Instagram coming to your wrist with app for Apple Watch
Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch
Early estimates say Apple sold 2.3 million Apple Watches worldwide during the first week of pre-orders; a record for smartwatch sales. The new wearable from Apple is already influencing brand decisions and bringing about changes in product strategy. The latest brand to join the fray is Instagram. The popular mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service is developing its first smartwatch app and it’s coming to Apple Watch.
The move, notes the Financial Times who first reported it, is notable since Instagram has until now been uninterested in the smartwatch market, even though smartwatches from Samsung and others have been available for quite some time already.
Due to the small size of the Apple Watch screen, the Instagram designers needed to rethink the entire design notes the report. Apple has very strict guidelines when it comes to developing apps for its watch. Various Instagram engineers and designers, including founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger got together to see how they could make the successful Instagram mobile app work on Apple Watch.
Ian Silber, an Instagram designer, spoke to the Financial Times about the redesign: “I think the Watch is really about quick information and notifications. With the Watch, it’s about thinking about interactions in terms of seconds,” he said.
The Instagram app for Apple Watch will allow you to browse your photo feed, like photos and leave emoji comments. You will also receive interactive notifications straight to your wrist when someone likes your pins.
Even without an app for the watch, Instagram has been at the center of attention during the lead up to Apple Watch’s release. Numerous celebrities have taken to the platform to post photos of themselves wearing the high-end gold Apple Watch Edition.
“Developing for the Watch is definitely fun but they kept it pretty scoped and limited,” said Silber. “That’s smart because it helps shape the types of apps that come out in version one. . . You don’t want an app with a ton of features on your watch; you want one screen that tells you the most important information.”
Various other companies have also redesigned their apps for Apple Watch, including Uber, Shazam and Yahoo.
Image via apple.com
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