Apple developing Color, Instagram competitor?

You didn’t expect Apple to let someone else steal the spotlight for too long, did you? Color has been social’s darling new startup for a couple weeks now, and already details on Apple’s challenger are surfacing.

It’s been speculated for a little while now that Apple’s interested in getting a little more social, and there have been reports that the iPhone 5 (whenever it comes out…) will include a new feature called “Media Stream.” The application will purportedly feature “Photo Streaming,” a cloud-based network that allows users and their connections to view one another’s images anytime, anywhere. Now, 9to5 Mac (which first found out about the photo streaming feature) claims to have gotten its hands on how that program might work.

According to the image and report, Photo Stream will allow users to setup their own albums and then show them off friends of their choosing. Posting images online could be eliminated, potentially making Facebook Photos a thing of the past (which, given its popularity, is downright laughable). Of course, Apple has said little to nothing about future iOS plans, but 9to5 Mac speculates that users will be able to subscribe to these individual Photo Streams and keep updated on the albums of their inner circles.

Sure, sure, everything’s just rumor at this point, but it makes too much sense to ignore. It’s obvious that photo sharing apps are popular – wildly popular. Just ask the guys at Instagram and Hipstamatic. Color has also made quite the entrance, and despite its hit or miss acceptance with users, is raking in followers. Apple has yet to make its social debut, and doing so while remaining in its own element could be the way to go. But it had better work fast: Once users latch onto a photo-sharing app, they become pretty loyal to that community – something Apple knows a lot about.

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