You would think with devices like the Lumia 1020, Lumia 1520 and even the venerable Lumia 92x, a photography site like Flickr would be catering heavily towards Windows Phone users. Instead, we have an app that was last updated almost two years ago from the Yahoo! owned shutterbug site. An app that is plagued with performance and login issues, giving users a subpar experience.
Now, Flickr through their support forums have confirmed that they are purposefully giving the cold shoulder to Windows Phone. If you were expecting a massive update waiting in the wings from the company, you can now stop.
A message posted today in their support forums from Matthew Roth, Flickr Community Team, states the obvious:
“At this point, we are focusing our mobile development efforts on iPhone and Android apps. If this changes, we’ll let you know in the forum here.”
It’s an odd confession, especially in 2014 where Windows Phone is now the accepted ‘third way’ for mobile. Even more so since Windows Phone users are heavy on photo snapping and sharing, due to Nokia’s phenomenal work in mobile photography. (I’m reminded by how just good Lumias are after playing with my new Moto X, or browsing images on my sister’s Galaxy S4.)
In the past, we’ve seen such responses from companies who didn’t have the resources for Windows Phone development. At the time, users begrudgingly accepted it, but in 2014 it seems very out of place. Even more so since Yahoo! is hardly a small time player. Like Google, they could easily afford to develop a robust app for Windows Phone users, but are purposefully not doing so.
Flickr's downward spiral (Source: Alexa)
Luckily, Flickr is a service that is quickly going out of fashion with mobile photography. Services like Instagram are putting a serious dent into Flickr, and even sites like 500PX, who have an excellent Windows Phone app, are picking up Yahoo!’s slack in this market. Flickr’s mid 2013 refresh is also wearing off, according to the analytics site Alexa.
Need Flickr on Windows Phone? Use these apps instead
If Windows Phone users still need a decent Flickr app, there are some seriously nice alternative that access the site and upload services, including:
- 2flicka (Store Link)
- Pixl (Store Link)
- Indulged (Store Link)
- Flickr Central aka Viewr for Flickr (Store Link)
Still, for the platform’s sake, it would be better for Windows Phone to have a top shelf official app, utilizing Nokia’s unique camera APIs. Hopefully users will demand such a change from Yahoo!.
Source: Flickr Support forums; via @TheRomit
