Gadgetory

a new third party Instagram app has just popped up for Windows Phone 8 and early indications are that it's pretty awesome I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is your guided tour of six tagged the new Instagram app for Windows Phone 8 the Facebook owned picture sharing service Instagram isn't officially supported on Windows Phone something Nokia Microsoft and millions of Windows Phone users would like very much to change until that happens though users are forced to rely on third party apps like instance to post and browse photos on Instagram and we praised instance as a wonderful Instagram client just a few weeks back but the app has some limitations namely its small selection of filters and inability to post a video content plus a recent change in API is by Instagram rendered instance and all third party Instagram apps broken for a short time though quickly fixed that bump in the road was unsettling for Windows Phone users who were finally getting used to the idea of being able to consistently use Instagram on their devices enter six tag an app from developer Rudy Wynn which is according to Windows Phone central the first third-party Windows Phone 8 client to launch with instagrams blessing of sorts the app launched yesterday and currently holds a five-star rating in the Windows Store with over 2000 reviews beating out even the high scores of wins highly ranked vine client for Windows Phone here's how it works when you first log into 6 tag you know immediately that this is a different Instagram experience entirely the welcome screen is backed by a reel of fun energetic clips that reminds you of six tags of video posting functionality once you log in you're given a quick single-frame tutorial that tells you everything you need to know to browse the feed you just swipe left or right on a card to display controls for liking sharing and commenting even downloading photos to your phone is a one tap process no video downloading is not currently supported and while these controls are handy enough familiar shortcuts are also still here you can indeed double tap on a photo to like it the checking activity on your own account is a simple matter of tapping the notification bubble in the upper right and the same goes for profile viewing in fact all this is pretty familiar stuff an instance does most of this already just differently and instance also uses a very Windows Phone like you I complete with sliding panels the difference with six tag comes when you want to post something the viewfinder is familiar enough but after you take the shot the newer apps superiority becomes clear the six tag includes official Instagram filters in place of the more limited collection and instance in addition to tilt shift effects frames and even a contrast enhancement tool you can also tag people in the photo if you like and six tag also supports sharing to a ton of other social networks a lot of the stuff hasn't been seen before in a third-party client at least not to this degree video recording is similar to instagrams stock approach with stop and start capability though you can't upload already recorded video from the gallery as you can with the stock app and there's no filter support either still it's video uploading with a third-party app and it definitely works well enough to satisfy most folks that's our overall impression of six tag after a day of use actually it's not perfect there's some stutter here and there and no third-party title is ever gonna bring the full suite of features that an official app would but six tag gets absurdly close it beats the current version of instance pretty handily in terms of functionality but the two apps stand together as great examples of what can happen when developers commit to filling a demand and doing it well with a bit of a wink and a nudge from Instagram itself in six tags case six tag is free to try in the Windows Store but a dollar forty nine will remove the ads and enable video upload functionality if you're an Instagram user on Windows Phone well first of all we recommend you follow pocket now and instagram.com slash pocket now but second of all we highly recommend giving six tag a try folks if you want to learn more about six tag instance and all the other Instagram and windows phone coverage we have visit us at pocketnow.com and check out our channel page here on youtube but before you go anywhere please drop us a like if you enjoyed the video subscribe here on youtube if you want to see more like it and follow us on social media so you don't miss a future coverage from PocketNow until next time this has been michael fisher thank you very much for watching and we'll see you soon