UPDATE 01: I just heard from Hipstamatic. They’ve confirmed that Hipstamatic D-Series has been removed from the App Store and won’t be available for new downloads. Stay tuned for further updates. =M=
The Hipstamatic D-Series, also known as Hipstamatic Disposable, is currently unavailable in the App Store. If you use the app, be careful not to delete it from your iPhone. You could lose all of your current rolls and there’s a very good chance you won’t be able to reinstall the app if you haven’t backed up your iPhone to iTunes recently.
Don’t panic. This is NOT the original Hipstamatic that’s insanely popular and sells millions of dollars annually in downloads and in-app purchases. This is Hipstamatic Company’s much less popular social photo app that was released in December of 2011.
Hipstamatic D-Series was a free download, but it’s currently MIA. It’s not known if this is a permanent or temporary deletion. It hasn’t been updated since April. During that time, Hipstamatic has received a few updates. It’s no longer listed in the App Store with Hipstamatic company’s other apps. There’s no official mention of its deletion on the Hipstamatic Disposable Facebook page. The app is still listed on the Hipstamatic website, though. And if you have the app, you still should be able to purchase unlimited exposure rolls, but the limited exposure rolls have been unavailable for at least a couple of weeks.
This deletion happened quietly. I didn’t see any other press that it’s being taken off the market, either temporarily or permanently. There’s no mention of the deletion in Hipstamatic’s support forums. It’s quite possible that very few users noticed it missing.
Hipstamatic D-Series was really a great concept — you and your friends shoot the same roll of film together. You can’t see the results until all exposures have been shot, then you can all see them at the same time. It was the digital equivalent of a disposable film camera at a virtual party. All your friends, local and global, could contribute the the same set of photographs.
Sadly, what it devolved into for me was many invitations to Hipsta-D rolls that were finished before I had a chance to contribute. Later revisions of the app made it pretty cranky for me. I was unable to join rolls and just lost interest in the app (If you sent me an invitation, that’s why I didn’t join.).
If you like and use the app, your purchases should still be safe for now. If you need to delete the app, be careful. Right now you will not be able to redownload it from the App Store, but you’ll be able to reinstall it from iTunes easily with a sync and a push of a button.
This may only be a temporary deletion. I’ve contacted Hipstamatic to see what the status is. I have not heard back from them yet. Stay tuned. I’ll keep you posted if there are any updates to this story.
=M=
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Big thanks to reader Mutus. Obscura for the tip on this story.
