Instagram finally lands on Windows Phone

Windows Phone fans around the world rejoice! You can finally download Instagram on your device.

Although we’ve known the photo-filtering service was heading for devices running Microsoft’s mobile OS ever since it was announced at Nokia’s October tablet and smartphone event, we haven’t had a definitive date until now.

In an official blog post, Instagram says it wanted to make the app available to people with Windows Phones as quickly as possible. The version it’s pushing out is therefore a BETA edition with a few less features than Android or iOS users will be used to.

“We’re not finished, and our team will continue developing the Windows Phone app to keep releasing features and bringing you the best Instagram possible,” the company says.

Among the compromises Windows Phone users will have to make for now is the fact that they will be directed to their camera roll instead of a camera interface initially, where they have the option to either select an existing photo or take a new photo to apply filter to before sharing.

The news comes at the same time as Google-owned mapping service Waze makes its way onto the OS, which is also reporting some promising numbers.

According to TechCrunch, the platform has seen more than 3-billion downloads since launch and is currently seeing around 10-million app transactions a day.

While Windows Phone remains relatively small, it is growing. A large portion of that growth is likely down to lower cost, but still high quality, Lumia devices such as the 510. Indeed, its growth in a number of countries is outpacing that of both iOS and Android. In Italy meanwhile, Windows Phone devices are already outselling iPhones.

While TechCrunch reckons that Microsoft needs to try harder to increase its share of the US market, we think that’s a little short-sighted. Nokia is already firmly established as the feature phone provider of choice in a number of emerging market countries, including India. With a compelling smartphone offering, Microsoft can capture those markets as they start to buy smartphones. Doing so would also mean an increasing number of transactions among an upwardly mobile population. That makes a lot more long term sense than trying to force its way into increasing its US market share.