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Snap, filter, and share photos with iOS app Blipfoto
It's not the perfect Instagram alternative, but Blipfoto offers a unique discipline to photo sharing, restricting you to one photo per day.
If this week's news of Facebook tinkering with Instagram's privacy policy before backpedaling has you heading for the exits, Flickr's iOS app is probably your best bet for snapping, filtering, and sharing photos. But for a more disciplined approach, or if you'd like to start a photo-a-day 365 project, check out Blipfoto for iPhone.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
Blipfoto features five buttons along the bottom: Camera, Newsfeed, Browse, Map, Search, and More. Camera mode lets you snap a shot or grab a photo from your Camera Roll. The only editing tools the app provides are 12 rather underwhelming filters, 5 of which are monochromatic. After selecting a filter (or none at all), you can then set the date; add a title, a description, tags, and GPS info; add to your Groups (which you can set up on the Blipfoto Web site but not on the iPhone app); and share via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
Being able to set the date allows you to post more than one photo in one session, provided you backdate them so each falls on a different date. If you try to post a second photo for a given day, you'll get this message:
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
The Newsfeed button shows you popular photos and your notifications, while the Browse button lets you browse in a variety of ways. Use the scrolling menu below the photos to browse various collections. The options are: Everything, Subscribed, Nearby, Just me, Spotlight, Top rated, and Favourites.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
When browsing photos, tap a photo to expand it and see its title, description, and any comments. Rotating your phone to landscape mode puts you into gallery view with photos filling out your screen. You can swipe sideways when viewing a photo (in either portrait or landscape) to see other photos by that user. When viewing a photo in portrait mode, the are buttons below to share, subscribe, comment, and rate it (one to five stars).
Blipfoto boasts a pleasing design and a fairly artistic collection of photos by and large, but the app feels rather slow. It's much slower than Instagram, forcing you to wait a couple of seconds for photos to load.
