I've been receiving a lot of requests to join Flickr lately. It seems that people are starting to re-discover the photo site. Now, Flickr has made adding hashtags to photos possible. In addition to hashtag news, Flickr also released an updated iOS app this past Saturday.

Updates to the new Flickr iOS are similar to what Instagram offers, so anyone familiar with Instagram will easily adapt to FLickr, and that's exactly what the company is hoping for. If you are tired of Instagram or just want to check out Flickr, here's what the newly updated app has in store.

At symbols and more

The first thing you'll notice is that the "@" symbol now appears in front of usernames. So, you can tag someone in a photo simply by adding that symbol to the front of their name. You can also search through photographs using the new hashtags, which work the same way that they do when using Instagram. If you add the tag #FlickrFriday to a photo, your tagged photo will be entered into the company's weekly photo challenge.

Flickr's new hashtag news follows in the footsteps of Facebook's own hashtag news. It is reported that the social network plans to add hashtags to the new news feed soon too. It's a hashtag world, it seems, but for good reason. Tags make it easier to search through an app or site, people are familiar with them, and most people expect tags to simply work. So, what Flick is doing here is a good thing all around.

Tags Work Everywhere

Not only do Flickr's new tagging options work using the iOS app, but Android users will find that hashtags work under the older "tag" system. You can also use tags to mark photos uploaded to the Flickr website. Really, the tags work anywhere there's a Flickr product. But, how does Flickr stack up to other photo apps and sites?

Flickr is defiantly migrating more towards the overall Instagram look. You won't see all of the filters that come with Instagram, but using the Flickr app does make integration simpler when uploading images to the Flickr website. I also like the overall iOS Flickr interface, which is smooth and large enough to navigate swiftly.

If you haven't tried Flickr, give it a shot. While I do not believe that the Flickr app effectively replaces Instagram, it is defiantly an alternative worth looking into. Had enough of photo apps? Who can blame you! But, choosing the one that suits your lifestyle best is the way to go. Thankfully, both Instagram and Flickr are free for now, so you can play around with both.

Flickr is defiantly the more "regular" app, though Instagram certainly has a well carved out place in the app world (millions of users can't be wrong, right?). What do you think of Flickr's new hashtag option? Is this a good idea? Don't hashtags make the world a simpler place? Let me know in the comments below. Or, just keep on reading (that's fine too!).