Photogram: A Beautiful Way To View Instagram On The Web [Review]

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Photogram

We love Jeff Broderick’s work here at Cult of Mac. We’ve told you about some of his web app projects, like QuickWiFi and QuickContact, and his latest creation is called Photogram. As the name implies, you can use Photogram to view Instagram in your web browser. The app is beautiful and optimized for both the desktop and mobile experience.

Instagram is the most popular mobile social network in existence, but the official app is only available on the iPhone. While there are plenty of third-party apps for the Mac and iPad that let you view and interact with your account, Photogram is a platform-agnostic web portal with the polish of a native iOS app.

To try the public beta of Photogram, head over to Photogram.co/connect from your device’s browser and authenticate the app with your Instagram account. You’ll then be taken to Photogram’s simplistic interface for viewing the retro, hipsterfied snapshots of food and sunsets we all love. Hovering your mouse cursor over a specific photo will reveal its creator and accompanying title.

You can toggle between your own photos and your Instagram feed. You can like and comment on photos and see where a certain pic was taken. Instagram accounts can be viewed and followed. Everything you’d expect from the Instagram iPhone app is included in Photogram except the ability to actually take pictures.

Photogram is very much a work in progress, and Broderick is working daily to improve the app and add new features. While chatting with Cult of Mac about Photogram, Broderick said, “I want to make Instagram more about the photos and where they are taken.”

While he acknowledges that the social aspect of Instagram is crucial, he wants to “rethink the whole thing.” Make it less about the social experience, and more about the actual photos. Photogram seems like the perfect app for viewing Instagram on the big screen in the living room. Broderick said that he wants his app to require “as little interaction as possible” from the viewer. Never before has there been more of a reason for the Apple TV to have a web browser.

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