Does Starmatic Have What It Takes To Take On Instagram?
September 7, 2012
Last week, I pointed you in the direction of Etchings. It’s a new camera app that, with its unique etching and engraving effects, makes for a breath of fresh air amid camera apps that are pretty much like Instagram. Now, there’s another new camera app on the block. It’s called Starmatic and it’s pretty much like Instagram at first glance. But it claims, perhaps rather boldly, to be quite unlike the popular Facebook-owned photo sharing app.
Starmatic highlights quality over quantity. According to the app’s developers, Starmatic is to Instagram just as Vimeo is to YouTube and 500px is to Flickr.
Based on the classic Kodak Brownie Starmatic camera from the 1950s, Starmatic for iPhone promises “a new visual and social experience by putting picture and user experience quality center stage.”
The app sports a sidebar-based interface, which is a departure from the tab-based interface of the likes of Instagram. It often requires more swipes and taps, but it also allows more screen space for pictures and other key UI elements.
Starmatic offers a wide selection of filters, lovingly grouped into rolls of film. You still remember what those are (or were), right? These supposedly unique filters are said to be what mainly differentiates Starmatic from other apps of its kind.
The app comes with a Starmacolor film, which contains 16 filters developed with the help of iPhone-wielding photographers and Brownie enthusiasts alike.
There’s also a Starmachrome film, which contains 10 additional filters for achieving softer and subtler effects. But this film can be loaded onto the app through in-app purchase only. I guess you can consider in-app purchase as another distinguishing factor between Starmatic and Instagram, huh?
Starmatic for iPhone is available now in the App Store for free. The app also features a discovery section and a search tool, both of which are only to be expected from Starmatic if it's to really try to keep up with Instagram’s unparalleled photo sharing community.
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