Instagram For Android Hits 1m Downloads in Under 24 Hours | Hacker News Reader

Instagram For Android Hits 1m Downloads in Under 24 Hours

thenextweb.com

47 pointsacro26 comments

I'm still a little bemused that Instagram sat on a runaway Android blockbuster for this long. It's like watching a race car driver fiddle with the stereo for 2 minutes after the green flag drops.

Did they think it was going to be a dud on Android? Were they not worried about competitors? Is Android development that much more difficult than iOS? I'd really love to know the internal justification for the delay.

I'm glad for them that it all worked out, but it seems like they really dodged a bullet by making their Android user base wait it out. Especially since there is considerable reason to believe that Android users will turn out to be their biggest subset.

Why all the fuss? Photo sharing/uploading and fancy camera effects, there are dozens of apps already :o

I mean (from the frontpage): "Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it's as easy as pie. It's photo sharing, reinvented."

All that's been easy enough on Android with the sharing/intent system for years...

That is exactly my point. Feature-wise, the bar was not particularly high for competitors.

Yet they were able to let the Android product gestate for over a year and when they finally flip the switch they pick up a million users in the first 24 hours.

None of the other apps have quite nailed it like they have though. Its hard to see their considerable userbase going elsewhere for this type of app going forwards.

What is "quite nailed"? What's it that makes instagram superior to so many apps in https://play.google.com/store/apps/category/PHOTOGRAPHY?feat...

I honestly don't know. I would suggest maybe it's a combination of

* Filter choice and options (maybe not the most varied, but limits are sometimes beneficial)

* User base (a huge driving force of the whole experience is people finding each other, liking, commenting, etc.)

* Social aspect and promotion (who wouldn't like having their image on the popular page and finding lots of random new followers when next logging in?)

* Integration with social networks - flickr, tumblr, twitter, etc.

* Focus on core features, not bloat - Do they even have a proper website yet?

* Timing

* Luck

I've tried many of the other apps available and for one reason or another, something has either put me off them or not kept me interested in the way instagram has.

Even if another application replicated and bettered every feature, they wouldn't necessarily be better - simply because they lack the users and culture that instagram have built up.

You've nailed it with the last line: "simply becuase they lack the users and culture that instagram have built up."

It's all about content, and the content curators and contributors on Instagram are insanely passionate about their "art", and treat it as art with the same sort of engagement you would find among such groups (Burning Man, WoW Clans, etc.). Instagram embodies the Apple culture in that it has created an ecosystem. You don't just download Instagram because it's technically superior to other apps (it's not), but you join Instagram because it's a lifestyle.

Disclaimer: I was greatly addicted to Instagram for about 6 months, then moved on to the next big thing. Nevertheless, I was on it long enough to appreciate why it was so engaging.

I am using it for a day and noticed that the biggest feature is not sharing the picture on other networks, it is Instagram network itself. I am really enjoying to follow my timeline and to browse the "top pictures" tab.

It's funny that you enjoy the "top pictures" tab, as that's really one of my least-favorite parts of the app! I appreciate the intimate photo sharing with my immediate circle, but to see the stuff that floats to the top really makes me question the network as a whole.

I think this tab is funny for occasional browsing. Maybe it is because I really like the app and don´t follow that much people yet, so my timeline is a little quiet :)

I find it ironical to read this comment on HN.

What's the fuss about HN? What aren't we having this discussion on redit, or digg, or 4chan? Or metafilter?

Software and specially social software is not a list of features. You could replicate Twitter's functionality and that wouldn't make people leave twitter.

Instagram has build a solid community, and that is what social software is all about.

From what I read, Instagram faced major challenges scaling their service to meet the demand of their growing iPhone user base. My guess is that iPhone growth just now plateaued enough to allow them to release their android client.

From what I've read about this company, their intense focus is precisely why they've had a string of runaway successes in a crowded category. They did a major revision of their iPhone app in the last year, delivering a major feature (real-time filters) that kept them ahead of the competition and have rolled out the web end of things very carefully. Their perfectionism shows.

I'm reminded of the music software company Propellerheads, who routinely roll out features 5 - 10 years behind their competitors, but earn a large and dedicated following with their high quality and original approach.

This release has triggered an interesting reaction:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/iphone-users-disgust...

What amazing proof of Apple's marketing savvy.

I last used instagram with a second-hand iPhone 3G, and stopped using it when I upgraded to a Galaxy Nexus S. I never thought I downgraded myself into being a second-class mobile citizen in the process.

The elito-hipster crowd is one of the key audiences for all Apple products (not to mention those who aren't already elito-hipster tend to become one the longer they use Apple products), so this isn't that surprising. This was just a good situation for that elito-hipsterism to manifest itself in a public arena.

They've sold over 250,000,000 iOS devices. Are you really saying there are (at the low end of "key", let's go with 10%) 25 million of them?

I think that might be a little exaggerated. Not saying they don't exist, but a "key" part of the user base?

I know it's just anecdotal, but out of the people that I know with iOS devices, there are a significant number (closer to 50% than 10%) that adopt an elitist attitude towards alternatives to Apple devices that is purely emotional and has nothing to do with the concrete differences between the devices.

Thats an effect that can be found on almost any closed platform. Case in point: Gamers threaten to boycott Capcom because decided to go Multiplatform for Devil May Cry 4.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/gaming/ps3/news/article_12...

XBox-Fanboyism is also not unheard of.

I've used apple products for about 7 years now. My take on this is good on android users. I don't see much point in taking sides on hardware/software platforms though so I'm probably an outlier.

I never would have imagined seeing that amount of "Ew"s in a single page.

I'm one of those 1m, but just to see what all the fuss was about. To be honest I'm still a little bemused as to what unique problem it solves?

Maybe sharing of photos on iOS was a chore, but this is built in to Android by design.

The filters are all rather "meh", not especially outstanding or creative.

It's really frustrating because normally if I don't use or even like a product and I can still rationalize and see why others might. But I just feel like I'm missing out on "getting it" with this.

I believe their success lies more in the social aspects of the app. Looking at pictures from people you follow has less friction than on Twitter or Facebook. Also, the domain-specific nature of the network has its own appeal.

Don't think of it as an app for you personally to share your photos. It's a photo-based social network that just stopped being exclusively iOS.

For the still confused who ask why Instagram is skyrocketing despite many other well-made competing products: It's not relevant to build an outstanding product, it's about building the largest user base if the product has slightest potential for user-to-user-interaction.

Then you locked the market.

(But honestly: I am on Android and feel still a little clueless about Instagram's success, too)

I feel like many of the comments here are focusing on "what does this solve that hasn't been done before" type of comments. I think those are largely missing the point of instagram. Instagram's value is in the network, and its pairing with easy to use tools.

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