We knew it was coming, but today is the day that Instagram has finally landed on Windows Phone. The app, which applies filters to photos and allows you to easily share them with your social network, has been heavily requested and rumored for some time. Seeing that the app has been released, it should appease those who are on Windows Phone and have wanted a native application and quiet the critics who claim the Windows Store was incomplete because it was missing this key app.
Sure, you could have used one of the third party alternatives to use Instagram but having an official app, makes the Windows Store seem a bit more mature. Of course, now that there is an official Instagram app, we expect the tens of dozens of people who claimed that they only reason they weren’t using Windows Phone was because of Instagram was missing, to switch.
You can download the app now from the Windows Phone Store and start uploading your vintage photos immediate to share with all of your followers. But, the app is not perfect. You can"t capture and upload video or capture images within the app, you must apply filters after you take the image.
On a more serious note, the release of Instagram is a big win for Microsoft as it is one of the last big named apps to come to the platform. Seeing that Windows Phone is growing and has asserted itself in the third-place position in the marketplace, it makes sense for Instagram to release an official application.
Of course, it remains to be seen how the app is treated on the platform. Will it be updated in parity with its iOS and Android counterparts or will the Windows Phone app be treated like a second class citizen and only receive updates post iOS/Android roll-out? Only time will answer that question, but for now, be happy that there is an official client on Windows Phone.
Instragram is in beta, this is why some features are missing from the app.
Download: Instagram for Windows Phone (expected time is 2PM)