Twitter announced its latest app update for both iOS and Android late Monday, which brings the highly-anticipated Aviary-powered native photo filters to the service. Android users were able to snag the update immediately – but an undisclosed issue led to the iOS update being delayed.
Now, that nearly-24-hour wait is over as iOS users can now download version 5.2 at their convenience.
The new Twitter app makes eight new photo filters available to users: Vignette, Black & White, Warm, Cool, Vintage, Cinematic, Happy, and Gritty. At launch, that’s eight less than Instagram, which sports 18 filters (one of which they just debuted yesterday).
Of course, it’s natural to want to compare Twitter’s new offerings with that of Instagram. The two are currently locked in a back-and-forth battle for the hearts and minds of photo-sharers everywhere. Instagram, as you may have heard, recently cut off Twitter by revoking its integration. As a result, Instagram photos are no longer viewable within Twitter’s expanded tweets in the stream or in photo galleries.
Twitter, it seems, has launched these new filters at the perfect time to stick it to the Facebook-owned Instagram. Only time will tell if Twitter’s filters keep people sharing photos on their network, or if people find the Instagram community more appealing.