Flickr updates iOS app with hashtag support

Users of Flickr have gained hashtag power in the latest update to the photo service's app for devices running the iOS operating system.

 

Flickr said version 2.11.820 of its app allows users to add a hashtag in a photo title or description, or tap on the hashtag and see similar photos with the same hashtag.

 

It is a 20.5-MB download from the iTunes Store and is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad running iOS 4.3 or higher.

 

A separate article on The Next Web said this would come in handy for users of Yahoo's photo-based social network, which has more than six billion photos.

 

"People are prone to tagging all of their photos the same thing regardless of whether the tag is suitable for that photo or not. And since the hashtag (first created by Chris Messina) is growing in popularity, Flickr pretty much felt it was the right time for it to officially support it," it said.

 

It added the addition of hashtag support by Flickr comes in the heels of reports that social network giant Facebook - owner of another giant photo sharing site, Instagram - was considering adding support for hashtags too.

 

But it said this was not the first time hashtags are used in Flickr photos or tags, as users have done so for years, though unofficially. — TJD, GMA News