As "selfie" has been declared the word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries, one of the leading apps for taking self protraits and posting on social networks, Instagram, has landed on the Windows Phone.
The photo-sharing app for Windows Phone was officially launched on Wednesday and it comes with the usual photo filters as its Android and iOS versions. However, it has generated some buzz within its 150 million user community, as the Windows Phone version lacks several features. Not surprisingly, Instagram chose to call it the beta version.
"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," the official blog of Instagram announced.
One big hole on its features list is the ability to record and share short video clips. This feature was primarily launched in response to the growing popularity of competing app Vine that first introduced such service.
"Currently, people with Windows Phones can't upload or record video from the app, though you can still watch videos in your New Feed and on other places you seem them," the Instagram help page said.
Ironically, the Instagram Beta page on the Windows Phone website lists "video recording with breathtaking cinematic stabilization" as one of the app's features.
The list of features also boasts of instant sharing of photos on social media channels as is the usual case for iOS and Android users but another issue Windows Phone users will have to deal with is the inability of sharing images directly using the app. Instagramers will not be able to do it instantly as they want to but rather they have to pull up images from their Windows Phone's camera roll.
The first version of Instagram for Windows Phone also does not allow tagging of people on images. The geotaxis of the photos also cannot be viewed. If there is one advantage for Instagramers on Windows Phone, it is the ability to preview content posted by people they follow on the Live Tile of the app.
"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," Instagram said.
The Instagram for Windows Phone can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store. The app is compatible with Windows Phone 8 or later.
