After letting its mobile app languish for several years, Flickr is getting regular, major updates of late. This time around, Flickr 3.0 for iPhone gets a complete interface overhaul. It also puts the Yahoo-backed app in the ring with Vine, Instagram, and other video-sharing apps, with its newfound ability to shoot videos. The previous release did just about everything you could want photo-function-wise, but the interface still looked stodgy. That changes with the release of Flickr 3 for iPhone, which sports a more hip, iOS 7-style interface.

Flickr has long had more flexibility than Instagram in both social and photo-centric ways: For example, you could zoom to see higher resolution—how many of us have been frustrated when trying to "unpinch" an Instagram photo? In fact, Flickr's preservation of each photo's full, original resolution is one reason I far prefer it to photos uploaded to Facebook. Flickr's filter and image-editing tools also go beyond what you get in Instagram, as do its social features.

Setup/Signup
In the iTunes App Store, the same new Flickr app states both iPhone and iPad are supported, though the app only appears in the iPhone section. Unfortunately, on the iPad, the app is formatted with the small iPhone-size image; you can hit the 2x button to fill most of the screen. Of course, you could just go to the full Web version in Safari on the iPad. I tested the app on my trusty iPhone 5.

On first run of the app, you're greeted by a simple three-page overview of what it can do. Then you hit the Get Started button. At this point you'll have to sign in to a Yahoo! account. If you don't have an account for Flickr, you can sign up with your Facebook or Google account. Once you're signed in, the Find Friends page offers to connect you to your Facebook, Twitter, or iPhone contacts who use Flickr.

Next comes Auto Sync setup. With Auto Sync on, any photos you shoot with your iPhone camera are automatically uploaded to Flickr—as private images that only you can see, in case you were worried. Facebook, too offers auto-syncing, but as I mentioned, you have to live with inferior image quality if you go that route. Remember, Flickr gives you a whole terabyte for free—the best cloud storage deal on the planet. If you want videos auto-uploaded, too, though, check out OneDrive. Both Flickr and OneDrive are far cheaper and more capacious than iCloud, which maxes out at 55GB for $100 per year. Dropbox also can auto-upload photos and videos, but you only get 2GB free storage with that service, and extra space is pricey, at $10 a month for 100GB.

New Interface

The Flickr 3.0 app interface looks a lot like the service's redesigned website—and that's a good thing. Instead of the older style of separate, white-bordered panels, you now see a justified view with a dark background that gives the images the limelight. With this update, Flickr also addressed a concern I'd previously raised, now including a prominent search box at the top lets you find photos based on tags, users, or groups. Groups are one of Flickr's really strong points, and something with no equivalent in competitors like Instagram or SmugMug.

Shooting with Flickr

Unlike Instagram, the Flickr app lets you see live filter effects while you're shooting. It also lets you switch between front and back cameras and turn flash on and off. But you don't get much in the way of shooting goodies like you do with Camera+—separate focus and exposure points, and timer shooting, to name a couple.

Flickr has a truly impressive set of photo-editing tools for after you've taken the shot. Even though you can shoot with a filter active as mentioned above, you can actually change a photo's filter after the fact, and adjustments to the filters are also at your disposal. You can adjust the vignette (darkened edges), tilt-shift (selective focus in linear or circular areas of the image), and apply or remove aging and color-burst effects.