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DailyBooth iPhone app like a public photobooth feed

Review for DailyBooth

Posted December 22, 2010 4:26am by Dan Kricke Tags: photography

APPOLICIOUS ADVISOR RATING:

1 of 5 bars
  • PRICE: Free
  • TASTY: For people looking to meet new people in an unorthodox way, DailyBooth fits the bill.
  • BUMMER: Lack of privacy features makes this a total non-starter for anyone who wants to protect what they share on the Internet.
  • COOL: Countdown timer is a great idea.

Even though I get my share of social networking through Facebook and Twitter, I understand the need for smaller niche social networks. I could even see joining some myself. Sometimes you just need a little more privacy or an emphasis on specific features. But while I understand that need, I don't quite understand what niche DailyBooth fills.

DailyBooth is essentially a social networking app without a filter. You can view the app without ever signing-up. What you'll see before you sign-up is a steady stream of photobooth screenshots. Some will have captions, others won't. If you register you'd be able to comment on the photos. But you can't decide what you can or can't see. Thinking I was just getting a random flood of people because I hadn't registered yet, I signed-up without a problem.

The odd feed of strangers never stopped. As long as you're using the app, you're liable to get a new picture every minute or two. Even after signing up, users don't receive any more control over the photos scrolling through their feed. Similarly, you can't seem to set your photos to "friends only" or anything like that.

Using DailyBooth is like getting a live feed of a photobooth sent directly to your phone. While this laissez-faire voyeurism might be enjoyable for some, it seems like a flimsy ideal on which to build a social network.

If there's anything good to say about DailyBooth, it's that it has a timer feature for taking photos that is sorely missing on the iPhone camera. The countdown timer only runs for three seconds, but it's a smart feature that really should be an option in all apps that have users taking photos.

Unless you're dying to share your world, one picture at a time, with a bunch of strangers, DailyBooth completely misses the boat. For all the griping that people do about Facebook security, I can't imagine their reaction to this app.

jeffandersen

Missing

I think you missed the point of the website/app.
You're suppose to follow people you'd like to view photos of, not unlike Twitter is set up.
From what I read it sounds like you didn't get much past the "live feed" within the app.

Maybe you want to read another review someone has done and re-evaluate your usage of the app, I think after that you'll want to revisit this article.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010

andrewryno

Missing

It sounds like you haven't even signed up for it.

1. "You can view the app without ever signing up."

You can view FB profiles/pages/etc without signing up. Sure they can be protected, but so can DB profiles (more later).

2. Regarding seeing a bunch of photos before signing up, Twitter at one point had the same thing ("Public Timeline") before they grew to a size where it was unrealistic to keep that feature. I'm not sure why it confused you since it should be labeled and new users should know what they are seeing. I can even see my mom understanding that.

3. "Even after signing up, users don't receive any more control over the photos scrolling through their feed."

Oh my. Are you sure you registered and were on your dashboard? You can choose to follow people, and then those people show up in your feed. Maybe you are seeing strangers because people you follow are commenting on their photos? You have TOTAL control of the peoples activity that show up on your feed. Facebook does the same thing. I see strangers on my feed because my FRIENDS are interacting with them.

4. "Similarly, you can't seem to set your photos to "friends only" or anything like that."

Try this: http://dailybooth.com/settings/privacy -- Did you even LOOK at the settings?

Honestly, DailyBooth has BETTER privacy than Facebook. I can't even imagine how someone could compare them. Facebook has your photos, but also has employment, phone numbers, all your emails, friends, family, basically ALL the information someone needs in order to steal your identity. And then they allow applications to access that data. Dailybooth? Name, age, about me, interests and photos. That's it. And you can make pretty much all of that private. They don't have applications that can get that data.

This review is just ridiculous. Try using the application before reviewing it. Seriously.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010

viralplatipuss

Missing

I don't think you really got the concept of what kind of social network it is. You seem to have thought the core of the application is based around live feed and then complain you can't limit live feed to just friends. But that's really just a cool feature of DailyBooth and not what the whole network is based around.

If you log in to the actual site first and explore that a bit you may understand a bit more. Especially that the idea of limiting information to just people you follow is known as your dashboard.

I'd maybe do a bit more research next time instead of making assumptions.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010

ashleeanncarter

Missing

I think you missed the boat!! If you follow people then only they will show up on your dashboard. You can set your account to private which means people have to request following you and your pictures will not go out on the livefeed. Dailybooth is a great way to express yourself through pictures, which you can either share with strangers or just your friends. Personally I think it is an amazing new social networking site with great new ideas that you will not find anywhere else.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010

andrewryno

Missing

Also, I realize that you are talking about just the iPhone app and I mentioned the settings page on the website. This application is not meant to be standalone, apart from the website. You'll have to go on the website for some settings. Just as with Twitter for iPhone/iPad, you can't manage all of your settings from the applications. You'll have to go on the website. Just as with this.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010

arttyiv

Missing

The dailybooth app is an extension of their website. There, you can set your account to private which will allow only your friends to view your photos.

The live feed is a staple of the dailybooth product. The ability to see a live feed of photos from people all over the world is fascinating. But the live feed is only a chunk of what makes the site great.

If you have no desire to watch the live feed, then view your dashboard instead. The dashboard shows you a feed of your friends activity, which you can filter to show only photos, comments, ect.

I think this article misrepresents what dailybooth is all about. But that is only my opinion.

Reply to comment Posted December 22, 2010
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