Once lukewarm at best about Instagram, I have in recent years come to adore the photography-focused social network.
I use it personally, and also professionally as a main caretaker of the Pioneer Press’ @pipress account.
It was in this pro capacity that I appeared on a Social Media Breakfast – Minneapolis/St. Paul panel about Instagram alongside three other hardcore local practitioners not long ago.
The wide-ranging conversation moderated by Mykl Roventine turned to Instagram apps and other tools at one point. I noted that I use tons of these, on my Macintosh desktop computers as well as on mobile devices.
If you’re an Instagram user who primarily uses Apple hardware, the apps described below will come in handy. (Note: A more-detailed version of this post recently appeared on the TidBITS Apple-enthusiast site.)
MACINTOSH
I rely on a couple of Mac apps to up my Instagram game.
Photodesk. It’s possible to navigate Instagram using its Web interface, but that’s too slow and Spartan for power users like me. Photodesk, a souped-up Instagram navigator with multiple-account support, speeds things up dramatically.
It has Instagram analytics, too, and even lets you drag Instagram photos to the desktop (which is not possible with the Web app).
Uplet. Yes, you can post to Instagram right from your Mac. A variety of apps make this possible, and Uplet is the most polished. Just drag one or more photos into its small window, add captions and post.
iPHONE AND iPAD
In addition to the official Instagram app, I rely heavily on a handful of photo apps to make my Instagram posts look sensational. All of the below work equally well on iPad and iPhone.
Google Photos. This is my default service for storing and sharing photographs … and it has simple but effective photo editing via its iOS app as well as in a desktop browser. There is an Android version, too.
Snapseed. This Google companion to Google Photos is a turbocharged photo editor that lets you work miracles with your photos. There’s an Android version, too, but no desktop-Web option.
Camera+. This is another top-flight photo editor (available as separate iPhone and iPad apps) that can also serve as a substitute for your stock camera app.
Hipstamatic. This app, birthed in downtown St. Paul before the creators headed to San Francisco and Los Angeles, is a gas. It digitally emulates old-style films, lenses and flashes, and lets you use these in infinite combinations for ever-surprising results.
A recent, long-overdue update made the app iPad-native as well as iPhone-native.
