With
100-million-and-counting current users and a
recent downloading milestone in its wake, Instagram has cemented its status as the leading mobile platform for photo sharing. But that hasn’t prevented other players from breaking into the game. Along with a crop of new
video-centric social apps, emerging platforms are making the sharing of comprehensive photo collections—not just one-off snaps—a simpler, more intuitive process.
Moshpic: Research released this past summer suggests that smartphone users spend about
3 and a half minutes per day taking mobile photos. In that context, it's easy to see how people can build up extensive collections of mobile albums in a hurry. Those who prefer not to post detailed photographic accounts to their social networks can instead turn to new app
Moshpic to sync entire albums with select friends’ iPhones. Users simply create a “stack” of photos and link in their friends, who can likewise sync their own photos to the shared stack to create a collaborative—and private—mobile album.
kee.ps: Sharing and comparing the many photos taken at a major event (think weddings and family reunions) can prove arduous. Some friends post their pics on Facebook, others on Flickr, still others on printing platforms like Shutterfly—so keeping tabs on every shot can be taxing. The
kee.ps app aims to streamline the process of rounding up photos from shared occasions. Subscribers can create an event email account to share with fellow attendees, who can then email their own photos to the proprietary address. Photos can be stored for the user’s review, or instantly published to the event page for shared viewing by all.
Keepsy: Photo book-creation platform
Keepsy has recently expanded its offerings with an iOS app that facilitates the sharing of mobile photos. The
app, like its desktop counterpart, lets users create attractive photo books which can be printed as hardcopy books, albums, or calendars. But the app has an added function that facilitates peer-to-peer sharing of mobile photo sets. Even those who haven’t downloaded the Keepsy app can access the sets, relieving photo-sharers of the
cumbersome task of emailing pictures one by one. Recipients can view photo book sets in the app or on the Web to choose which of the photos they’d like to print, and in what format.
