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Mobile apps get mixed reviews

While there are now a range of apps available for creating prints and other products from smartphone images, not all of them are equal in the eyes of consumers.

Kodak
Mostly positive reviews and ratings from users support retailer reports that the Kodak app is one of the best. Responses from Kodak to negative reviews are a nice touch, too.

User ratings of the available apps see most achieving somewhere between three and four stars. However, when it comes to user reviews, the net impression is that more people find them frustrating than easy to use.

In a quick overview the Apple iTunes and Google Play mobile app sites, the user ratings for a selection of photos-from mobile apps were:
Kodak Alaris: Apple 4.5 stars, Android 3.8 stars
Fujifilm Transpix: Apple 3 stars, Android 3.4 stars. (The Harvey Norman and BigW versions of the Fujifilm Transpix iPhone app only scored 1.5 stars.)
Lifepics: Apple 3.5 stars, Android 3.5 stars
Lucidiom: Apple 3 stars (no Android app, and also offers a non-app solution)
Snapfish: Apple 3 stars, Android 3.4 stars
Shutterfly: Apple 2.5 stars, Android 4.2 stars
Picture Postie: Apple 5 stars, Android 4.6 stars

(Dakis, which doesn’t require the download of an app for ordering from smartphones, consequently didn’t have any reviews on the app stores.)

Australian operator Picture Postie scored higher user ratings and reviews were mostly positive as well.
Australian operator Picture Postie scored higher user ratings and reviews were mostly positive as well.

The standout here is Australian business Picture Postie, which operates from the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava. Co-incidentlally, Picture Postie founder Jennifer Roberts was featured in an article last week in The Age about Australian businesswomen who have successfully launched apps. Picture Postie has clocked 100,000 downloads ‘and orders are going gangbusters’, according to the article.

‘Hundreds of orders a week is now hundreds of orders a day – we love printing people’s pics!’ said Jennifer Roberts. 

A more negative impression is gleaned from user reviews – apparently more people are inclined to vent their spleen when they encounter frustrating software than praise apps that work. 

So for instance, three out of the most current five reviews for the Fujifilm Transpix app were:
– W
aste of time, don’t bother. Doesn’t work and waste my time trying. Lousy app, lousy service.
– Waste of time and kb. Downloaded to use in BigW and Harvey Norman stores, my phone tells me file transfer complete, however, nothing shows up on the kiosk.
– Garbage. Crashes. Regenerates thumbnail previews then tries to transfer those, which kiosk rejects. Garbage.

Some low ratings and a series of grumpy user reviews - particularly for the Android version, indicate Fujifilm still has some work to do.
Some low ratings and a series of grumpy user reviews – particularly for the Android version, indicate Fujifilm still has some work to do.

(Another post, by a Harvey Norman employee, noted that Transpix seems to have particular issues in the Android version and works well with iPhones)

The Snapfish Android App was similarly damned, with five out of the six reviews on the download page awarding one or two stars and comments such as:
– It took almost 2 hours to upload 28 photos and now will only let you order one size of prints and only one of each photo.
– Can’t get in app Most of the times I can’t even get past the opening screen. And when I do; I sign in….. crash!!
– Almost makes me dislike Snapfish. I really love Snapfish prints and was excited to get my 100 free prints every month for getting their app, but it just keeps restarting when I’m almost ready to order them and I lose all the pictures I’ve selected… 

2 Comments

  1. S.M S.M August 15, 2014

    Interesting article on this especially the ratings. i think why most customers get frustrated is they don’t read the instructions properly when the app is downloaded. We use the transpix app in our shop and help every customer with the downloading and start up, to selecting and printing photos. We have encountered no problems with either apple or android phones so far.

  2. luke luke August 16, 2014

    Don’t forget about us (printvintage – http://www.printvintage.com ) we’re a photo printing app, but we’re taking a different approach from the above app’s by allowing people to print photos and raise money for charities, community groups and sporting teams.

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