6 ms·

Socialcam Now Available

119 points by charlief 16y ago

jlgosse 16y ago
So I tried to view the "Welcome to Socialcam" introduction video on my Nexus One with 2.3.3, and the app ended up hanging every time I tried. Is this a known issue?
- rhysh 16y ago
  It works for me on our Nexus One with 2.3.3 - can you email us with more details? rhys@socialcam.com
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
danest 16y ago
I just got the email about it this morning. I have been playing with it during my snow day. I have not been able to tag my friends in the videos I have made though. Great job on the android app, I really enjoy it so far.
- danest 16y ago
  http://socialcam.com/v/5lLancXG http://socialcam.com/v/5lLancXG
- rabidsnail 16y ago
  Haven't been able to because you tried and it was broken, or because there wasn't anyone to tag?
citricsquid 16y ago
I've tried it out with my Nexus One and while it works great (http://socialcam.com/v/XANxOwfD http://socialcam.com/v/XANxOwfD) I don't think I'll switch to it (I'm part of their audience I guess, I often record short videos with my N1 of stuff I see to share with my friends) as I can't see what advantages it offers over Youtube?
- emmett 16y ago
  Biggest advantage: you can tag your friends from the SocialCam app and you can't from the YouTube app.
  - citricsquid 16y ago
    Ah okay, that sort of "social" isn't really the sort of thing I'm interested in, I guess this isn't aimed at me then. Thanks for clearing it up :)
  - middlegeek 16y ago
    If I was interested in tagging people, why wouldn't I just post it to Facebook?
    - emmett 16y ago
      You would post it to Facebook...which is why we offer one-click post to facebook.
- justin 16y ago
  Also, your videos will upload in the background as you record them, making upload time much shorter (but only be published when you click "Finish" at the end of the creation).
  - sorbus 16y ago
    By "making upload time much shorter" you mean "making apparent upload time much shorter." They'll still take the same amount of time[1] to upload, except that that time begins while they're being recorded. [1] Or more, in some probably unlikely cases, for example if the upload speed exceeds the bitrate of the video.
ashamedlion 16y ago
They've done a remarkable job making the UI on the iPhone version not be sluggish as crap like other camera-centric apps. Kudos to them. Also, I like the unlimited file size and length; it somehow makes sharing less stressful in a way?
greattypo 16y ago
Really cool.. congrats to the SocialCam team on the launch!
ttrashh 16y ago
The demo video makes me want to punch myself in the face.
aresant 16y ago
Interesting UI decision to feature an HTC branded Android phone on the landing page when so many other top dual-platform apps (Eg - redlaser) stick to standard iphone body for landing page mock-ups. Would be an interesting element to A/B test.
- jazzychad 16y ago
  I thought it was two iPhone's sitting next to each other for a minute, until I really looked at the one on the right. That HTC looks way too similar to an iPhone (maybe that's the point?), but I would have used a different looking phone (even a Nexus One w/ the gray body) to visually differentiate the models and make it clear that it is a dual-platform app. The screenshots are very similar and rotate too quickly to really see that they are different apps as well.
dskhatri 16y ago
I would be more excited about this if I didn't have to log in via Facebook. Socialcam is requesting permission to do the following: * Access my basic information * Access my data any time ("Socialcam may access my data when I'm not using the application") * Access my friends' information ("Current Cities, Photos, Videos and Photos and Videos of Them") Granted I'm already having a tough time keeping up with all the permissions' changes when apps get updated on my phone, seeing the above (especially #2 & 3) gives me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe explain why you need these permissions on socialcam.com? Also, I would rather just create a socialcam user account and share a video on Facebook when I want to; I realize that would take the social out of socialcam.
- emmett 16y ago
  You are never forced to share a video on Facebook through SocialCam. We ask for the permissions so that it's one-click to share, not so that it will autoshare every time. Trust me, we use the app all the time and none of us would want it to autoshare. As for the particular permissions, they all support the basic functionality of the app. We need your basic info so we can set up your name/picture in your profile We ask for permanent permission so that we can keep that up to date. We need to be able to access your friends information so that we can help you find people to follow in the SocialCam. The reason we ask for each is pretty straightforward. Facebook doesn't have a particularly granular permissions system, so even though we don't use "current cities of your friends" we get it anyway.
  - randallsquared 16y ago
    > Trust me, we use the app all the time and none of us would want it to autoshare. Using "trust me" in part of a response to security or privacy concerns may be a bad idea. :)
    - emmett 16y ago
      In the end, isn't that the only thing you can say? Maybe you can prove something about how secure a service is, but you definitely can't prove you'll respect people's privacy. All you can do is to respect them, and ask for trust.
pclark 16y ago
Is it just me or is there no way to preview a video before uploading it? -- nor does it record audio?
- emmett 16y ago
  I'm not sure why you'd think it doesn't record audio, it definitely does. You can't preview a video before upload yet, but it's in the pipeline.
  - pclark 16y ago
    a usability bug perhaps: it is a little over zealous if the iPhone is muted - hides all signs of volume :)
    - justin 16y ago
      Yeah, it's not ideal. I think that was the default behavior in the player; will be worked on later.
pclark 16y ago
Is there a story as to why Justin.TV launched this project? seems like an interesting product for them to go for. (eg: from live to this)
- emmett 16y ago
  It applies a bunch of lessons we learned making a live video broadcasting app for Justin.tv. The distance is not so large as you'd think (minus the whole "not live" part).
dusklight 16y ago
So I've seen a couple of these types of websites out now. I have never understood why anyone would want to launch such a service, other than an exercise for creating a website that uses video? How is it so much better than the available alternatives that people would want to switch? Can you explain why people would go through the process of registering to use your service, over just sharing using youtube links on facebook or facebook directly? Do you have a business model? How would you plan to monetize assuming your service became really successful? Is the success of twitpic limiting your imagination?
Void_ 16y ago
How does it make money?
minalecs 16y ago
where do we report bugs ? I created a short test video and went to my Videos Made screen and on playback don't see anything.
- justin 16y ago
  Please email us at sc@socialcam.com; thanks!
floozyspeak 16y ago
I'm really waiting for some great parody videos based on their demo video. It wasn't like shooting video and uploading it was "hard" before. Its interesting to see alot of these "DUH" concepts re-emerge with buzz lately.
jacobbijani 16y ago
Why would you show two almost but not quiet identical slideshows of the app?
- Johngibb 16y ago
  Android vs iPhone?
  - jacobbijani 16y ago
    It's a really inefficient way to present the fact you support both platforms.
bretthellman 16y ago
I love the idea, I would use the idea... I'm not ready to adopt the current version. The UX has way to much going on. I was expecting/hoping for more of an instagram like experience for video. That would be more interesting to me.
BvS 16y ago
Will the videos allways be public, public by default or only public if I make them public?
- justin 16y ago
  Videos are public but there are no central directories or search. The only way to get a link to a video is from a share (Facebook, Twitter, email, sms) or by viewing a friend or friend of friend. We might add some form of strict privacy in the future. Hope that answers your question!
samratjp 16y ago
Sweet! Works great on iPhone 4. Background uploading is such a major pain killer that no one here seems to be appreciative of. That's a huuuge technical feat and a major head start and of course am not surprised that JTV guys nailed it. Congrats!
sthatipamala 16y ago
This seems like a semi-resurrection of the original Justin.tv idea of broadcasting Justin's life via video. (Except now anyone can do it)
teaspoon 16y ago
You might mention prominently on the landing page that Socialcam is free of charge. That's a lesson that Instagram seems to have taken, anyway: http://instagr.am http://instagr.am
tremendo 16y ago
Would you say socialcam is a direct competitor to Qik? Does it do live streaming? video chat?
jshort 16y ago
Has there been any thought to making use of facial recognition software for instant tagging. I had a similar idea to Socialcam but for pictures that auto tag and upload your pictures with location, people, along with some other features.
_pius 16y ago
Congrats guys. You may want to double check the demo video, seems to be down.

119 points by charlief 16y ago

So I tried to view the "Welcome to Socialcam" introduction video on my Nexus One with 2.3.3, and the app ended up hanging every time I tried. Is this a known issue?

rhysh 16y ago
It works for me on our Nexus One with 2.3.3 - can you email us with more details? rhys@socialcam.com

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

danest 16y ago

I just got the email about it this morning. I have been playing with it during my snow day. I have not been able to tag my friends in the videos I have made though. Great job on the android app, I really enjoy it so far.

danest 16y ago
http://socialcam.com/v/5lLancXG http://socialcam.com/v/5lLancXG
rabidsnail 16y ago
Haven't been able to because you tried and it was broken, or because there wasn't anyone to tag?

citricsquid 16y ago

I've tried it out with my Nexus One and while it works great (http://socialcam.com/v/XANxOwfD http://socialcam.com/v/XANxOwfD) I don't think I'll switch to it (I'm part of their audience I guess, I often record short videos with my N1 of stuff I see to share with my friends) as I can't see what advantages it offers over Youtube?

emmett 16y ago
Biggest advantage: you can tag your friends from the SocialCam app and you can't from the YouTube app.
- citricsquid 16y ago
  Ah okay, that sort of "social" isn't really the sort of thing I'm interested in, I guess this isn't aimed at me then. Thanks for clearing it up :)
- middlegeek 16y ago
  If I was interested in tagging people, why wouldn't I just post it to Facebook?
  - emmett 16y ago
    You would post it to Facebook...which is why we offer one-click post to facebook.
justin 16y ago
Also, your videos will upload in the background as you record them, making upload time much shorter (but only be published when you click "Finish" at the end of the creation).
- sorbus 16y ago
  By "making upload time much shorter" you mean "making apparent upload time much shorter." They'll still take the same amount of time[1] to upload, except that that time begins while they're being recorded. [1] Or more, in some probably unlikely cases, for example if the upload speed exceeds the bitrate of the video.

ashamedlion 16y ago

They've done a remarkable job making the UI on the iPhone version not be sluggish as crap like other camera-centric apps. Kudos to them. Also, I like the unlimited file size and length; it somehow makes sharing less stressful in a way?

greattypo 16y ago

Really cool.. congrats to the SocialCam team on the launch!

ttrashh 16y ago

The demo video makes me want to punch myself in the face.

aresant 16y ago

Interesting UI decision to feature an HTC branded Android phone on the landing page when so many other top dual-platform apps (Eg - redlaser) stick to standard iphone body for landing page mock-ups. Would be an interesting element to A/B test.

jazzychad 16y ago
I thought it was two iPhone's sitting next to each other for a minute, until I really looked at the one on the right. That HTC looks way too similar to an iPhone (maybe that's the point?), but I would have used a different looking phone (even a Nexus One w/ the gray body) to visually differentiate the models and make it clear that it is a dual-platform app. The screenshots are very similar and rotate too quickly to really see that they are different apps as well.

dskhatri 16y ago

I would be more excited about this if I didn't have to log in via Facebook. Socialcam is requesting permission to do the following: * Access my basic information * Access my data any time ("Socialcam may access my data when I'm not using the application") * Access my friends' information ("Current Cities, Photos, Videos and Photos and Videos of Them") Granted I'm already having a tough time keeping up with all the permissions' changes when apps get updated on my phone, seeing the above (especially #2 & 3) gives me the heebie-jeebies. Maybe explain why you need these permissions on socialcam.com? Also, I would rather just create a socialcam user account and share a video on Facebook when I want to; I realize that would take the social out of socialcam.

emmett 16y ago
You are never forced to share a video on Facebook through SocialCam. We ask for the permissions so that it's one-click to share, not so that it will autoshare every time. Trust me, we use the app all the time and none of us would want it to autoshare. As for the particular permissions, they all support the basic functionality of the app. We need your basic info so we can set up your name/picture in your profile We ask for permanent permission so that we can keep that up to date. We need to be able to access your friends information so that we can help you find people to follow in the SocialCam. The reason we ask for each is pretty straightforward. Facebook doesn't have a particularly granular permissions system, so even though we don't use "current cities of your friends" we get it anyway.
- randallsquared 16y ago
  > Trust me, we use the app all the time and none of us would want it to autoshare. Using "trust me" in part of a response to security or privacy concerns may be a bad idea. :)
  - emmett 16y ago
    In the end, isn't that the only thing you can say? Maybe you can prove something about how secure a service is, but you definitely can't prove you'll respect people's privacy. All you can do is to respect them, and ask for trust.

pclark 16y ago

Is it just me or is there no way to preview a video before uploading it? -- nor does it record audio?

emmett 16y ago
I'm not sure why you'd think it doesn't record audio, it definitely does. You can't preview a video before upload yet, but it's in the pipeline.
- pclark 16y ago
  a usability bug perhaps: it is a little over zealous if the iPhone is muted - hides all signs of volume :)
  - justin 16y ago
    Yeah, it's not ideal. I think that was the default behavior in the player; will be worked on later.

pclark 16y ago

Is there a story as to why Justin.TV launched this project? seems like an interesting product for them to go for. (eg: from live to this)

emmett 16y ago
It applies a bunch of lessons we learned making a live video broadcasting app for Justin.tv. The distance is not so large as you'd think (minus the whole "not live" part).

dusklight 16y ago

So I've seen a couple of these types of websites out now. I have never understood why anyone would want to launch such a service, other than an exercise for creating a website that uses video? How is it so much better than the available alternatives that people would want to switch? Can you explain why people would go through the process of registering to use your service, over just sharing using youtube links on facebook or facebook directly? Do you have a business model? How would you plan to monetize assuming your service became really successful? Is the success of twitpic limiting your imagination?

Void_ 16y ago

How does it make money?

minalecs 16y ago

where do we report bugs ? I created a short test video and went to my Videos Made screen and on playback don't see anything.

justin 16y ago
Please email us at sc@socialcam.com; thanks!

floozyspeak 16y ago

I'm really waiting for some great parody videos based on their demo video. It wasn't like shooting video and uploading it was "hard" before. Its interesting to see alot of these "DUH" concepts re-emerge with buzz lately.

jacobbijani 16y ago

Why would you show two almost but not quiet identical slideshows of the app?

Johngibb 16y ago
Android vs iPhone?
- jacobbijani 16y ago
  It's a really inefficient way to present the fact you support both platforms.

bretthellman 16y ago

I love the idea, I would use the idea... I'm not ready to adopt the current version. The UX has way to much going on. I was expecting/hoping for more of an instagram like experience for video. That would be more interesting to me.

BvS 16y ago

Will the videos allways be public, public by default or only public if I make them public?

justin 16y ago
Videos are public but there are no central directories or search. The only way to get a link to a video is from a share (Facebook, Twitter, email, sms) or by viewing a friend or friend of friend. We might add some form of strict privacy in the future. Hope that answers your question!

samratjp 16y ago

Sweet! Works great on iPhone 4. Background uploading is such a major pain killer that no one here seems to be appreciative of. That's a huuuge technical feat and a major head start and of course am not surprised that JTV guys nailed it. Congrats!

sthatipamala 16y ago

This seems like a semi-resurrection of the original Justin.tv idea of broadcasting Justin's life via video. (Except now anyone can do it)

teaspoon 16y ago

You might mention prominently on the landing page that Socialcam is free of charge. That's a lesson that Instagram seems to have taken, anyway: http://instagr.am http://instagr.am

tremendo 16y ago

Would you say socialcam is a direct competitor to Qik? Does it do live streaming? video chat?

jshort 16y ago

Has there been any thought to making use of facial recognition software for instant tagging. I had a similar idea to Socialcam but for pictures that auto tag and upload your pictures with location, people, along with some other features.

_pius 16y ago

Congrats guys. You may want to double check the demo video, seems to be down.