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Introducing Facebook Camera
- nthitz 14y agoThis reminds me of a certain other mobile camera app that FB acquired quite recently...
- borski 14y agoI realize this was probably in the works for a long time, but is it crazy to think that the Instagram folks helped build this? Perhaps filters are coming soon. :)
- simondlr 14y agoThere are filters + ability to crop and rotate it seems.
- hornokplease 14y agoLooks like filters are already baked-in. From the link: "It's also easy to edit photos with new tools like the ability to crop, rotate and add filters to any picture in your camera roll."
- tommi 14y agoYes it is. See "Expect a 6 month freeze on Facebook’s Instagram acquisition" http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3965961 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3965961
- hornokplease 14y agoFrom another article on Facebook Camera: "Stoop confirmed to [All Things D] that Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom and his team had nothing to do with building Facebook Camera." Source: http://allthingsd.com/20120524/as-facebook-launches-a-standalone-camera-app-the-instagram-buy-comes-into-focus/ http://allthingsd.com/20120524/as-facebook-launches-a-standa...
- JCB_K 14y agoIt seems like this is made by the team formerly known as Sofa. Both the person who posted it and the name in the screenshot used to work there.
- gfosco 14y agoMore ad-free mobile experiences from bubblebook... This ought to generate so much value. /roll
- duaneb 14y agoThe userbase is almost always more valuable than immediate monetization.
- JCB_K 14y agoI really don't see the point of separate apps. The main Facebook app, Facebook Messenger, Facebook Photos...what's next? Anyone who can enlighten me why this would be a good strategy? Seems like unnecessary fragmentation to me.
- smokinjoe 14y agoBecause it ropes in people like me who don't want the native Facebook app on their phone, but want to keep in touch with friends who use Facebook messages.
- jdcryans 14y agoMy experience with their app is that it's just so slow that being able to jump directly to Messenger when I need to use it saves me some time. I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing.
- JCB_K 14y agoMaking a separate app is not a solution. Speeding up your main app is.
- freehunter 14y agoNot easy to do on iOS when your main app relies on hooks to a web browser. iOS forces apps to use an older Javascript engine.
- simondlr 14y agoWhen taking photos, Facebook wants it to be the first thing users think of. By stripping other separate features, users won't be that easily confused about the purpose of the app. I'd venture and say few users immediately go to the current Facebook to upload a photo, but if there is a separate app, then the other features won't distract them from what they want to achieve. Basically: "Want to share a moment? Think Facebook. NOT twitter. NOT instagram." That's my guess.
- timjahn 14y ago
- uptown 14y agoReminds me of when Yahoo Photos was competing with Flickr.
- sahaskatta 14y agoGoogle did something similar too. They had "Google Videos" which competed with "YouTube" for a very long time.
- drewwwwww 14y agothis app is clearly worth a billion dollars.
- sev 14y agoSince this app seems to directly "compete" with the Instagram app, I wonder if their goal is to get rid of Instagram completely.
- slantyyz 14y agoI've always thought that the goal was to slowly let Instagram die in the same way Flickr has.
- derrida 14y agoFlickr is dead? News to me, I've been using it today to search for creative commons images. Software is much broader than what you and your friends use. :-)
- joering2 14y agowhen you read stuff like this one [1], you may think that working on 2 photo apps at the same time make sense, until dust settle. [1] http://www.donnaklinenow.com/investigation/instagram-scam http://www.donnaklinenow.com/investigation/instagram-scam
- duaneb 14y agoI just assumed it was instagram people, and the two products would eventually become one.
- zecho 14y agoNo. The FTC is probing the purchase, which was to close 2nd Quarter this year, so it'll delay that. That said, it's still very possible the two will eventually become one.
- patrickod 14y agoThey split Camera and Messenger out into their own separate applications recently on Android. This was quickly reverted seemingly due to really bad reception. It puzzles me why they're repeating this
- Kylekramer 14y agoThe problem with the Android version is you got three apps in your app drawer when installing the main Facebook app. That was confusing, spammy, and impossible for the user to opt out of if they wanted to use Facebook on Android at all. A separate app is just confusing (unless you are coming from Facebook's perspective), so it is an improvement. I am positive there will be a separate Android app in the coming weeks.
- patrickod 14y ago"A separate app is just confusing" Is this not a new separate app on iOS? I realise it's not installed alongside the Facebook and Messenger app as it was on Android but it's still separate of the main application.
- jen_h 14y agoThe Android shortcut was really confusing - a guy at our local watering hole last week was showing me his favorite Android apps, then pointed out an app he installed because his camera app broke. "It just stopped working last week, but I installed this app and use it instead, it works. Don't know what happened to my camera." Turns out that the Facebook Camera shortcut just said "Camera" - and of course it didn't open up the stock camera app (I think it showed up on the main screen and first in the apps list, too). Once he updated Facebook and the shortcut disappeared, the stock camera app was more obvious. The shortcut itself was really confusing - it said Camera on it and it wasn't immediately obvious that it was Facebook-specific. You want to take a picture, you look down & see "Camera," and you click on it. Combine that with the fact that icons change underneath you a lot anyway (see also "Android Market becomes Google Play Store"), and you just default to reading the app name anyway; so you tap to open the first app whose caption matches what you're looking for. I mean, why would anything but your stock camera app be named "Camera," anyway?
- raimondious 14y agoNote the author is Dirk Stoop, of recently acquired Sofa. (Congrats Dirk if you're reading.)
- briansugar 14y agois this run on a windows box?? .aspx
- flyt 14y agoFacebook's press site is operated by NASDAQ.
- creativityhurts 14y agoWhy is it available just for the US App Store?
- koeselitz 14y agoI'm in the US, and it doesn't look like it's available yet. I'm just searching the App Store on my iPhone, though; I'm not sure if things show up there later or something.
- smackfu 14y agoUsually stuff is released first in New Zealand app store, so maybe they wanted to do US first, and others will be available later.
- nivertech 14y agoRebranded Instagram with Feacebook photos integration?
- mstefanko 14y agoSo confused. I understand the instagram deal is on hold, but a separate app for facebook photos, even if it's been in the works for awhile, seems like a waste of time. It's a deterrent from what should be their main focus. When investors are skeptical about the future of their revenue/stock, this would be the last thing I'd want to see. If this was built into the facebook app, as an improvement, that be cool. LNo one would care about it, but it would at least make sense.
- kurtvarner 14y agoBad news for Batch from Dailybooth (YC S09). They focus on uploading photos in batches. http://batch.com/ http://batch.com/
- Greg12x 14y agoWow. Do we really need this?
- templaedhel 14y agoUX bug that is actually fairly glaring when it comes down to it: I searched for "Facebook Camera" in the app store, but because it is so new, it is not there (ok, seems normal) I went to the site and clicked "Text link to my phone", phone number already filled out, text went through fine (so far so good) Clicked on the link, but facebooks mobile detection caught it before the redirect happened, didn't know how to handle the url, and redirected me to the facebook homepage instead (I was logged in, so this was my news feed page). This leaves me with basically no way it install the app unless I wait for it to be indexed in the app store, or download to my computer, both of which I do not want to do.
- iaskwhy 14y agoIt was on the Featured page on the App Store for me.
- smackfu 14y agoIt worked for me from the SMS (although the App Store crashed the first time but that is on Apple). Maybe it's fixed.
- ja27 14y agoI just Googled the iTunes link and followed it on my iPhone. Opens the app in the store even though it can't be found by searching yet. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-camera/id525898024?ls=1&mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-camera/id525898024?l...
- dylanvee 14y agoHow interesting: I installed and launched the app expecting to see the standard "Log in with Facebook" screen, but instead there's a big button that says "Continue as [my name]" (and a smaller one, "Not you?"). I wonder how exactly they're doing this, and if it will make its way into 3rd-party apps. It made the first launch experience quite seamless.
- vl 14y agoOn iPhone you can share secrets between apps by the same developer if there are signed in the same way, there is no easy way to do it across apps.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- mlinsey 14y agoThis is fantastic. I hope Facebook continues with the break-apps-up strategy, because it makes a lot more sense for mobile. On mobile, you have less screen real estate, a less precise pointing device (fat fingers vs. a mouse), and you're generally shorter on time, especially compared to when you're wasting time on Facebook on your laptop. All these things mean that simpler apps with fewer UI elements and with a single clear purpose are much better on mobile. I already use Messeger alone as much as the actual Facebook app, which is disastrously unwieldy. Here's hoping we see events and contacts as the next apps. Games is also probably a big priority.
- mkr-hn 14y agoThe style reminds me a lot of Google+. It's good that they're willing to accept design inspiration from outside Facebook.
- tferris 14y agoThere're pros and cons. Breaking apps up feels smart—it's like Unix. But otherwise you have more overhead, more apps and more updates. But I guess the app quality would heavily benefit because then the devs have to fulfill just one use case and by focussing on one thing the overall app quality might be better. They could also introduce a system similar to web bookmarks: one app and many entry points—or like a command line app which does different things by adding options. Android widget often fill this gap offering different entry points into one app.
- rwc 14y agoIsn't the point here that instead of creating hardware and developing the software on top of it, Facebook is creating its own mobile offering in reverse? Building all of the software and setting the hardware component as priority two. Facebook Messenger's new read/delivered functionality is much like BBM or iMessage. They just unveiled their app store. Now a Photos app. Once the core apps are done and everybody who has an iOS or Android phone already uses them and enjoys them, convincing people to jump to an actual Facebook phone may not be a stretch. Not saying that will ultimately happen, but it seems like this approach is keeping that door wide open.
- sriramk 14y agoHow does the app know who I am without asking me to log into Facebook? Is it guessing somehow from my FB app's login + UUID? Or am I missing something basic
- nupark2 14y agoJust a guess, but the iOS keychain can be used to share information across applications with a common bundle prefix.
- ja27 14y agoIt's weird because their other apps open a URL to authenticate within the main Facebook app. This is a bit cleaner. http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/DOCUMENTATION/ToolsLanguages/Conceptual/DevPortalGuide/CreatingandConfiguringAppIDs/CreatingandConfiguringAppIDs.html http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/DOCUMENTATION/ToolsLa...
- bishnu 14y agoI don't have the Facebook app on my iPhone (I used to but I deleted it) yet Camera still dumped me into my FB account with no login. Odd.
- justhw 14y agoWhat's with the generic name camera. Good luck ranking for the term.
- psylence519 14y agoWhy rank when you can just shove it in the user's face with your other app? Just like they did with Messenger.
- smackfu 14y agoTwo thoughts: 1) This makes it even clearer that a lot of stuff that is allegedly tagged photos of people on Facebook is memes and "inspirational" posters. And you can only unsubscribe from photos in the web version. 2)You can't just change photos from 3:2 to square aspect ratio. The subject isn't always in the center of the photo!
- aguynamedrich 14y agohttp://techcrunch.com/2010/09/19/facebook-is-secretly-building-a-phone/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/19/facebook-is-secretly-buildi... This article is from nearly two years ago and claims that Facebook was very secretively working on its own mobile OS. If this is indeed the case, a lot of their somewhat recent acquisitions make a little more sense (GoWalla, Karma, Instagram obviously, and LightBox). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Facebook http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Faceboo... The fact that their valuation gets beat down on the lack of ad revenue in the ever growing mobile space turns into a bullish signal if they release a high quality phone with a high profit margin. I wondered why they were splitting up their mobile app into many recently on Android as well, and this tells me that it's possible they want to create a suite of "necessity" apps as the basis for their platform.
- sparknlaunch12 14y agoAgree the comments supporting Facebook's fragmented strategy of introducing new separate apps. To compete with Microsoft, Apple, Google you need a platform (OS and phone). While Facebook messenger didn't really take off, photos may be more of a popular transition as many send photos to Facebook anyway. I feel that the mobile app market will mature along the same lines as computer software. Eventually the majority of users will want a simple experience of picking up a phone without having to make choices in an 'store' environment.
- cletus 14y agoI said earlier today [1] that mobile proposes a strategic risk to Facebook as they don't control the mobile platform like Apple or Google. This is really the best they can do to change that. I believe they're attempting to create a base mobile experience and use that as a selling point for mobile devices. On iOS for example there are standard apps for Mail, Maps, Search (browser), etc. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a suite of apps from Facebook to be the base functionality for some phone. The next logical step would be to then bundle that on something and call it a Facebook Phone as a branding exercise. Carriers can bundle software, on non-IOS anyway, why not Facebook? Mozilla ends money through the selling the default search engine on Firefox. Why can't Facebook do the same thing? Part of this mobile strategy is to create a mobile platform (aka Project Spartan [2]). Good for Facebook. At least they realize the risk they face. [1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4016950 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4016950 [2]: http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/28/this-sure-looks-a-lot-like-facebooks-project-spartan-screenshots/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/28/this-sure-looks-a-lot-like-...
- baby 14y agoThis! My Android phone (HTC Desire) recently broke and I got a old iPhone 3G. One feature (among a lot of others) I really missed was being able to combine a contact with his facebook account. This feature could really make my next purchase be an android phone and not something else.
- nicholassmith 14y agoI must admit, this looks great. There seems to be a couple of design choices that are a bit weird that have been mentioned below, but it's a solid bit of work. But Facebook, why are you still cursing the world with your terrible main applications and spending precious development hours making additional apps? If you ever want to monetize mobile you need to make the mobile experience not terrible. Take the team working on this, give them the main app, give them 3 months and let them go nuts. It'll work. It'll be great. Your users will want to engage more.
- EricDeb 14y agoHow does this compare with instagram? (I have yet to upgrade to a smart phone) I wonder if FB could have simply released this as a direct competitor to instagram and crowded them out versus shelling out $1B.
- pixelphantom 14y agoWe're still using Facebook?
- wluu 14y agoMy initial impressions upon launch was that it seemed to load much faster and was more responsive than their main iOS app.
- arihant 14y agoI followed the link from Google to app store. It gives "This request could not be completed" error on the app store. Maybe I'd have to wait. I would also love an FB contacts app.
- neilparikh 14y agoThis looks a lot like Instagram to me. You can upload pictures from here, there's a constant stream of photos, and you can apply effects to your pictures. There are a few differences from Instagram, but the essence seems the same to me.
- gagabity 14y agoSo no Android version? Plus there seems to already be an unrelated App named Facebook Camera in the Android Market, it should get a nice little downloads boost.