Instagram is more than just an app for photo filters, it's a community to share stories. And sometimes, the app's built-in features aren't good enough to tell the story you want to. But there are some innovative third-party apps that let you get creative with Instagram.

Third-party apps for Instagram are nothing new. In fact, some Instagram clients are better than the official app. Of course, you will still have to use the official app to upload your images, but these third-party apps let you do some cool edits to them before uploading. From adding captions to a Flipbook-like collection of photos, this is how you can tell a better story on the world's most popular social photo community.

Quick

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Yes, Instagram has captions. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But haven't you sometimes felt like just adding text right on your image? It's one of the best ways to tell a story without taking the eye away from the photo itself. Quick is the easiest way to do that.

Available for free on Android and iOS, all you need to do is select an image from your gallery or take a new photo with your camera. Quick will show you a text field that you can tap to edit. There's a wide variety of typography to choose from, and you can customize the color too. Once you're done, save it and share it.

It's not the most powerful photo editor around, but the focus here is simplicity. And it couldn't be simpler.

Download: Quick for Android (Free) / Quick for iPhone / iPad (Free)

Hyperlapse / Microsoft Hyperlapse / Timelapse

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Instagram lets you upload video clips of up to 15 seconds, but sometimes, that isn't enough to convey the full story. Which is why Instagram Hyperlapse fits more into 15 seconds by speeding up your footage.

Basically, the Hyperlapse app takes a video, which is artificially stabilized and sped up, from 1x to 12x. At any point, you can see the actual footage time as well as how much it would be in sped-up time.

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Currently, the Hyperlapse app is available only for iPhones. But don't worry Android users, there is something for you as well. Microsoft Hyperlapse shoots similar videos, but it's not available on all Android devices. And then there is Hyper Timelapse, which imitates Instagram's app in all but the video stabilization.

Download: Hyperlapse for iPhone / Hyper Timelapse for Android

Learn: How to install Microsoft Hyperlapse for Android

Hykoo

With just 15 seconds of footage, using transitions is crucial to create unforgettable videos on Instagram. It can be difficult to get the timing right, which is where Hykoo comes in. And then it adds the best feature of Quick on top of it!

Hykoo is an easy app to record three sets of a single video narrative. It will automatically time each set, so you don't have to count it. And then you can add a caption to each part, customizing it to your liking.

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It seems a little daunting reading about this in text, but try out Hykoo and you'll see how easy it is to make a single video with the app comprised of three different shots, and share it on Instagram. It's only available for iOS right now, but you can sign up at the Hykoo site to be informed when the Android version is available.

Download: Hykoo for iPhone [No Longer Available]

Layout / PicFrame

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One Instagram post can only have one image, right? Well, you can cheat your way out of that by creating a collage of your photos. Instagram's Layout app makes collages easy, especially since it does not have borders. You can get really creative with it, like creating kaleidoscopes or mirror images.

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For all of Layout's goodness, it has a few limitations, like not accepting more than three photos at a time. Also, there are times when you want a beautiful frame to highlight such collages. For occasions like those, try out Photo Grid, a similar easy-to-use app.

Download: Layout for iPhone (Free) / Layout for Android (Free)

Download: Photo Grid for iPhone (Free) / Photo Grid for Android (Free)

Flipagram

A collage, while effective, will shrink your photos. Flipagram smartly uses Instagram's video feature to make a slideshow of selected images.

You can add photos from your phone, your Instagram account, your Facebook, and several other online photo services, social networks and cloud storage. Select the photos you want and you can adjust settings like the speed at which the slideshow runs, the cropping, the background music, and more.

There are a lot of creative things you can do with Flipagram, so go nuts!

Download: Flipagram for iPhone (Free) / Flipagram for Android (Free)

Show Us Your Creative Side

With these fantastic free apps, you will be able to unleash your creative side on Instagram. And we want to see! Share those inspiring stories in the comments below!

Image credit: Joshua Resnick / Shutterstock.com