Flickr to Instagram: It’s ON!

I just had my first whirl with the new Flickr mobile app. And… woah. It’s good. I mean really good.

Flickr’s New App. Shown here with the “Mammoth” filter. Look out, Instagram…

The new Flickr app for iPhone sports filters, easy browsing, a nice uploading interface… all on top of Flickr’s superb online Pinterest& Twitter integration. Overall, I must say it looks like Instagram got Flickr to step up its game. To that I say, well-played, Flickr. Well-played indeed.

Operation: Target Instagram

If Instagram feels like it’s in the crosshairs, it’s with good reason. I had long been a fan of Flickr for general storage, but gravitated toward Instagram for the image discovery & immediacy of sharing. I have a feeling that’s going to change. And not just for me — I know more than a few folks who have been less than pleased with and seekingalternatives to Instagram lately thanks to spam or yanking its previews from Twitter.

This is not to say it’s perfect. It’s still not as snappy as Instagram, since applying filters and edits takes a bit longer — but you can do meaningful edits right from within the app like adding text, brightness/contrast, and basic retouching. You have to use aseparate 3rd party app at present to do any of that for an Instagram upload. Conversely, features like the ability to tag people in photos, browse your favorite groups, and do batch uploads (thanks, Emily @_@) were already baked into Flickr. Having these tools now in the mobile app — along with just basic functionality like being able to zoom in — makes Flickr’s app superior to Instagram on a number of noticeably important fronts.

Given the massive leap forward of this latest edition, I’m optimistic that things will only improve further for Flickr going forward. Here’s a closer look with video of the new app fromFlickr’s blog:

 

What do you think? Are you a fan of Instagram or other online photo networks? What’s your experience with Flickr been like? Let us hear from you in the comments.

If you like this, share it on Twitter (and thanks).

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• Unlike Instagram, Flickr latches on to Twitter (venturebeat.com)
• Yahoo revamps Flickr app to join Instagram-Twitter photo-filter fray(mercurynews.com)
• Redesigned Flickr for iPhone adds filters two years after Instagram (theverge.com)
• Flickr earmarked as top priority for investment by Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer(guardian.co.uk)
• Silicon Alley Insider: Marissa Mayer’s New Flickr Is Beautiful And Deep With Functionality Far Surpassing Instagram (YHOO) (businessinsider.com)
• Flickr for iPhone app takes on Instagram (slashgear.com)
• Marissa Mayer’s Flickr revamp takes on Instagram (bizjournals.com)
• Pinterest adds Twitter Cards Support (Kelly Lieberman)
• Step Aside, Flickr. Instagram is Replacing You (pixelbits.wordpress.com)
• Will Instagram be the Next Flickr? (arikhanson.com)
• Understanding Instagram and why Flickr Just Might Have a Chance (giga.om)
• Instagram Vs. Flickr? (nalicharan1.wordpress.com)