Fujifilm issues a warning to Instax users.
Fujifilm has issued a warning note to users of its Instax Share app on Android, stating that key features are about to be removed and that users must take unexpected action to prevent this from happening.
The Instax Share app is a key piece of software that enables users to print photos on an Instax Share printer directly from their smartphones. Fujifilm continues to release new printers regularly, but the Android app is long overdue for an upgrade. Unfortunately, it appears that upgrade isn’t going to go very smoothly.
Fujifilm’s note explains that a new version 3.4.8 of the app, released on April 26 2023 will disable the following important features:
- Shoot with camera
- Real time templates
- Save
- My templates
If you’re using any of these features, you are therefore advised not to upgrade to version 3.4.8. Skip it entirely. Fujifilm warns that the old version of Instax Share will not be available for download once version 3.4.8 goes live in the Google Play store, so downgrading won’t be possible.
Thankfully, the features aren’t being permanently removed and should see a return when Instax Share version 3.4.9 is made available in ‘Fall 2023.
However, to avoid losing functionality prior to the new release, Fujifilm recommends turning off automatic updates for Instax Share in the Google Play Store app. You can do this by selecting ‘Manage apps & device’, switching to the ‘Manage’ tab, and selecting Instax Share from the list of installed apps. From there, tap on the three vertical dots at the top-right of the screen and uncheck ‘Enable auto update’.
You can follow more detailed instructions with pictures here on the Instax mini-site (but note that there is a small error in their guide where you are instructed to select the ‘Fujifilm camera remote’ app instead of ‘Instax Share.’ Just select ‘Instax Share’ instead.)
Fujifilm provides no reason for the temporary removal of these key features, other than that it is to ‘make the App permanently available on Google Play Store.’ However, it’s likely to be an unfortunate glitch related to switching to a newer Android API. While the current version of Instax Share supports Android versions 4.0.1 and above, subsequent versions of the app will lose support for Android versions older than version 9.
If you do find you’ve lost functionality after upgrading, version 3.4.7 of the app should remain available on mirror sites such as APKMirror, although you use such sites at your own risk.
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