In a blow to Instagram, Twitter now adds image filters

Dec 11, 2012 13:18 GMT  ·  By

Twitter has announced a major new update for mobile platforms that will undoubtedly make a dent in Instagram’s universe – photo filters. Users can now snap a photo, make a few edits and share it with their followers with just a few taps.

Twitter announced on its blog that “Starting today, you’ll be able to edit and refine your photos, right from Twitter.”

“The latest versions of Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android introduce a few new ways to enhance the images you tweet. We’re grateful to our partner, Aviary, for powering our filters and effects,” says the microblogging company.

You can apply one of eight filters to retouch your photos, or simply enhance them with a tap using “Auto-Enhance.”

You can see how each filter affects your photo in a single grid view, or you can swipe through and compare. A cropping tool is also provided.

That’s not all, though. It’s now easier and faster to share, discover, and enjoy great photos by expanding Tweets to view photos from various photo services, or by previewing photos directly in Discover and search.

Users can also swipe through images on Twitter with photo streams in profiles and search results, the company says.

There’s just a tiny problem, though. While Android users are already filling up Twitter’s servers with images of crazy cats and colorful foods, iOS customers are yet to see the update appear in the iTunes App Store.

Apple is seemingly still parsing through the bits prompting us to keep our fingers crossed for the binary to be free of any rule-breaking additions.

In the meantime, Softpedia readers can watch Twitter’s new demo video below and access the App Store via this link hoping that Apple will have approved the update when they make the click.