Instagram for Android will be ‘better than iOS app’, coming really soon

Instagram co-founder, Kevin Systrom, revealed at SXSW yesterday that the Android version of Instagram is coming very soon and “in some ways, it’s better than our iOS app.”

It’s no secret that the world’s favourite photo social network is headed for Android, but we seem to be getting very close to an actual release. Systrom showed off Instagram for Android running on a Galaxy Nexus at SXSW yesterday, but didn’t give a full demo.

During a Q&A session, Systrom promised the Android version would be incredibly fast, scale well on various screen sizes and that the team hopes “to have it out to people really soon.”

Why did it take so long? Simply because the company had priorities, chief of which was scaling Instagram for iOS. Had they developed both Android and iPhone versions in parallel, it would’ve been more difficult to innovate in the way that they had, co-founder Mike Krieger added.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Systrom revealed that Instagram has 27-million registered users. That’s almost double the 15-million they announced back in December last year. Much of the growth came from Apple showcasing Instagram as App of the Year.