Review: Martin Gordon FlickUp

August 8, 2008 10:34 am UTC
by Charles Starrett

On August 8, 2008, we reviewed a collection of eight different Flickr applications for the iPhone and iPod touch in a roundup entitled iPhone Gems: Every Flickr Application, Reviewed. This review contains a review of one application from that roundup; additional comparative details can be found in the original full story.

Yahoo!‘s Flickr service is the top photo-sharing site online; its large userbase, friendly, clean interface, and open API have allowed it to grow to storing over 2 billion photos, and developers have created iPhone and iPod touch apps that work directly with the service. Note up front that all of the apps share two common limitations: iPhone OS 2.0 currently limits uploads of previously stored-in-iPhone or -iPod photographs to a maximum resolution of 640×480, with in-application camera functionality available as a workaround. Additionally, in order to show a preview but maintain a full-resolution image, the preview image shown after taking a photo with an in-application camera is normally cropped in one manner or another. Again, all of the apps are affected by these limits; it’s only a question of whether the developers find smart ways around them.

FlickUp is a fairly straightforward Flickr uploading application. Devoid of browsing features, the app presents a simple one-screen menu after being authorized with Flickr. Users can choose to upload a photo from the iPhone’s photo albums, or use the camera to snap a new pic, with new pictures being uploaded at full 1600×1200 resolution. Once a pic is taken, and the preview okayed, the user is presented with the option of editing the Meta data for the photo, including the title, description, and tags, as well as toggle switches for turning geotagging on or off, and for activating automatic posts through Twitterrific. In the Settings menu, users can set up a base description—“Uploaded with Flickup on iPhone” by default—as well as create default tags, turn geotagging on and off, turn posting to Twitterriffic on and off, and handling Flickr authentication by redoing the login or logging out.

In our testing, Flickup initially refused to honor changes we made to a photo’s description, instead double-posting the photo with a generic title containing the date and time information; however, we were unable to reproduce this bug in further testing. It’s worth noting that the application correctly handles differently-oriented photos, and does include accurate geotag information.

While it’s not a bad application by any means, Flickup is hindered by a price that is a bit high compared to more full-featured competitors. If you’re looking for an uploading solution only, and prefer to browse Flickr through Safari, it is the best standalone Flickr uploading application currently available; however, we feel most users will be better off with a more complete solution.