Twitter rolls out image filters in app update after Instagram pulls integrated photo viewing
Twitter rolled out updates to its official iOS and Android apps on Monday, adding new image editing features including Instagram-like image filters after Instagram halted support for in-app photo viewing on Sunday.
One day after Facebook's Instagram dropped support for Twitter cards, which now results in blank screens when users attempt to view photos, the microblogging giant released an update to its app that brings back some of the lost functionality.
According to Twitter's official blog, the image effects were built by photo editing software company Aviary and include eight different filters. Users can choose from "vignette, black & white, warm, cool, vintage, cinematic, happy and gritty," each offering an Instagram-like feel to photos taken within the Twitter app.
To use the new photo editing feature, users first take a picture and then select a filter of their liking by either tapping on a preview in grid view or swiping through the eight choices to compare how each affects the image.
In addition to filters, Twitter's image editor brings cropping and one-touch auto-enhance capabilities which are implemented in much the same way as Apple's Photos app. Cropping can preserve the original photo's aspect ratio, or bound it into a square for easy viewing on a Twitter timeline.
As of this writing, the iOS version of Twitter's app is not yet available through the App Store, though the company said the download would be available sometime on Monday.
18 Comments
Can someone please explain to me why Istragram has chosen to, from my perspective, shoot itself in the foot? Surely I must be missing something.
FWIW One minute ago I was able to create a photograph in Instagram and post it to Instagram then turn around and select that photograph and share it back to Twitter, where it was visible, without any problem at all. Maybe that's a function unique to the iPhone or Apple products in general or maybe not.
@solipsismx Nah, you're not missing anything. Instagram (Facebook, really) think it's "a better experience" to view an Instagram image on the instagram website. To my mind, it's a frikkin' image. I don't need to go to a specific website to view an image - it's just a bunch of pixels on a screen, anywhere. They're shooting themselves in the foot, the leg, the torso, arms and soon, the face. It's gonna hurt them in the long run. I've stopped using Instagram.
[quote name="darkpaw" url="/t/154910/twitter-rolls-out-image-filters-in-app-update-after-instagram-pulls-integrated-photo-viewing#post_2244383"]@solipsismx Nah, you're not missing anything. Instagram (Facebook, really) think it's "a better experience" to view an Instagram image on the instagram website. To my mind, it's a frikkin' image. I don't need to go to a specific website to view an image - it's just a bunch of pixels on a screen, anywhere. They're shooting themselves in the foot, the leg, the torso, arms and soon, the face. It's gonna hurt them in the long run. I've stopped using Instagram.[/quote] It probably goes beyond that. If Instagram images are viewed on Twitter, Google/Instagram gets no impressions on their web site. Therefore, they lose any ad impression revenue accruing as a result of each visitor. In addition, they lose your information because you don't leave as many digital tracks if you don't visit their site. IOW it's all about the money.
Seems like Aviary got a lot of client and admirer. So far as I know, they have their own app and also being used by (official) Imgur uploader app and now this. I have been using Avairy more and more, admittedly for the meme comment functionality. Good job.