The Foto App: Can this Replace Instagram for Photographers?
This is a free app with a paid tier - and it might be perfect for photographers!
I have not scrolled on Instagram or Facebook for many weeks now, and it feels great living without the ads and vitriol.
However, I’m not giving up on the internet and possible community building - so there’s a new app I’ve been looking into: Foto.
I had previously mentioned an app called Glass that I still really love - but it’s a paid app only. The Foto app has multi-tiered approach: a free version for most people, and a paid version to support it all.
It’s a small and growing app with a lot of potential - so I wanted to take a quick look at (and invite you to join me there - I’m “jerredz” as always!).
Interface:
This is Foto… and it’s pretty simple! Think Instagram back in the old days, and that’s Foto right now. A chronological feed - no algorithm - no ads.
Right now “search” is very limited. You can only search exact user names. Clicking on “filters” though will open up where the power of the app comes from:
Just like Glass, there are a limited number of tags to look for. As of now, you can’t search by location, for instance, or any hashtags. You also can’t search for lenses and cameras like you can on Glass (which I absolutely love and miss here).
Notifications are simple:
Creating a post is as simple as you can get. You get three tags, and can add a description.
In every respect though, the photos look FANTASTIC on Foto. Make sure to follow a few of my friends there that rock.
Omar: @omarknowsphotos
And Hunter: @hunterhart
SHOULD YOU SIGN UP?
The app is free - so why not? (And honestly - you SHOULD always snag your username regardless of if you plan to use a new social app - just so someone else can’t steal your identity!).
Foto has an active user base and it’s growing fast - so it feels fun to be a part of something new that’s NOT connected to Meta’s desire to rot our brains!
Roadmap
THIS is where it gets interesting. Foto wants to add features that allow us to use the app as an all-in-one portfolio for photography (their first paid Pro feature), and they also plan to help us sell on the app.
This is exciting… but also, I’m not sure about apps with a free tier any longer. I’d rather have a lower tier that’s something like $3/month. This is wildly cheap per month, but at least makes it hard for people to make bots, abuse the system, etc., - doesn’t it?
Maybe it doesn’t… I just hate the idea of trolls and commercialism destroying a platform.
YES - it’s worth trying.
Maybe I like it so much because of how simple it all is right now. It’s quiet and there’s hope for a better photography community there - something I’ve abandoned on Instagram.
I hope to see you there!
In other news - If you haven’t joined my community, RIGHT NOW is a great time to do so!
We’ve got a livestream going on tonight, and I’d love for you to join. We talk about photography, cameras, do photo critiques, ask questions, etc., and it’s pretty fun.
If you join the community, you’ll see the event in your time zone! (7pm Central).
I really like Foto, I'm only waiting for a desktop version because I much prefer a larger screen to view photography. But that's on their to-do list and I love a lot of the features. I use the filter feature a lot to find new people to follow or to simply get inspiration.
I like foto, the app and the work I see on it. I think the portfolio and shop feature will be interesting. Right now, it seems like photographer to photographer. Are they already there? How do you get clients on the app? I'm hopeful they have a plan while recognizing it's something cooking up. I love it to feed my interest and inspire me with other photographers work. I ended up paying for the ambassador label. I agree with your comment on paying for the app. Hopefully having the dedicated content producers (photogs) pay for their premium features is enough to cover the app costs and we are motivated enough to continue paying by getting sales and strategic exposure--galleries, stock agencies, news outlets etc.