Haktech: Facebook launches its own Instagram-like app

Facebook may have announced a deal to purchase Instagram for $1 billion close to two months ago, but that doesn't mean the company isn't working on its own photo sharing software. Indeed, Facebook has now launched its own stand alone app software, titled Facebook Camera, for iOS devices. It's now available to download from the iOS App Store.

The free app does many of the same things as Instagram's app, including allowing for people to put in special filter effects for their smartphone camera pictures. It can also let folks "like" and comment on the photos in the stream. An article on AllThingsD.com says that moving through photos in the Facebook Camera app is also much faster than using the regular Facebook app.

The app was not made with help by any of the team members at Instagram and it looks like the Facebook Camera app was in development long before the company decided it wanted to buy Instagram. The article speculates that once the Instagram deal becomes official, the two apps might be integrated in some way.