What's new in Pressgram 2.0

It's been a few hours since version 2.0 of John Saddington's photo publishing application, Pressgram, debuted on the iOS App Store. You can tell that John has put a lot of effort -- some heart and soul -- into improving and simplifying the Pressgram user experience. Some old features have been removed and some new and exciting ones have been added.

No more socializing

Pressgram 1.0 was released with both a publishing component and a social networking component. While the publishing component has been retained and expanded, the social network has been "deprecated". Pressgram no longer feels like an Instagram clone with the ability to publish to WordPress. Users will no longer be able to follow each other or "heart" photos. That part is gone. I'm sure it was a tough decision for John, and he probably received a lot of flack for it, but I think removing the social layer was a sound decision.

More social sharing

Although, Pressgram the Social Network is in the bit bucket, Pressgram the app has added more social sharing options. Pressgram 1.0 had options to share a photo post to Twitter, and Facebook while simultaneously publishing to a WordPress blog. Version 2.0 adds the option to share to Google+ and publish to Tumblr, Blogger, Squarespace, Moveable Type, and TypePad. Wow! I think that covers all the major self publishing platforms. The fact that Pressgram can now post to Google+ gives it a leg up on any other photo publishing app on the market.

Simplified workflow

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Upon first launching Pressgram 2.0 I was presented with a screen with two large buttons and three smaller boxes. First and foremost are the icons for snapping a photo and one for choosing a photo from the iOS photo library. But first I wanted to set up the app so I tapped on Settings.

Once in settings I could setup my publishing options. I tapped Accounts and connected my self hosted WordPress account and my Google+, Twitter and Facebook accounts. I am not restricted to one account per platform. I can create connections to multiple accounts. If I have separate twitter accounts for personal and business use I can create an entry for each.

John leveraged the built-in iOS account settings for Twitter and Facebook. Setting these up was a quick two-tap process. Setting up WordPress was a bit more involved but still simple. Just be sure to enter a category and tag for the WordPress account.

If you have multiple blogs, regardless of platform, you can choose which blog is your default for image posts. If you have one main blog where you post most of your images this will save some steps in your publishing workflow.

Another workflow feature is that the user can specify that the camera is the first thing the user sees when launching the app.

Image settings

The Global Settings section of Pressgram Settings has options for adding a watermark, saving the original photo to the iOS photo library, and adding a link to each post to help promote Pressgram. But, the settings I am most excited about are the ones allowing me specify the image resolution and the retention of EXIF data.

I use a WordPress plugin that adds a caption with EXIF data to my posted images. For my purpose and for the curious photographer I want the EXIF data to be shown. I think keeping the EXIF data was a feature requested soon after Pressgram 1.0 was release. John listened and delivered.

The Pressgram Store

Pressgram 2.0 ships with a some nifty Premium features which can be enabled with an in-app purchase. I bought them all (a total of $15). Yes, it was a bit indulgent but if you are serious about your iPhone photography you'll get them all as well. You don't have to buy them all at once. You can buy them one at a time ($0.99 each) as your needs and budget allow. Tap each premium feature to get a description of what each does. I think I'll be spending a lot of time messing around with the vignette and clarity adjustments in the refinement pack. The photography graphics in this part of the apps are very well done.

Snap & Publish

So now I had everything all setup. Time to publish. My office is not in an attractive neighbourhood so for my first post I used a photo I took earlier in the day. The Pressgram photo editor gave me options to crop my image, apply a filter, adjust exposure, clarity, texture etc. All of these adjustments can be layered. Once you have the photo just the way you want, you can add a border or layer text on top. There is something here for everyone.

After editing the image, you can tap the check mark and Pressgram takes you to the next stage of the workflow; publishing. Here the user can set a title for the post, add some text for the body of the post or go back to editing.

One added feature that I almost missed is that from the publishing page I can add another photo. This is something the original version of Pressgram did not have. In the original the user is restricted to publishing a single square image. With Pressgram 2.0, the user can publishing multiple and various sized images in the same post. Oh yeah!

Once the user completes entering the post information, a single tap of the check mark takes the user to the last stage. Select the one or more publishing options from the ones you've setup and tap the check mark. Boom! Done!

But wait. I forgot something. Back on the startup page there was a button titled Drafts. What's that about? Well, if for some reason you change your mind about posting in that moment or your iPhone battery craps out before you hit publish, don't worry. You can save or recover your post as a draft for posting later. In fact you can have multiple draft posts waiting. This allows for non-instant posting. Capture a photo now, add some text with your first initial thoughts, then edit later and post when you're ready for the world to see your creation. Brilliant!

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Wrap Up

In some ways Pressgram 2.0 is the app that I think John originally set out to build. Snap, filter, publish an image to any platform of the users choosing. I don't miss the social network part of Pressgram. I can use the social networks I already have. Now off to snap photos.

I'm (mostly) free of the Google "Collective"

I'm (mostly) free of the Google "Collective"

Google launched Google+, their social network for nerds1, in 2011. It had almost no impact on real people, and growth was slow. Being the impatient type -- wanting Facebook type numbers without the effort -- Google decided to force everyone using any Google service to use Google+. They have been inflating their numbers via tricks on Gmail signups, requiring Google accounts for Google Play and YouTube comments and turning Google search into a social ranking system. They've managed to convince the cheapskates of the world -- the people addicted to FREE -- to hand over information that Google then mines and sells to advertisers. You are the product, not the customer. Your web behaviour is being tracked and analysed in EVERY Google service even when telling Google, not to and Android device. Google probably knows you better than you know you.

But unlike Google's legions of fandroids and glassholes, I know better. For the head-up-Googles' ass types who might be reading this, if you have no worries about privacy and nothing to hide, I suggest attaching a GoPro -- sorry, I forgot you have Google Glass -- to your body and live streaming your life to your personal YouTube Channel. Your sex life, your showers, your masturbation habits, your intimate conversations ... broadcast them all. You have nothing to hide, and you don't need privacy.

I am on a quest to reduce my reliance on Google services. I am willing to delete my Gmail account, one that I've had since the beta launched in 2004, and move to another service. I'm eager to move my Google Calendar, the one letting Google know who I'm with, when and where. I'll find a way to share photos without using Picasa web and without having Google do face recognition them so that they can better track us. I'll find a less creepy way to share documents and videos than Google Docs and YouTube. Google won't be able to track my phone calls and text and listen to my voice-mail anymore.

Browser

I will no longer use Google Chrome. I don't trust it. For day-to-day use, I have switched to using the WhiteHat Aviator or Safari with the Disconnect privacy extension.

WhiteHat Aviator comes ready-to-go with hardened security and privacy settings, giving hackers less to work with. And our browser downloads to you – without any hidden user-tracking functionality. Our default search engine is DuckDuckGo – not Google, which logs your activity. For good measure, Aviator integrates Disconnect – a crucial extension that blocks advertisements and much of the privacy-destroying tracking users across the Internet.

Email

I plan to move my Gmail and Google Apps hosted email accounts to a paid IMAP service provider. The shortlist includes FastMail and Runbox. These services offer trial accounts, and I moved one domain during the trial period. These two services offer migration tools for importing all existing mail, including folders, to the new account.

Gmail has some great spam filters. I'm not sure either FastMail or Runbox can match it. I'm already looking for alternatives. I don't mind paying a nominal fee for spam filtering.

Documents

I've never been a heavy user of Google Drive or Google Docs. I prefer Dropbox or Box. Apple updated iCloud this summer, and it now offers similar functionality to Google Docs. In fact, on the Mac, it's better. I can start a presentation in Keynote on OS X, save to iCloud and continue working on my Pages on my iPad, or make edits in Pages in a browser in iCloud.com. Dropbox or Box documents can be opened/saved via any iWork apps on iOS or OS X. The combination of Dropbox/Box and iCloud easily replaces Google Drive. Office365 is a great paid replacement for Google Drive if you prefer Microsoft products.

Telephony

I found a few alternatives to Google Voice. I created an account with Line2, and I am researching [Phonebooth] and SendHub. Neither Line2 nor Phonebooth seems to match the features of Google Voice -- call forwarding and voicemail being the major ones. SendHub seems feature complete but won't be cheap. But that's a small price to pay compared to starving Google of the value of my personal phone call information.

[Phonebooth]: https://phone booth.com

Calendar

Moving my calendar should be relatively easy. While Google Calendar integrates more easily with Google+ events, there are no benefits to Google Calendar over iCloud.com, Live Calendar, or Zoho Calendar.

Video

I've started to upload my videos to Vimeo. The free account limits my bandwidth to only a few videos uploaded per month and limits the quality of the video. That's good enough for now. I may, at some point, decide that the quality gap is too high and upgrade to a paid account. In the meantime, I've deleted my YouTube account. I've had that account for almost a decade, but I didn't have any qualms about deleting all my videos and the user account.

Photos

I've had a Flickr account before PicasaWeb (now Google+ Photos) and integrated it into their data collection empire. I've started to rely on that service more in the short term. Yahoo and Google are in the same data collection business. I also have a paid account on 500px but prefer to reserve that account for only my best. I want a platform to share photos with my friends and family. Perhaps a paid user account with SmugMug might be best.


  1. Seriously, it's a photo/tech nerd sausage fest. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise. Frack off!