Instagram named iPhone app of the year

By Molly McHugh December 8, 2011

Today Apple released its iTunes Rewind 2011 list, looking back over the most popular and bestselling music and apps from the past year. To no one’s surprise, Instagram took home the coveted “iPhone App of the Year” prize, confirming what we all knew about the photo filter tool.

Despite being iPhone-only, Instagram has rocketed to 15 million users and continues to focus on creating that Android app.

Now we’ve written about the many ideas Instagram has inspired before, but these applications and services have multiplied faster than the company’s staff (which remains at 10). So in honor of its prestigious “App of the Year” title, here’s a refreshed look at products we have Instagram to thank for.

Blurb

If you’re too lazy to print and paste your Instagram photos into physical form, let Blurb do it for you. This printing service will create a book of all your filtered images.

CanvasPop

The experts at image upsizing will turn your iPhone photos into tangible works of art that show off your artist’s eye and maintain clean resolution.

Casetagram

Your Instagram images likely take up the bulk of your iPhone’s photo gallery already, so why not wrap the handset itself in the pictures?

Keepsy

One part artistic and one part practical, the Instagram calendar will make you look forward to the 1^st at the end of every month.

Printstagram

For the Instagram user who can’t decide what to turn their photos into, there’s Prinstagram. This service turns your images into stickers, books, or posters.

Stickygram

And if Prinstagram doesn’t cover the bases, Stickygram creates magnets out of your photos.

Boo Box

If you feel the need to outfit your Instagram photo in some custom casing, then look no further. Hatch Craft creates bamboo frames that users have been designing to house their Instagram images.

Bumblejax

For some printing variety, try Bumblejax. The service will bring your Instagram photos to life on the material of your choosing: acrylic (plexi), bamboo, aluminum or gatorboard.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

Mobile

3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank

A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Mobile

Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Mobile

There’s a big problem with the iPhone’s Photos app

The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

While my primary device these days continues to be my iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve dabbled with plenty of Android phones since I’ve been here at Digital Trends. One of my favorite brands of phone has been the Google Pixel because of its strong suite of photo-editing tools and good camera hardware.

Google first added the Magic Eraser capability with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is a tool I love using. Then, with the Pixel 8 series, Google added the Magic Editor, which uses generative AI to make edits that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. There are also tools like Photo Unblur, which is great for old photographs and enhancing images that were captured with low-quality sensors.