Like a posted a few weeks ago, there is no Instagram for Android and how this truly makes me sad because everybody who’s anyone is using Instagram on Twitter, Facebook and in their blogs.
My search for an alternative on Android pointed me to two main applications and another app that is a photo sharing site like Instagram.
I didn’t take as many photos as I wanted to, but I think I took enough for a good comparison.
If you go to the Android Market and look in the photography section, you’ll see that there are a number of different options. I like to check out reviews online of different apps or visit forums and see what people recommend before I download an application like a photo editor.
These reviews are strictly my opinion, I am not getting paid by anyone to review these applications. Carry on.
Most people recommended an app called Vignette, so that’s where I started. Vignette has a demo and a paid version. The paid version is $4.11. The difference between the two I believe is just the photo size, the paid version will save the photos as a larger file than the demo version will.
I first used the free version, but I did end up paying for the full app to be able to save larger photos. My phone has a 8mp camera, and I like to save larger files.
Vignette takes a few seconds to initialize and overall it is a bit slower than my phone’s regular camera. It only takes square photos and has a number of filters and frames to use.
As you can see, I like that frame and I am not sure what the filter is called. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep track of that. 
What I don’t like about the app is having to go back and forth to pick the filters and frames. You can’t scroll through them and instantly see the changes, you have to pick from a drop down and then go back to the photo each time. And for some reason when I take photos I have to rotate them or they are sideways. That’s annoying.
But, it does save your last filter/frame used and will automatically apply that. That is definitely a plus!
What I do like is that you can choose from different methods of taking photos, like instant, continuous, and then like a grid or filmstrip (or like those photo booth strips!) as shown below.
I like Vignette, but it’s not my first choice. I give Vignette 
The other application I used is called Magic Hour – Camera. This application also has a free and a paid version. I didn’t even use the free version of this app, I jumped right into the paid version. The paid version is $1.99.
I like this app a lot. It’s a little slow on the start, but you can scroll through the filters easily and you can see the changes as you scroll. There’s also a button to see the original and the photo will switch over to the original.
There are a number of preset filters and frames, you can make and save your own, or you can download ones from other people. I really like the option to download filters! You can also put some in your favorites.
I’ll be honest and say I have played with this app more than I have Vignette and I downloaded Vignette before Magic Hour. I like the user friendly-ness of this app better.
The cons to this app is the speed. It is slow! Slower than I’d like, but tolerable. The other con is that you always start with the original photo in Magic Hour whereas Vignette will apply the last filter/frame that were used. I tend to like cutesy, animated apps and this is definitely one of them. Vignette is more business.
Magic Hour – Camera is my choice for the winner and I give it 
If you’re still reading, the final application is a photo sharing site app similar to Instagram. It’s called picplz and it’s completely free!
I joined and only uploaded one photo and I also didn’t play around with this app much because I thought you could only upload regular photos without editing them. But, now that I’ve gone back and looked, you CAN apply a filter to the photos! Cool!!
I don’t know if it’s as popular as Instagram, but it’s definitely a workable option!
Oh, and I did hear back from the people at Instagram. Here was their response:
The Instagram Team
AUG 02, 2011 | 05:42PM PDT
Thanks for your interest in Instagram. We’re excited to expand to other platforms and understand the importance of making Instagram available to the millions of people without iOS devices. However, we have nothing official to announce at this time.
Hopefully one day Instagram will come to Android!!!
I will leave you with one more comparison: (Vignette on left, Magic Hour on right)
I even think that the Magic Hour camera takes better photos!!
Have you used one of the other Android cameras? How do you like it? Leave me a comment and let me know!
