Socialcam For iPhone And Android

Socialcam For iPhone And Android

We’ve got the mobile photo sharing thing down. Whether you’re broadcasting them over Twitter, sharing them on Instagram, or just SMSing your shots to your friends, it seems like everyone’s pretty comfortable with sharing their smartphone photos. Not necessarily the case with video! Do I send a crummy compressed copy via SMS? Or take the time to upload to YouTube? I never really know, so I usually don’t bother. Socialcam, a new app from the video streaming gurus at JustinTV, is hoping to bring simple video sharing to the mainstream.

What is it?

Socialcam, Free, iPhone and Android. Built on top of JustinTV’s mobile live streaming infrastructure, Socialcam, available for iOS and Android, takes the guesswork and legwork out of sharing smartphone video. When you first fire up the app you’ll have to login with Facebook, whereupon it’ll show you which of your friends also happen to be using Socialcam. From there you can get involved in the Socialcam ecosystem – adding friends (whose videos will populate automatically in your stream), liking and commenting on videos, and sharing your own uploads with your Socialcam pals.

You shoot video in the app itself, and it speedily starts uploading while you peck out a title or, optionally, tag Socialcam friends in the clip. The videos you make automatically pop up in the feeds of those you’re following, but the app makes it easy to send clips to friends who don’t have the app over SMS, Email, Facebook or Twitter. Videos shared this way are given their own nice page on the Socialcam site, though they’re not catalogued for public browsing so you don’t need to worry about unwanted eyeballs discovering them.

Who’s it good for?

Oversharers, social media junkies, people frustrated that there’s no place to send all the video they take with their phones.

Why’s it better than alternatives?

Coming off the blocks with a polished, smoothly functioning app is no small feat, but Socialcam seems solid through and through. JustinTV’s got years of experience with mobile video, so if anyone can figure out how to get your videos uploaded quickly, looking good (and hosted for free) it’s them. The thought of adding another de facto social network to your routine may be daunting, but the option to share quickly across email, Facebook, Twitter etc might be enough to make the app worthwhile even if you don’t get into the Socialcam community.

How could it be even better?

I’m never crazy about linking my Facebook account to anything, so it’d be nice to offer a separate login from the get go. Also, part of the fun with Instagram is fancying up shots with filters—giving users the option to add some sort of rudimentary effects to videos would definitely encourage sharing.

Socialcam, iPhone and Android [iTunes]

For more apps, check out our weekly app roundups for iPhone, iPad and Android.


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