Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram hasn’t resulted in an updated app. Instead, the world's No.1 social network has offered its own. Facebook, which went public earlier this month, has released an app - “Camera” - offering access to photos outside of the full Facebook experience.
Like Facebook Messenger, Camera highlights a particular section of Facebook. After taking photos, 15 filters are available. The app was said to be developed independently from the main Facebook iOS team, Facebook Photos product manager - Dirk Stoop - told The Verge. "To Stoop, sharing photos often means sharing multiple photos, which is the main focus of the Facebook Camera," the Web site reported.
When the app is opened, Facebook accounts associated with the iPhone are detected. The Verge said in its hands-on the user interface is different to the regular Facebook app and "a whole lot faster, too."
The camera button is in the top left-hand corner, while the opposite side shows recent photos from the iPhone Camera Roll.
The app is built for uploading multiple photos, allowing people to turn off flash and switch to the front camera. Up to 30 photos can be uploaded to Facebook; tapping an individual photo allows people to crop, add filters and go full screen. The Verge said "none of them [the filters] are as good as you would find in Instagram." Photos can be uploaded with tags, status updates and a location.
Other photos can be browsed that have been uploaded, functioning as a Facebook News Feed for Photos. Users can also launch a user's profile in the full Facebook app. Photos uploaded by the user can also be viewed from the bottom right-hand corner.
In the News Feed, swiping sideways allows multiple large photos to be viewed inside a News Feed. The usual abilities to comment, tag and Like are available but photos others have taken can't be downloaded.
Videos can't be uploaded, and photos taken inside the app can't be deleted. Other platforms haven't been confirmed.
The app is becoming available on the App Store, and follows the standalone Facebook Messenger and Pages Manager apps.
