VSCO Cam: From Photo App To Social Network

Among the enormous variety of mobile applications specialized in enhancing and editing photos, VSCO Cam is definitely one of the most popular solutions in the market, available for both iPhone and Android. If earlier the program was focused solely on how to tweak the original pictures, making them more beautiful, the latest update of VSCO Cam turns the application into a kind of the social network, similar to Instagram.

The app has acquired the Home section, where one can see the pictures stream from the profiles for which one is subscribed. Yet, one cannot “like” the photos, leave comments or see the number of his/her followers. VSCO 3.0 is undoubtedly a social service, but it obviously does not compete with Instagram, in which people care about the number of their followers, using numerous #-tags to their photos in order to get more “likes”.

“You do not leave comments under the paintings that you like on the walls of the museum”, said the service founder Joel Flory. “VSCO has never been and never will be a platform in which numbers have a significant role”. Flory added that the profiles and news have been added to the application, since it was one of the most frequent requests from the VSCO users.

The application will continue to focus specifically on the photos, and not the social component, which is designed in the style the absolute minimalism. In addition to the pictures of friends, one will see the photos, selected by the application’s editors. The VSCO editor’s picks often include fascinating pictures, while “Popular” section in Instagram mainly consists of some celebrities’ “selfies”.

It’s a noteworthy fact that at the very beginning of its career, Instagram was also aimed at uploading and editing images only, but then the project went the way of the maximal “socialization”.

Unfortunately, VSCO users cannot add friends from Facebook and Twitter, so one has to search for acquaintances manually. “Right now, the broad masses of the people are just beginning to realize that a camera phone can be used not only for self and photos of your latte, but it can also help to create a powerful and beautiful image,” - added Flory.

In addition to the “socialization” elements, the update presents the following new features: adjustable picture tilt, auto-save capability to Camera Roll, a redesigned tool for trimming, and other tiny innovations.