Yahoo releases new Retina-optimized Flickr 3.2 for iPad, iOS 8

Late Friday is usually when companies choose to release news they’d like to bury, but Yahoo chose 11:40pm on Friday night  to announce some good news: The company now has an official Flickr app for the iPad.

Yahoo-owned Flickr previously offered an iOS app, but only for iPhones. The new iPad app, called Flickr 3.2, supports the “Retina” display found on the old iPad Air and iPad mini, as well as the new iPad Air 2 and the new iPad mini.

While Retina iPads aren’t new, it might be the release of iOS 8 that finally prompted Flickr to get with the program: The new iPad app only works with iOS 8.

iPhone users also have an updated Flickr 3.2 app, provided they’ve got the new OS.

The Flickr app can display images on that high-resolution screen with “up to 3,000,000 pixels per photo,” the company’s official blog post says — that’s approximately equal to the 2,048 by 1,056 pixels on the devices’ screens.

The app lets you browse your Flickr feed in both landscape and portrait mode, includes plenty of room for photo descriptions and metadata (one of Flickr’s strengths), and supports Flickr’s usual search and commenting features.

It also lets you take pictures with your iPad, and even offers a live filters and a live histogram (a photo exposure graph often found on digital SLRs) so you can see how your photo will turn out before you press the virtual shutter button.

While taking photos with tablets is really annoying to some people, Flickr is taking full advantage of the new iPads’ high-resolution screen and excellent camera, which maybe — just maybe — will lead to better photos.

Check out Flickr’s screenshots below. If you want the app, Flickr 3.2 is in the iTunes App Store now.

Via Engadget