Instagram finally launches web profiles for users

One of the weirdest features Instagram lacked was an actual website for users. It’s pretty much just a simple web page that links you to different app stores to get the Instagram app. It took long enough, but Instagram has finally realized the untapped potential that boring, pointless website has. It’s not currently available for everyone, but some users can view their profiles as a simplified web interface from a browser. It’s currently in a rollout status, so not everyone can do it yet, but a projected 100 million users will have access to it by the end of the week.

The web functionality is pretty bare, limiting you to liking and commenting on users’ past pictures and changing your personal information. Unfortunately, that means no photo stream like the app offers, but it does provide a great link to share with others to point them towards your photos and profile. The Instagram team stated they wanted to start with something simple for the launch and build on that in the future, which isn’t a bad philosophy.

Kevin Systrom, Instagram founder, did say that the web version of Instagram was not made to replace the mobile function. Features like photo uploading are not likely to ever be added to keep the focus on the mobile apps for Instagram. Systrom sees that Instagram grew to its size of 100 million users by mobile apps alone, and thinks that staying primarily mobile is the best way to continue growing that user base. The web profiles are, more than anything, just a tool to expose more people to Instagram and eventually pull them into the mobile ecosystem.

All in all, it doesn’t change the core functionality of what Instagram is, but it is a nice touch. Sadly I haven’t gotten the web profile yet, but if yours is up, let us know in the comments.

source: TechCrunch