After months of waiting for an official Instagram app for Windows Phone, fans of WP can breathe a sigh of relief after Windows announced the arrival of the official Instragram app. The popular photo app has come nearly 18 months after it debuted on Android and iOS platforms, giving them a competitive advantage over WP.
For now, the Beta version does not support video uploads and does not have the in-built camera support, but has all other features.
“We wanted to make Instagram available to people with Windows Phones as quickly as possible, so we focused on creating an awesome experience with Instagram’s core features. We’re not finished, and our team will continue developing the Windows Phone app to keep releasing features and bringing you the best Instagram possible,” posted Instagram on their blog.
With over 150 million monthly users, Instagram has become a-must-have app allowing users to take and share photos on their social networks. The photo effect tools on the app have contributed to the popularity of the app. Facebook, seeing the rapid growth of the app and partly to counter competition in the photo sharing space, bought the app earlier this year for $1 billion.
Through the earlier partnership (and now acquisition) of Microsoft and Nokia, Windows Phone especially the Lumia range is seeking to establish itself as the third force to challenge the dominance of iPhone and Samsung in the smart-phone category.
“In that past year, we’ve seen the rise of a new mobile platform as tens of millions of people around the world have taken to Windows Phones. Our mission is to give everyone the ability to capture and share the moments around them, so our team has been working hard to bring Instagram to Windows Phone users everywhere,” posted Instagram.
Instagram for WP is now available for download from the Windows Phone Store.
