Instagram 3.0 for Android Brings Photo Maps and More

A new flavor of Instagram for Android is now available for download, with a nice range of improvements and new features packed inside.

The team behind the application notes that the latest version of the app was made available for download with a focus on the browsing experience, and that there’s a new and unique way for users to browse their photos on a map.

The feature is available when browsing the photos of friends as well, and no longer imposes browsing through pages to get to the images users want to see.

“We’ve also worked hard on updating all the screens in our app to be more visually consistent and polished. You’ll notice new layouts throughout the app that feel fresh, yet familiar,” Instagram notes.

“Our engineers have also been hard at work making sure that the browsing experience is as fast as possible. On newer devices, you should notice a marked improvement in speed while browsing.”

Users will also benefit from infinite scrolling in feeds, which means that they will see more photos when browsing around the application.

At the same time, the team has been hard at work with making the application safe, packing it with better reporting tools than before, enabling users to both flag photos and comments with ease.

The main enhancement of the new application release remains Photo Maps, which was designed to provide users with a brand new way to browse photos.

The Photo Map of any user will appear on his / her profile, offering the option to showcase those images on the map. Photos of friends will also be visible on the map, should the user choose to have them displayed in this manner.

“Important: Before your map is visible to the public, you’ll be prompted to review any photos you previously geotagged. Additionally, we’ve made it easy to remove photos from your map at any time, which will remove any associated geo-data but leave the photos intact on your profile,” Instagram explains.

The grid of photos is now bigger, making it easier for users to browse through large collections while also having a look at the images. The option is available on user profiles, the Explore tab, as well as on hashtag and location pages.

The photo upload screen has suffered some changes as well, now displaying a larger text box for captions and enabling users to geotag photos by selecting “Add to Your Photo Map.” People will also be able to choose a specific place name for photos.

On top of all these, there are various performance improvements included in the new Instagram 3.0 for Android, all meant to make the software faster and more responsive than before.

Instagram 3.0 for Android is available for download from Softpedia via this link.