There are so many photography apps out there that it becomes a challenge to select ‘the one’. The interesting thing is that smartphone cameras have immensely upped the game, especially OnePlus and the iPhone. Not to forget Steven Soderbergh’s psychological horror film Unsane was shot entirely with the iPhone 7 and parts of the Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man. This only proves that you can shoot and edit with your phones, of course, you need the right kind of app to do so. And in this case, I mean the ViewBug app. With stiff competition from acclaimed photo editing apps like Lightroom, Hypocam, Snapseed, VSCO, the photo app has carved a niche for itself in quite a short span of time.
ViewBug-Â Photography connects you with gazillions of photographers where you can view and share exemplary pieces of imagery. The app hosts some of the best photography contests worldwide where winners are rewarded with excellent awards. (SCREENSHOT 1) You also get to be a part of creative communities where you can browse through seminal pieces of photo editing. The app ebbs like Instagram where you are initially asked to sign up and follow some popular users. Once complete, you can upload and modify images and put them up for public viewing. Join a photography community to know what genre-based photography is like.
Let us have a better understanding of the app.
The ViewBug App
Logo– A starry night with a white V placed complacently in the middle. The night sky has become a staple thing in photography these days, therefore, using it can forge a certain connection with the users.
Features
ViewBug’s Home page is divided into ‘Following’ and ‘Discover’. (Screenshot 2) The app lets you explore conceptual photography as you can get inspired by various artists who are constantly uploading their works with the app. You can scroll through their recommended posts in your newsfeed. It has the double-tap feature like Instagram but with more specifications. If you long-press the Heart icon below you get the following options-
- Like
- Award
- Superb Composition
- Absolute Masterpiece
- Outstanding
- Top Choice
But once you’ve given your choice, you can’t undo it. You can add comments and add it to your collection. Another advantage is that clicking on the image will take it to the full-screen mode where you can expand it to observe minute detailing. The elliptical button on the right-hand side under each photograph gives you some cool choices as well which are-
Share photo– Here you can share the image on your Facebook and Twitter handles. You also get the options of sharing it via Whatsapp, IG, Messenger, Truecaller, Google Drive, Gmail, Bluetooth, NFC, messaging, etc.
Likers-Â You can go through the list of people who have liked the photograph. An easy way to know more people.
Peer Awards-Â Similar to the previous option, Peer Awards help you to go through the list of users who have awarded the photographs with the aforementioned options. Premium and PRO members have more options to choose from.
Comments-Â Lets you read through all the comments. Some of which are expert opinions critically analysing the photograph.
About photo-Â The most interesting option where you learn all the important things related to the photograph like its name, equipment used, Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, tags, location and awards won.
Under the Discover option, you can traverse through a plethora of galleries, tutorials and photos which are highly experimental and A-level. You can find conceptualised artworks like leading lines photography or negative space photography and notice what unique aspects each picture consists of.
This was about the Homepage. The other options present in the wizard are Contests, Notifications, Me (your profile) and Upload. All of them are pretty much self-explanatory. The few things you must check out in ViewBug photo contests are that there are many categories which you can go through, and there’s a Voting window where you can cast your votes for photos under different categories. The number of days left is mentioned in each category.
You can edit your photos before uploading with some interesting filters that ViewBug provides. You can further edit them with the app tools.
Paid Subscriptions
Premium- $4.99 per month
PRO- $8.99 per month
Hits and Strikes
Hits
- An amazing platform to showcase your camera skills
- Interactive UI
- Excellent Filters and Tools
Strikes
- Can be a bit too competitive/counterproductive for fledgeling photogs.
- Need the Premium/PRO account to avail every facility
Fast Facts
- ViewBug is headquartered in Great San Diego, California, USA..
- It has over 25 million submitted photos.
- Viewbug’s web version gets over a leviathan 1.35 million visitors monthly.
Verdict
Design– 4 stars
Usability– 4.5 stars
Features– 5 stars
Support– 4 stars
MAD rates:Â 4.5 stars
The ViewBug is an abode to some of the best photo works in the world. With high-contrast photos and minimalist touches, the platform is great for budding camerapersons to experiment and scale new heights. The mindframe which goes behind every final photograph is impeccable. I was once blown away by the levitation photography of a user which was reminiscent of Salvador Dali and Philippe Halsman’s critically acclaimed Dali Atomicus. Thus take your lens, create magic, amaze the world with your coup de grâce.
App Download Links
