Facebook launched a new app Thursday to make viewing and sharing pictures on the world's largest social network easier.
Facebook Camera, for the iPhone and iPod Touch, works like most other camera applications for smartphones.
To take a photo, you tap a camera icon in the upper left corner of your screen, aim and shoot. You can then tag friends and your location, add filters, crop or tilt your photo, and finally share it on Facebook.
The app also lets you quickly view your friends' most recent photo posts in a timeline-esque fashion. The app is definitely works much faster than the regular Facebook app and is sure to ease user's frustrations.
The new app is similar to Instagram, the photo-sharing service Facebook is in the process of buying for $1 billion. On Twitter, some have begun calling Camera an Instagram clone.
Instagram's employees did not work on the Facebook app. Facebook has said it expects the Instagram deal to close sometime this year.
Facebook Camera's launch comes in the midst of the company’s tumultuous initial public stock offering last week. Investors filed a class-action lawsuit against the social network, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Morgan Stanley and others this week.
The suit alleges the IPO underwriters withheld information about Facebook's growth prospects from retail investors. Facebook says the suit is without merit.
Facebook didn't give details on when it might release a version of the app for phones that run on Google's Android operating system. In a statement, Facebook said it is "carefully looking at what might make for a good Facebook photos experience across Android devices.''
