Early Instagram competitor PicPlz has notified its users that the service will be shutting down indefinitely within a month.
The site made the announcement on its blog Friday, and followed up with an email to all users today. In it, the message reads, “It has been a pleasure bringing picplz to our users, but we have decided to move on to other projects and have made the tough decision to shut it down.” The service itself will be officially shut down as of July 3. It’s users have been instructed to log in and begin downloading whatever photos they’ve uploaded via a button next to each picture.
Much like Instagram, PicPlz’s service provided users with a way to take picture on their mobile phone using various photo filters. It was also widely preferred by Android users, which — until recently — didn’t have the option of using Instagram on the platform. Beyond PicPlz’s photo filters, its Android and iOS app allowed users to add text overlays to photos, image correction/editing via Aviary, and upload photos directly to DropBox.
PicPlz’s shutdown isn’t a huge surprise. The service likely saw a large down in usage due to Instagram’s new Android app as well as the attention the competitor received from its multimillion dollar sale to Facebook.
PicPlz board member Dalton Caldwell said he supported the startup’s decisions, adding that the company was bootstrapping (meaning, funded only by its founders), according to a TechCrunch report. He also said the PicPlz team is funneling its efforts into a recently launched paid iOS app for Pinterest users called PinFlip. Presumably, this is what the team will be focusing on going forward.
Filed under: deals, mobile, social 
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