Apple Debuts on Instagram Ahead of iPhone 8 Launch

Apple has joined the photo-sharing app Instagram. Could this be a curtain raiser to the iPhone 8?

Instagram is a photo-sharing application that has more than 700 million users

(Photo: Liju Joseph/The Quint)

Only a couple of weeks remaining till the launch of the much anticipated iPhone 8 and Apple has already created a buzz in the online word, with the latest development being the creation its official account on the photo sharing application Instagram.

Apple has been running ads on Instagram for a long time, but now it has an official account on Instagram with a little over 288 thousand followers and just 9 posts (as on 8 August 2017 12:40 pm IST)

Apple joins Instagram after joining Twitter in 2016 (Photo: Apple)

With the handle as @apple, the account currently has 9 posts which are pictures and videos taken by various photographers using iOS equipment.

The videos also have some of the artist’s interviews recorded by Apple running as voice-overs. In its description section, Apple has added quotes of the artists in each post.

Quotes by photographers on Apple’s Instagram page(Photo: The Quint)

Well, this activity could probably be a build-up to the upcoming iPhone 8, which is right around the corner. Remember in 2016, Apple launched its Twitter account in September, right before the launch of the the iPhone 7. Deja vu!

This might come as a surprise to many, as one of the best camera phones out there did not already have an official Instagram account. This was probably due to the earlier tension between the photo sharing app and Apple, which started back in 2012, when Instagram was released for Android. Apple fans didn’t welcome this move as they were losing exclusivity.

Apple’s senior vice-president, worldwide marketing Peter Schiller deleted his Instagram account in 2012 after the app launched on Android.

This whole activity seems to be for the promotion of ‘ShotoniPhone’ campaign that Apple started with the iPhone 6, which is why the hashtag #ShotoniPhone in an invitation to other Instagram users to post more pictures.

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