Facebook is dead serious about mobile. Today it begins rolling out Facebook Camera for iOS to English-speaking countries, a standalone photos app
where you can shoot, filter, and share single or sets of photos and
scroll through a feed of photos uploaded to Facebook by your friends.
Developed by Facebook’s photos team without the help of Instagram
because the acquisition deal hasn’t closed yet, Facebook Camera is designed for quicker publishing than Facebook’s multi-featured primary mobile app.Facebook Camera lets you rapidly pick one or more photos, apply filters, tag friends and locations, add a description, and post. While its 14 filters, batch uploads, and streamlined interface are a big step up from Facebook for iOS, the design isn’t as beautiful as Instagram and neither are the photos you’ll see in it. When asked if Facebook Camera would become a direct competitor to the photosharing network it bought last month, a spokesman told “As Mark asserted, we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently, so I anticipate some healthy competition.”
