It’s been a long time coming, but Yahoo has finally gotten around to launching an app designed especially for the iPad.
First things first, you’ll need iOS 8 or above to run it, so if you’re an avid Flickr user and own an iPad 2 or newer and still haven’t updated to Apple’s latest mobile operating system, now’s the time.
Announced by Yahoo over the weekend, version 3.2 of its Flickr app is optimized for the larger screen of Apple’s tablets and means anyone with a Retina-display iPad can now enjoy crystal sharp images while browsing the community’s vast array of content.
Users can browse their feed in either landscape or portrait with photos cascading “in a lovely waterfall format,” according to Flickr community manager Kay Kremerskothen, who revealed details of the new app in a post on the Flickr blog.
Besides being able to use the new software to build your profile with an avatar, background photo, introduction, and website links, the app also offers a new search function helping you to more easily find photos of interest, whether among your own collection or the wider community’s.
As with the iPhone version, the app includes photo-taking functionality, a feature that may be used more by iPad Air 2 owners, which starts shipping this week with an improved camera. Versatile editing tools that include live filters are also part of the package.
The roll out of Flickr for iPad demonstrates Yahoo’s continued investment in the photo site, which launched in 2004 before the Web firm acquired it a year later.
The improvements to the service come after years of neglect during a period when Yahoo lost its way as it struggled in the Internet market. Marissa Mayer, who took the CEO job in 2012, has helped the company to refocus, with Flickr one of its many products to receive special attention in the last couple of years. Besides redesigned Flickr mobile apps and a website makeover, new services for photographers have also been added.
Flickr for iPad is available globally in 11 languages and can be downloaded now via iTunes.
