Instagram Comes to Windows 10

Instagram Comes to Windows 10

While Instagram came to Windows 10 Mobile back in May—it was previously available on older Windows phones, too–this week marks its first-ever availability on Windows 10 for PCs and tablets. It’s exactly what it sounds like.

According to Microsoft, Instagram for Windows 10 provides the following features:

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Post and edit photos. “Instagram makes sharing moments with everyone in your world easy, speedy, and fun,” Microsoft says. Assuming you have a tablet or PC with both a backward-facing camera and a touch screen, that is. And that is a crazy limitation.

Stories. Stories from people you follow will appear in a row at the top of the Feed (home) view.

Live tile support. This is perhaps the only feature that’s unique to Windows: You can see what your friends and family are up to at a glance using the app’s live tile support.

Notifications. – As with other platforms, Instagram can send you notifications.

Instagram Direct. This feature lets you exchange threaded messages with one or more people, and share posts you see in Feed as a message.

Full featured functionality. The Instagram app supports Search, Explore, Profile, and Feed views.

Based on a quick look at the app, it’s not particularly sophisticated. Consider how the sign-in screen doesn’t take into account the size or orientation of the app window in any way.

duh

And it’s not just the sign-in screen. The app’s other views don’t do anything to use the on-screen real estate effectively either.

terrible

This is sadly typical of Instagram, which I find to be a curiously terrible way to share and enjoy photos. There’s no way to navigate from photo to photo, and no way to zoom unless you use multitouch. Pretty terrible, but in this case at least it’s not Windows, it’s the app and the underlying service.

Speaking of which, feel free to follow me on Instagram.

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Conversation 24 comments

  • 5118

    14 October, 2016 - 3:47 am

    <p>I can’t say I am in a position to gloat. I have been waiting for an iPad version of Instagram since like forever. Was using a great 3rd party app, until Instagram recently revoked the rights for it.&nbsp;</p>

  • 6701

    14 October, 2016 - 4:02 am

    <p>Looks like a WindowsBridge app.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>It’s simple, has no contextual changes when using a mouse (pointer doesn’t change when you hover editable text, clickable elements,…), and I really hate these alien (iOS) pop ups:<br /><br /><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cut5UvGXEAA4-57.jpg&quot; alt="iOS pop up in Windows 10 app" width="494" height="416" /></p>

    • 4962

      14 October, 2016 - 5:35 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20714">In reply to warpdesign:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>Atrocious is the word you’re looking for.</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>Fun thing though; I’ve an ‘official’ Instagram app on my Venue Pro tablet, but not on my iPad :-D</p>

    • 442

      14 October, 2016 - 5:53 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20714">In reply to warpdesign:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>The pop ups in Android&nbsp;function&nbsp;about the same.&nbsp; So for someone who switches between platforms a lot, this only makes using the app easier.</p>

    • 5530

      14 October, 2016 - 5:57 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20714">In reply to warpdesign:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>It is an iOS port, but they didn’t use the Bridges to do it. Facebook has their own tool called Osmeta, which is what they used for porting Messenger from iOS to Windows 10 too.</p>

  • 1485

    14 October, 2016 - 5:00 am

    <p>You wouldn’t want to use this on a large desktop monitor anyway.<br />It is meant for Tablets in portrait mode. Same as with the twitter and Facebook apps.</p>
    <p>On the classic desktop it is previrable anyway to use the webbrowser for these sort of applications.</p>

  • 4288

    14 October, 2016 - 5:19 am

    <p>This is partly a consequence of porting the iOS app to Windows 10 (rather than building from scratch) with relatively few amendments to the app itself.</p>

    • 442

      14 October, 2016 - 5:49 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20720">In reply to BigM72:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>No developer "builds from scratch" any more.&nbsp; Too costly and too much work.</p>

  • 1065

    14 October, 2016 - 6:35 am

    <p>The Windows version on x86 is&nbsp;better&nbsp;looking than&nbsp;using the iPhone version of instagram on the iPad.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is one&nbsp;the few (only?) app on Windows&nbsp;Tablet (is that a thing?) that looks better than iPad version.&nbsp; IMO of course.</p>

  • 5510

    14 October, 2016 - 7:38 am

    <p>In my opinion, this is pointless. Instagram can be accessed through the web, where nothing needs to be installed. Like many apps, I think there will come point when this app will fade away.</p>

  • 6724

    14 October, 2016 - 8:17 am

    <blockquote><em><a href="#20713">In reply to Abazigal:</a></em></blockquote>
    <p>Actually, you can get Instagram on your iPad (I have an iPad mini 2). Go to the AppStore, search for Instagram, it won’t be there, look in the upper left corner and change the search to iPhone Only. And there’s your Instagram, yes you have to tilt your iPad like an iPhone to use it, but it works.&nbsp;</p>

  • 5234

    14 October, 2016 - 8:19 am

    <p>Melted yellow plastic on chips does not look&nbsp;appetizing regardless of what photo filter you apply to it.</p>

  • 217

    14 October, 2016 - 8:28 am

    <p>I’M SAVED!!!!</p>

  • 5554

    14 October, 2016 - 10:14 am

    <p>No Windows 10 Mobile support then. &nbsp; Guess UWP isn’t so "Universal" after all. &nbsp;Or Facebook didn’t bother because Wmobile is dead.&nbsp;</p>

    • 5605

      14 October, 2016 - 11:15 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20784">In reply to PeteB:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>It’s been on Windows 10 Mobile for months, and functions very well there (in fact, it is the only Facebook app that does).&nbsp; This was stated in the article, too.&nbsp; In the first sentence, in fact.</p>

      • 5485

        15 October, 2016 - 2:39 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#20800">In reply to Alkaidia:</a></em></blockquote>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p>Yes, But didn’t they simply&nbsp;just&nbsp;changed some settings on the Store to allow people to install on the Desktop? This app looks and works differently from the Windows 10 Mobile version. And considering the above&nbsp;screenshot alone, it looks like it was not built upon it.</p>
        <p>Why?</p>

  • 5496

    14 October, 2016 - 3:38 pm

    <p>Twitter is stupid and Instagram is Twitter for people who can’t read</p>

    • 5553

      16 October, 2016 - 5:40 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#20851">In reply to lordbaal1:</a></em></blockquote>
      <p>All social media is a scam to sell advertising.</p>
      <p>It’s the only way to monetize such crap.</p>

  • 6756

    14 October, 2016 - 4:34 pm

    <p>I followed you on Instagram, but only because you asked so nicely.</p>

  • 5485

    15 October, 2016 - 2:32 pm

    <p>Another atrocious app that people will not use. Bridge much?</p>
    <p>Some people might think that MS is not at fault by these kind of platform transportbility. Right once, deploy anywhere. But the fact is they do a lot of noise pushing for this approach in their marketing speech because it helps them, not you! Well, the result, this is just another example.</p>
    <p>I just wonder why would Instragram did such a thing? At least do it right, forget the bridging panacea. That only works for LOB applications because … well people are payed to use them and suffer along.</p>
    <p>Bite the bullet if you have a good business case or forget it.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>

  • 5553

    16 October, 2016 - 5:37 am

    <p>I read a review that said photos can only be uploaded with a W10 touchscreen device. I see that as a failure of the UWP promise.</p>

  • 5553

    16 October, 2016 - 5:43 am

    <p>Why use a janky app ?</p>
    <p>Just go to the web page.</p>
    <p>It’s Windows after all.</p>

  • 6242

    Premium Member
    20 October, 2016 - 5:46 pm

    <p>Well it is clear that MS is gearing up for more touchscreen productivity. My guess is that key players are already developing or porting their apps to Windows 10 UWP’s to take advantage of an MS all in one system. I just spent a half an hour using instagram with my acer 27 inch touchscreen and it is better than using it on a phone or tablet (IMO). Since all my phone photos are instantly on onedrive – they are also instantly on my PC. And working through instagram on my pc is an easier experience than doing it on the phone and crappy little on screen keyboard.</p>
    <p>If MS rolls out an AIO system it may very well stop iMacs cold. The inking on the photos app is wickedly cool and you can even ink videos which is unexpected. They have a plan….</p>
    <p>Sitting at home with a full on touchscreen system as cool looking as an iMac may be the final piece in the puzzle for MS. It would be nicer experience than spending an hour or two hunched over a 10inch tablet or 5 inch phone at home. Essentially you can get your texts, whatsapp, Skype messages all on your PC it is really no different than your phone but much nicer to work with. I don’t see how a key app for communications will be able to avoid being on Windows 10 for much longer after the next major release of Windows 10 comes out next year.</p>

  • Alicein

    03 December, 2017 - 8:39 am

    <p>very nice</p>

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