Popular photo sharing app Instagram announced that its Android version is nearly ready and will be available soon to Android subscribers.

Instagram is a free photo sharing app that allows users to edit and share photos with other followers on the app; pictures can also be uploaded to social-networking sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. Some describe Instagram as a visual version of Twitter. However, until now it was only available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom said that the people in Google are really happy with how the app for Android is turning out. "I don't think it took us so long. We just had priorities. Had we tried to be both on Android and iPhone at the same time, it would've been tough to innovate in the way that we have," Systrom said.

Instagram's founders did not give a full demo of the new app for Android but may have a formal launch in the future. The Android version is currently being tested in private beta and will be released "very soon." The company did not provide specific date as to when the app for Android will be released.

When asked why it took so long for the company make an Android version of the app, "I don't think it took us so long. We just had priorities. Had we tried to be both on Android and iPhone at the same time, it would've been tough to innovate in the way that we have," Systrom answered.

In the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas the company announced that Instagram's subscribers/users reached 27 million despite its exclusiveness to iOS devices. However, the app wishes to expand its horizon by also offering it to millions of Android consumers.

According to Instagram's co-founder Kevin Systrom, the app is already in the Facebook level as a lot of users are using the app in a daily basis. However, the company did not release or showed official figures of how many users were actively using the app.

Last week, there were rumours that said the company raised profits from $40 million to $500 million. However, the company neither confirmed nor denied the rumours.

Instagram was launched in 2010 and its subscribers started to grow rapidly. iPhone 4S and Apple named Instagram as the "App of the Year" in 2011.