Flickr's iOS app adds lives filters and more to take on Instagram

Changes to the app for iPhones will try to increase Flickr's presence in the mobile photography market

Yahoo is continuing its mission to revitalise photo-sharing site Flickr with a revamp of the website’s app for iOS.

The new set of features introduced for iPhones includes new preset filters that can be applied live to images, a revamped interface for taking and editing photos, and a new emphasis on photo sharing and discovery with thematic groups like ‘food’ and ‘travel’.

The changes to the app seem to be the first fruits of Yahoo’s spree of acquisitions earlier in the year, that included one big-budget item (Tumblr) and several smaller companies such as Xobni, Qwiki, and Ghostbird.

Ghostbird previously made an advanced photography app for iOS and it seems that the purchase of their expertise has led to the revamped Yahoo app.

The changes to the iOS app follow Yahoo’s soft re-launch of Flickr back in May, in which CEO Marissa Mayer promised to make the site “awesome again” and return it to its former glory.

Flickr was previously the go-to place on the web for sharing and uploading photos but has been overtaken by the spread of photography apps on mobiles, Facebook, and numerous image hosting sites like imgur.com

As well as redesigning the app, Flickr has sought to attract new users by offering a free terabyte of storage online and lowering the price of upgrading to the ‘pro’ service.