Instagram has launched the Instagram Feed for the Web, in an effort to make the service more accessible to Web users and across more devices.
Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom announced the update in an official blog post. Systrom says: "To make Instagram even more accessible to our growing community, at the end of last year we started to expand to the desktop Web, giving you the ability to see profiles from instagram.com. To continue that path, as of today, you can now browse your Instagram feed on the Web - just like you do on your mobile device."
Systrom says Instagram's focus so far on building a mobile-only experience has been due to the fact that the service, at its core, "is about seeing and taking photos on-the-go". Users will still only be able to upload photos to their feeds via the mobile app, and the primary role of the Web feed is browsing and engagement.
"We do not offer the ability to upload from the Web as Instagram is about producing photos on the go, in the real world, in real-time. On the other hand, Instagram for the Web is focused on making the browsing experience a fast, simple and enjoyable one," says Systrom, adding that users can like and comment on photos via the Web feed.
Instagram ruffled feathers at the end of last year, when the service announced it was disabling support for Twitter Cards, and stopping Instagram images from being visible on the service (although users can still share links). At the time, Systrom said the move made sense for the company as it wanted to direct users to the Instagram Web site.
The move stepped up the rivalry between the service and Twitter, which revoked Instagram's access to the "Find Twitter Friends" API in August last year. Following the snub by Instagram, Twitter announced its own photo-editing and filtering features, which were released late last year for its mobile app.
Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 as it ramped up its photo-sharing services. While Twitter formed an integral part of Instagram's early success, the two sites are becoming increasingly competitive.
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