, sure. But it works.
On your Lumia, you could do the same with the automatic uploads to SkyDrive, and then use the iPad Skydrive app to get to them.
Ha! I was wondering how you were instagram-ing all that while 😀
James Reply:
April 18th, 2012 at 20:38
Now you know 😉