What is Instagram? FAQ

http://instagr.am/

Instagram is a fun & quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your iPhone, then choose a filter to transform the look and feel of the shot into a memory to keep around forever. We’re building the platform to allow you to experience moments in your friends’ lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through images of what happens around them – whether through friends or people across the world.

 

How much is your app?

$0.00 - available for free in the iTunes app store.

 

How did the idea come about?

We love taking photos. We always assumed taking interesting photos takes a big bulky camera and a couple years of art school. Now with mobile phones having cameras that rival those of point-and-shoots, we decided to challenge that assumption. We created Instagram to have one single app solve the biggest problems we heard from users:

1. Mobile photos always come out looking so-so. We set out to create some awesome looking filters to transform your photos into professional-looking snapshots.
2. Sharing on multiple platforms is a pain - we want to take a picture once, and have it shared (instantly) on the services of our choice.
3. Most uploading experiences are clumsy and take forever – we’ve optimized the experience to be fast and efficient.

 

What other services are you compatible with?

Currently, you can share your photos on a photo-by-photo basis on Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. Additionally, if you specify a location with your photo, you can opt to have us check you in on Foursquare. Going forward, we plan on supporting additional services but have nothing else to announce at this time.

 

What kind of stuff can you do to your photos using Instagram?

Currently we have 11 different custom filters that we wrote to transform the colors, mood, border, and tonality of your photos. All were produced from scratch by the Instagram team.

Can I process and share photos from my camera roll?

Absolutely. You can either take photos from within the app or choose from your library.

 

Where does the name come from?

When we were kids we loved playing around with cameras -- we loved how all the old Polaroid cameras marketed themselves as “instant” (something we take for granted today). We also felt that the snapshots people were taking were kind of like telegrams in that they got sent over the wire to others -- so we figured why not combine the two?

Who are your investors?

We raised a $500,000 seed round from Andreessen-Horowitz and Baseline Ventures, and a $7 million Series A from Benchmark Capital and a small group of angel investors. We’re very excited to be working with investors who have a proven track record and experience in the space with investments like Twitter and Foursquare.

How will you make money?

We believe that the core of our product will always be free. There will be opportunities for consumers to buy extra add-ons like special filters, etc. However, we plan to experiment with different models as we grow and learn what special value we can provide to the community to make their collective experience more engaging, exciting and useful.

How does privacy work?

We have adopted a follower model that means if you’re ‘public’ on Instagram, anyone can subscribe to follow your photos. We do, however, have a special private option. In this mode, a user can make sure he/she must approve all follow requests before they go through.

Who can see my photos?

All photos are public by default which means they are visible to anyone using Instagram or on the instagr.am website. If you choose to make your account private, then only people who follow you on Instagram will be able to see your photos.

How can I print my photos?

We save all the photos you process with Instagram to your camera roll. You can then sync with your computer and print as many as you’d like.

When are you going to make the app for blackberry, android, etc?

We are currently working on making the iPhone experience as solid as possible. Only then will we consider other platforms, but currently we have nothing to announce.

What versions of the iPhone are you compatible with?

Anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.1.2 and above can use Instagram.

When will you have an iPad version?

We’re actively considering new devices and platforms, but have nothing to announce at this time.