JustSeen is a new iOS app that purports to allow users to “view and share events as they happen.” It’s available now as a free download from the App Store.
JustSeen initially prompts users to sign up using Twitter, Facebook or their email address. Once logged in, an explanatory page invites them to explore the various categories of photograph and find users to follow.
The structure of the app is similar to most other mobile-social networks out there. Users may view a stream of all content from the people they are following, or alternatively explore streams according to specific categories and trends. Individual posts may then be liked or commented on, or the user who posted the picture followed. Individual comments may also be liked and a feature often forgotten by mobile-social network developers has been included at all levels of browsing — the ability to report inappropriate or offensive content.
A search facility allows users to look for more specific content, allowing for searching by text, category, location, earliest date, latest date or any combination thereof. Searches may also be saved as custom feeds
Posting a new photo is a simple matter of tapping the camera icon on the app’s bottom bar, snapping a picture, optionally cropping it and then adding appropriate information. Metadata which can be added to the picture includes a category, a comment (which may include hashtags, and which begins “I’ve JustSeen…” by default) and location data. Photos may also be made public or private, and newly-posted content may also be shared on Twitter and Facebook using iOS 5 and 6′s built-in functionality respectively.
There are no photo filters available to use in JustSeen, though it is also possible to post pictures from the user’s photo library as well as shots taken with the app. The emphasis is firmly on taking photographs “as they appear now,” theoretically allowing the app to build up a literal picture of what is going on around the world at any given moment. This is achieved quite well in conjunction with the robust search functionality, though the fact that photos do not appear on the map when searching by location is a little disappointing.
JustSeen is one of those mobile-social apps that does what it does well, but it’s difficult to see it carving out its own niche and gaining very much traction. What it does is too similar to what more well-established apps already do, and the lack of any kind of image processing functionality beyond basic cropping will likely lose the Instagram-loving crowd. It’s difficult to imagine any situation where someone would want to use this app over and above the reliable mobile combination of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and possibly Tumblr in some cases); as such, if future updates don’t do anything to provide any particularly unique functionality, it’s likely that JustSeen will sink without trace after an initial flurry of interest from its spot in the “New” section of the App Store’s Photography category.
JustSeen is not currently ranked on the App Store leaderboards at the time of writing. Check back shortly to follow its progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social apps and developers.
