Twitter Tried To Buy Camera+ After Facebook Bought Instagram

Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram secured the social networking giant ownership of the largest and fastest growing mobile photography network on the planet. Instagram has 50 million users, and Facebook is already the top site for image hosting on the internet.


There were rumors that other companies, like Google, were also in talks to buy Instagram before Facebook could sink its teeth in. The New York Times even said that Twitter was trying to court Instagram at one point. According to a new report, Twitter ended up approaching another hugely popular iPhone photography app after Facebook swooped in and stole Instagram.


Bloomberg is saying that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey met with tap tap tap, makers of Camera+, to negotiate a deal. Camera+ is a very successful $1 app for the iPhone that works in many ways like Instagram, allowing users to edit pics, apply filters, and share them on other social networks. The two apps differ in that Instagram also boasts its own sharing network where users view, like and comment on pictures. Camera+ is a photography toolkit and camera app for the iPhone with sharing options for the likes of Facebook and Twitter.


Camera+ debuted 4 months before Instagram in the App Store, and it’s been downloaded 7.5 million times since. Instagram has 50 million users and launched two years ago on the iPhone and on Android several weeks ago.


Bloomberg reports:

Twitter executives held several meetings with Camera+ developer Tap Tap Tap, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The talks broke down before Twitter could make an offer because the startup’s far-flung workforce was reluctant to relocate to San Francisco, they said. While 10 employees are already based there, Tap Tap Tap has 20 others in Austria, New Zealand, Spain and elsewhere.

Jack Dorsey was an investor in Instagram initially, but he hasn’t shared a photo on the network since the Facebook acquisition was announced on April 9th. Instead, he’s used Camera+ to share from his iPhone. In an interview last week Dorsey said that Instagram photos are more commonly shared on Twitter than on Facebook.