The Walgreens drug store chain has long offered an online photo printing service, and today they’re expanding that service to include 3rd-part apps.

TechCrunch is reporting this morning that Walgreens has launched a QuickPrints SDK, a handy little service which will let app developer integrate Walgreens’ photo printing service into their apps.

Five apps have already signed up to use the new service, including GroupShot, Kicksend, Pic Stitch, Pinweel, and StillShot. Walgreens is also reportedly an investor in Aviary, the photo editor startup, and they’ll be partnering to bring the new serivce to Aviary’s 1,200 3rd-party developers and 8 million users.

The next question is: who prints photos anymore? I can see this service having some value for the rare occasions where I’m mobile and want to quickly print a copy of a photo, but wouldn’t it be more likely that you’d simply email the photo rather than printing it?

Walgreens