Apple has been actively working on bringing additional social network integration to iOS, with the inclusion of Twitter and Facebook integration in iOS 7 serving as the most recent example. According to 9to5Mac, however, iOS 7’s social integration is about to get even stronger, with the addition of system-wide Flickr and Vimeo integration as well!
From 9to5Mac:
Last year, Apple added Facebook integration to iOS, and in 2011, the company struck a deal to integrate Twitter.
Both Flickr and Vimeo will now also be integrated deeply into the new operating system, so users will be able to sign into the respective networks via iOS 7′s built-in Settings application. Like with iOS’s Facebook and Twitter ties, Apple customers will be able to log-in one time into each social network and have full sharing access.
With Flickr integration, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch customers will have the ability to share photos stored and/or taken on their devices to Flickr with a single tap from the system-wide share menu. Flickr has been integrated into the paid iPhoto iOS App Store app and OS X Mountain Lion since 2012, but iOS 7 will represent the first time in which the photo sharing service has been integrated deeply into the entire iOS operating system.
The integration will reportedly work similarly to the current Facebook and Twitter integration with a single sign-in accessible to Apple’s own apps, as well as third-party App Store apps. The report also notes, however, that while the feature is currently in testing, it’s possible that it might not make the cut for the final version of iOS 7.
Given the state of Apple’s relationship with Yahoo, Flickr integration seems a likely, logical next step for addition into iOS 7 – and Vimeo makes sense as an alternative to the current YouTube integration in Apple’s Camera and Photos apps. While I wouldn’t be surprised if this report turned out to be absolutely correct, however, it’s still worth proceeding with skepticism on any such claim until it actually appears in at least a developer preview.
What do you think – would you be happy to see Flickr and Vimeo integration in iOS? We’ll find out soon enough – Apple has promised to preview iOS 7 at WWDC, which is now less than a month away!