Mobile Apps: Inside MxPix, Africa’s version of Instagram since july 2012

Since july 2012 Motribe (South African Startup) has announced releasing of two Mobile Apps via social network, Mxit.’’The have each garnered over a million users’’. Motribe said.

The apps, JudgeMe and MxPix, let people and brands share photos and status updates from any mobile device, including low-end handsets.

The success of MxPix, Africa’s version of Instagram, may proves that the magic of editing photos with vintage-inspired filters is universal. In the first two weeks, users uploaded over 70,000 photos and dished out 130,000 “likes”.

The explosive uptake for these apps is unsurprising given that Africa is the fastest-growing and second largest mobile market in the world. The most popular handset is a low-cost slider phone like a Samsung e250, which in the past, has deterred application development on mobile.

Motribe is a high-performing mobile social networking platform that’s designed for users in the most rural parts of Africa and India. The Cape Town–based company launched in 2010 to take advantage of the growing market in Africa — a “mobile-first continent,” according to founder Nic Haralambous.

BY ADAM JACKSON