Instagram is so exclusive! Elitist, even. But it’s also a terribly clever way to actually see what your friends are up to. One problem though: there’s no official iPad app. Instamap gets you Instagram on your iPad and adds a super clever location-aware feature.
What’s it do?
Instamap is an Instagram browsing app on your iPad (it works for iPhone too). You can’t take a picture from the app — so it’s kind of a one-way street — but it’s a lovely way to check up on your stream, see popular photos and even subscribe to particular tags and locations. The app completely fits the typical iPad split view/column motif, there’s a sidebar that shows you the feeds in a sorta table of contents view and a grid of that feed that shows you the photos. It’s as well designed as Instagram is on your iPhone (with the added luxury of seeing more pictures because of the screen space because it’s on the iPad).
Why do we like it?
The subscription feature is super slick (and next level stalker-ish). Basically you get to subscribe to specific feeds (like location and tags) so you can always see anyone who’s instagramming there or where. Like if you have an affinity for street art, you can get a #streetart tag filled feed with all those cool shots. Or if you want to know what people at the beach in sunny California are up to, you can get add yourself a Venice Beach feed too. Browsing is also a cinch, you can easily glance at the 16 photos on the grid and swipe up and down for more and tap individual photos for comment and liking purposes. Most importantly, the app feels as good as Instagram does — and if you played around with other Instagram-like services, that’s amazing enough.
The Best
Slickly designed
The Worst
Can’t take pictures