2flicka, the third party Flickr app that we wrote about last week, has been updated to version 1.1 adding support for galleries and Flickr groups (join, leave, new topic, reply to topic, add photo, and search). The second of these new features means that all the core Flickr functionality is now supported by the app. In addition a 4-day trial version of the app is now available, answering one of our main criticism from our first look at the app.

The provision of a trial version for paid apps is, in our opinion, absolutely essential for any app. A decade ago the idea of up-front-payment app on a smartphone was perfectly acceptable, but times have changed and consumers now expect to be able to try-before-they-buy. That's partly the result of the rise of free apps, but is also a consequence of the ease of distribution that has come hand-in-hand with centralised app stores.

Here the conclusion from our first look at the 2flicka:

2flicka feels reasonably polished for a first release, although we did not a few unexpected app crashes. The official Flickr app for Windows Phone provides a similar core set of features, but ultimately 2flicka is a little more versatile, and will almost certainly receive more update attention that the official app. That makes a one off payment of £1.29 seem reasonable.

Further 2flicka updates are on the way. A tweet by the app's developer indicates that version 1.2 of the app, which is expected to be released next week, will add a dark theme, the ability to toggle between a stream and grid view in the activity screen, and more.

Windows Phone Store description:

2flicka Windows Phone 8 app for the Flickr enthusiast. Snap and share those special moments with our in app camera, edit with over 45 of our filters, add titles, descriptions, even add to a specific set or create a new one and upload them instantly to your Flickr account. Stay up to date with your friends and family's recent activity on Flickr, comment/favourite or even download their pictures onto your device. 2flicka also allows you to share any of your friends', explored or your own original sized pictures on Twitter and Facebook using the in-app share option.

Change log v1.1:
- Support for galleries
- Support for groups (join, leave, new topic, reply to topic, add photo)
- Search groups
- Improved memory consumption
- Show better quality thumbnails
- Better use of screen real estate
- Bug fixes

2flicka can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Store. The app costs £1.29 / €0.99 / $0.99.