Imgur Launches Revamped Android App, Introduces Promoted Posts on Web

Imgur's official app on Android up until now was a direct port of its iOS variant. But the popular website for funny images and gifs on Tuesday introduced a new Android app redesigned from the ground up for the platform. Imgur had earlier tested the app with 1,000 fans and mentioned the response from them was generally positive.

The design tweaks on the Android app includes a card-based gallery and easily accessible comments section. There is also a redesigned upload section that allows users to seamlessly upload photos from their device camera or library.

Imgur is also waiting on Apple to review an update for the iOS app to introduce the new uploading feature for the first time for iPhone/iPad users.

Talking about the redesigned app to Techcrunch, Andrew Shu, company's lead developer said, "This is our first-ever fully native Android app, built completely from scratch. We wanted to create a better mobile-first experience."

In a blog post, Imgur also introduced promoted posts on its website. The company states that it is experimenting these ads with a select group of businesses.

However, Imgur understands that users find ads annoying (and rightly so), and to remedy this clearly states in its blog that prompted posts will be clearly demarcated with a blue 'Promoted' label in the upper right corner of the image. Also, the service promises that there will be no pop-ups, auto-playing sounds or timers which makes users wait before viewing the next post. Imgur is also trying to make promoted posts good, if not better than regular posts, and will constantly accept feedback from users for their opinion on such posts. Imgur has already been trying promoted posts for about a month now.