Just in time for Memorial Day weekend--when pictures of barbecue and pool shenanigans run rampant--Facebook releases its Camera app for iOS [iTunes link]. Essentially, Camera is just a streamlined way to upload all of your mobile photos to the ubiquitous social network. But the app's release comes right on the heels of Facebook's billion-dollar purchase of Instagram, leaving many to wonder why Camera was even released in the first place.
Facebook's Camera is a really bare-bones way to share photos with your friends. You can snap a pic with your iPhone, or select a photo from the device's camera roll and upload directly to your Facebook timeline. Obviously, the app also allows for some witty captions to accompany your photographic masterpiece.
Much like Instagram, a number of filters can be applied to the pictures prior to upload. But unlike Instagram, the filters are pretty much worthless. They include 14 different filter options that seem to barely affect the image's brightness, or turn it black-and-white. While the filters are rather lame, the option to crop the image is handy for singling out a person in a photo, and accompanied with Facebook tagging works fairly well.
The only feature we marginally enjoyed with Camera is the ability to quickly check out the uploaded photos of friends. Again, the app doesn't break new ground--pics are viewed in a timeline and there's a Like button--but it works.
There's not much use for Camera. The app lacks the ability to share pics to multiple networks, tilt-shift options, and a number of other features readily available on competing photo-sharing apps--including Facebook's own Instagram. Facebook's reasons for releasing Camera right after buying Instagram are a bit unclear--it's like buying a Ferrari while building a Ford Pinto by hand. However, some portion of the vast Facebook user-base might enjoy the quick interface of Camera, in comparison to the notoriously clumsy, primary Facebook iOS app.
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