Instagram Domination

By Drew Muller

Once a photo has been snapped, the process of capturing an image of beauty doesn’t stop there. It must be doctored until reality merges with dreams, color becomes a relative term and everyone—and I mean everyone—becomes an artist. Welcome, my friends, to Instagram.

But Instagram needs no introduction. Since its launch in Apple’s App store in October 2010, the free photo sharing application has been wildly successful, eclipsing one million registered users by December and reaching 150 million by August 2011. It’s obvious people can’t resist the appeal of applying a digital filter to the pictures they take on their smart phones and sharing them with the world on all of the major social media platforms, including Instagram’s own.

Until recently, though, those without an iPhone were forced to wait in the wings, relegated to taking pictures with their high-caliber smart phone cameras, and alas, not being able to make them into hopelessly cliché pieces of self-promotion. Instagram was previously available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 3.1.2 or above, but the app no longer discriminates and has hopped over to Android camera phones. It can be found in Google Play, and according to Complex.com, it took less than 24 hours for one million users to sign up.

This begs the question what other apps are hindering their success by limiting themselves to Apple products? Snobby iPhone users may not appreciate the arrival of Instagram for Android, but they still have some exclusive apps to brag about.

Flipboard: Originally designed in 2010 solely for the iPad, this newsreader app made its way to the iPhone last year. The app collects the content of social media and other websites and displays it in a magazine format so users can “flip” through their various feeds in a centralized location. It’s a great tool for social media addicts who now no longer have to peruse through different platforms.

Pinterest: After we all stopped going to summer camp when we were 13, who knew making collages would be the latest and greatest trend? That’s essentially the appeal of Pinterest, the photo-sharing website that allows users to “pin” photos, videos and links to their own virtual bulletin board of favorite things. It can be accessed via the Web, but for now the mobile app is only available for the iPhone.

Jetpack Joyride: Android users finally got their hands on the extremely popular Temple Run game, but they’re unable to waste even more time with Jetpack Joyride. Players zoom through a laboratory, collecting coins and avoiding obstacles, and before they know it five and a half hours have passed. Oops.