My take so far: @Pressgram

I like to try new things and this time around I’m trying a new iOS app called Pressgram. It’s like Instagram but publishes directly to WordPress, promising that your pictures belong to you and only you, etc. (But of course they belong to me, they’re my pictures! 😉 ) But seriously, it’s a lovely app so far, after much tinkering on my part. But really the tinkering is mostly due to the way I have my blog here setup and not so much faults with the app (though the app does have tweaks to work out).

WHAT I DON’T LIKE

• Upon opening the app, the icon to take a picture is in the corner and a bit tiny. It’s not a bit deal but I suppose I’m used to the photo apps that have a more prominent photo button.
• I rarely take pictures from the actual photo app, whether it be Instagram, Flickr, or Facebook. I usually take a picture with the native camera, then use the app to choose the picture. For some reason, Pressgram is defaulting to an album that is never the album from which I’m pulling. Not sure why it doesn’t just show the list of albums or better yet, choose the Camera Roll as a default. Wouldn’t that make sense?
• On the posting section, I’ve chosen the correct categories a few times and when the pictures have posted to my blog, the category isn’t chosen. Alas! It wouldn’t be such a big deal but I did set up my blog to “hide” the Pressgram posts so as not to double post to Twitter, etc. It’s gotten to the point that I’ve made my WordPress default to the “Pressgram” category so that if the app doesn’t work right, it’ll still go into the correct category. But I really shouldn’t have gone through that. I expect that will tighten up as time goes on.
• I have no friends using it. But that’s not Pressgram’s fault.

WHAT I DO LIKE

• The app itself is quite slick, easy to use, and pretty on the eyes. I’ve already found myself using it more than Instagram, partly because I like new things and partly because it’s just so easy to send to WordPress and Twitter!
• The filters work just fine for me. If I want something fancier, I can always tweak the pictures in other programs and then use Pressgram to send the photo off to the internet!
• When sending to my blog and its proper category, the photo doesn’t clutter my main page. I really like that bit a lot!
• All my Pressgram photos are in their own album on my phone. Makes it easier for me to send my photos to Flickr when I do uploads. 😉
• I think I got my name as my username. (Oh please, let my name be my username!) It always rocks to have my name, Valerie, as a username. Such a freakin’ rare thing. LOL

As I mentioned, the problems I encountered while using this app had more to do with my website setup than with Pressgram itself. My website defaults to send to Twitter and to Facebook no matter what category and I had to figure out how to have it NOT send if the category is “Pressgram”. I did figure it out, thank goodness, and I do believe all is right so far. 😉

My wishlist for this app:

• Integration with Flickr – I’d like to be able to send my photos to Flickr from the app though it’s not such a big deal since I can just use the Flickr app.
• Way to find friends – I don’t think I have any friends using the app yet but it would be great to be able to do a search through Facebook or Twitter.
• I’d like a way to default to the Camera Roll as opposed to a random album when I’m choosing a photo to upload. This is a pretty key wish.
• And even though I’m currently an iOS user, how about Android?

Would I recommend this app? HECK YES! It’s a fun app, easy to use, and works quite well considering how young it is (3 days as of this writing). It makes me think I should write a review at the app store. LOL If you have an iPhone, give it a whirl! And right now, I’m “Valerie” there. (Which is so awesome.)

Now, some of the photos I’ve sent to my blog using Pressgram: