Is Tadaa the New Instagram?

Lisa Siregar

The acquisition of Instagram by Facebook, a company notorious for changing its terms and conditions and not too keen on keeping its users’ data private, unleashed a scramble to find the “new Instagram”: a photo-sharing platform with a good selection of filters that is easy to use and mindful of privacy concerns.

Enter Tadaa, a photo sharing app from Hamburg, Germany-based developers that is quietly stealing attention as a high-definition alternative. The app is free and available on Apple’s App Store.

Tadaa immerses users in images the instant they first click on the app. There are two main tabs on the home page, the “New” and the “Awesome.” There are also options at the bottom of the app, divided into the camera button, “Photos,” “People,” “Settings” and “Me,” to view your own pictures.

While the “New” tab is basically a page to view photos from those you are following, the “Awesome” page allows new users to get a feel for the app quickly. It has three columns filled with square-shaped pictures under the headings of “Trending,” “Featured” and a special lens category that changes every week. The “Featured” section is a strategy to present selected pictures, while public votes are relevant in the “Trending” section. One problem that Instagram has not yet solved is that irrelevant pictures often appear in its “Popular” section simply because it is the user who is popular, and not necessarily the photos. The ability to categorize photos based on a filter also sets Tadaa apart from its Facebook-owned predecessor.

Swipe to the left and you will see another three columns: “Challenge,” “24H Charts” and “New Users.” At the beginning, you might wonder if this is a bit too much, but offering more options rarely disappoints.

The “Challenge” section is a feature that keeps the app fresh and dynamic. “24H Charts” is for those who don’t want to miss any pictures from the past 24 hours, something many can’t be bothered with. Finally, “New Users” give newbies the same chance as popular users to appear on the public page.

Socially, Tadaa trumps Instagram.

Tadaa has 22 filters beyond the unadulterated lens, and some of them are very bold, pop-artsy, color inversions, unlike the overly simplified filters in Instagram. Even before you take a photo, things are already looking bright and lovely via Tadaa’s high-definition processing. You especially notice the difference if you have an iPod Touch, which has a camera that is not as good as the iPhone 4S.

Tadaa also lets you take a taller picture if you wish, not just the default square frame that Instagram offers. This is a nice option to have if you are interested in landscape photography. The app also lets you preview each of the filters in real time, so you can choose the best look before even snapping a photo. And not only can you zoom in and out within the app, you can also adjust the exposure level of each filter. This is a very useful feature, especially if you edit the exposure level in other apps (like Snapseed, or Camera+) before posting images in Instagram.

Being a high-definition app, Tadaa requires more hard-drive space, but it is definitely worth it because the app allows you to keep the quality of your photos at 1,200 pixels, which is double the quality that Instagram offers.

Although Tadaa is a bit slower on the third generation iPod Touch, it has been praised as the fastest camera app in the App Store. It may be true for iPhone users.