Facebook released its own photography-focused app on Thursday. Image: Alexandra Chang/Wired
Facebook’s first camera app for iOS, aptly and simply dubbed Facebook Camera, highlights the company’s commitment to its mobile business. But considering Facebook’s recent purchase of the photo-sharing app Instagram, it’s hard not to compare the two.
Facebook wants to make clear that Facebook Camera, which it released Thursday, and Instagram are two separate entities. Facebook Camera functions more like the Facebook Messages app — it’s a standalone offering that is closely tied to the social network, making it easier to use one of the site’s most popular features.
Since Facebook is the largest photo-sharing site, it makes sense that the company would release an app for that sole purpose. If our initial hands-on with Facebook Camera is any indication, the app will be a hit with Facebook fans.
Image: Alexandra Chang/Wired
“We’ve been working on [Facebook Camera] for a while,” said Dirk Stoop, Facebook Photos product manager. “The big problem that we were trying to solve was that if you are in the middle of an experience and you want to share your photos, it’s often too much of a hassle to go through the whole process.”
To that end, the Facebook Photos team opted for a design that leads with your iPhone’s Camera Roll photos. When you launch the Camera app, you’ll see three thumbnails of your phone’s photos. Tap them and you’ll see all of your Camera Roll photos. You can select multiple images and share them all as a single status update — a feature unique to the Facebook Camera app. This could be handy at a concert, where you could take photos and select a few to share. Photos will upload to your “Mobile Uploads” album, but appear on your Timeline as a multi-photo status update. (The only way to share multiple photos as a status update on Facebook.com is to create an entirely new album.)
“The most exciting thing is the value [the app] will create for users further down the line,” Stoop said. “When you take photos they tend to get lost and dusty in your Camera Roll. If you share things and make an effort to wrap it up into a nice little story, sometimes an unexpected thing will be important to you later.”
Still, Facebook has learned — or borrowed — a lot from Instagram. First, unlike the main Facebook app, Facebook Camera is fast. And it has plenty of filters you can use, giving your pics that oh-so-popular lo-fi look.
Facebook Camera’s home page also features a feed of photos your friends have uploaded or been tagged in. The overall layout is not unlike Instagram’s. Photos are presented in square format, and you can scroll endlessly through the feed. One nice feature that is missing from Instagram: You can tap on a photo to enlarge and zoom.
Naturally, the Facebook Camera app focuses on the site’s sharing and feedback experience. Each photo features a Like icon and a commenting feature. You also can see all of the Likes and comments already posted to each photo.
“It all sounds really obvious in hindsight,” Stoop admitted.
But why did Facebook release a Facebook Camera app so soon after buying Instagram for a cool $1 billion? And where exactly does Instagram fit in Facebook’s growing portfolio of mobile apps?
“The Instagram deal hasn’t closed yet,” Stoop said. “I can’t say much, but we’re committed to building Instagram independently. There’s overlap in the functionality, but [Facebook Camera and Instagram] have very different personalities. I see these products as separate and serving slightly different purposes and audiences.”
While Instagram has a huge user base, at 40 million users, Facebook is vastly larger at 900 million. Facebook Camera caters to this audience and feeds directly to the social network’s website. According to Facebook spokesman Derick Mains, Facebook Camera is as much an extension of Facebook.com’s photo experience as it is a mobile experience.
“This is really about making the Facebook experience better on mobile,” Mains said. “All that work that we’ve done on Facebook.com, you see us really working on improving that experience here.”
And what Facebook Camera offers over Facebook.com is a fast, on-the-go photo-sharing experience.
“We really hope that we can help people share stuff more in the moment and create better stories for their friends and themselves. And a year later they just have this treasure trove of memories and we can help them relive it,” Stoop said. “Photos become a lot more relevant when you’re able to share them in real time.”
Sharing photos on Facebook Camera. Image: Facebook
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/05/facebooks-ios-camera-app/
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