Instagram just rolled out new filters for the app for the first time in two years. The last time the Facebook-owned photo app launched new filters was in December 2012, since then other photo apps such as VSCO Cam filled that void.
Instagram looks towards the future
Instagram released the following statement, “Photography trends have evolved. We’ve seen tremendous creativity within the community, not only in the moments they share, but in the time spent carefully composing and editing photos and videos to bring out emotions and make them beautiful.”
The new filters are called Slumber, Ludwig, Aden, Crema, and Perpetua. These new filters were designed to be similar to some of the more current popular photo filter apps such as the aforementioned VSCO.
The current trend is mobile photography is less dramatic filters. As mobile phones continue to improve camera technology, the need for heavy filters has declined. The iPhone 4 first came out in 2010, a time when mobile phone cameras were vastly improving but still in need for decent filters to perfect photos. Instagram’s co-founder Mike Krieger added, “The photos you’re going to look back on five years from now are not the ones that are super processed, but the ones that maybe had a shade of a mood versus the plain photo. But not so overboard that it’s unrecognizable.”
Instagram’s significant growth
Instagram remains one of the most popular social apps with 300 million users. Last week, CEO Kevin Cystrom shared the milestone which surpassed Twitter’s 284 million. Instagram is also growing at a faster rate than the micro-blogging website. The photo/video sharing website double it’s number of users since last autumn after it surpassed 150 million mark. Twitter reached the 200 million mark in late 2012 but growth remained slow since then.
Instagram users now have a larger palette of 19 filters to choose from. To simplify the choices, the app allows users to rearrange or hide options.
