Mobile photo sharing has been dominated by social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and (of course) Instagram. With a surprise mobile redesign, the venerable online photo sharing site Flickr wants a piece of that mobile action—and they're on the right track. The new Flickr app for Android (free) has a slick interface, photo editing tools, and filters for an all-in-one photo experience wherever you are. But it might not be social enough to beat out the competition.

Focused on Content
While the site languished under Yahoo!'s watch until recently, it's still popular with professional photographers and artists. Flickr wisely chose to make this high-quality content the centerpiece of the app, frequently pushing an endless stream of the service's best photographs.

The app shows off most of its content through the Explore section, which also display algorithmically selected images your location or recent images nearby. This is a really neat feature, showing off different takes on familiar areas and some you might not have seen before. It's almost like looking through someone else's eyes.

Be careful, though: when you select an image to view full screen, you Android device won't dim the screen or go to sleep automatically.

However, I'd like to explore images from locations other than where I am currently standing. This is available on the Flickr website, but isn't supported in the app.

Shooting With Flickr
A small camera icon appears in the upper right corner of just about every single screen in the app, so you can quickly shoot and upload new pictures. I hadn't used Flickr's Android app before, and was surprised to find a bunch of Instagram-like filters at the first stage of mobile uploading. I'm sure this is going to be a contentious point for die-hard Flickr users, but it's a fun addition that can give your mobile phone pictures just a little more life.

Thanks to the Aviary editor, Flickr's mobile app includes a robust slate of photo editing tools. These give Flickr a strong leg-up on its competitors, but the editing button is small and almost hidden in the upper right of the image. It's really easy to miss, though I like that it's not a required part of the upload process.

You can also geo-locate your image à la Instagram, as well as add tags, sets, titles, safety rating, and privacy settings as you would through the website. The process is streamlined, so some of these options hidden in an "advanced" section. That's fine, but I'd like the fields to be larger for easier reading and finger tapping.

You can also upload photos you took earlier, and Flickr beats out Instagram here by simply allowing you to select multiple photos for upload. Unfortunately, the app's navigation gets a bit confusing here. If you want to edit each photo before you upload, and you probably will, you need to swipe left and right during the edit phase. If you hit the inviting blue Next button, you'll be too late.