Synthetic try to address Hipstamatic Disposable camera app uproar, with 1.2 update, and more cameras
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 9:37PM | Glyn Evans 
Days after the original release of the Hipstamatic Disposable camera app, and following the uproar that surrounded the pay-per-film-roll pricing model, Synthetic released an update designed to calm the storm. Version 1.2 which came out a few days ago, now offers 4 more £0.69/$0.99/€0.79 priced disposable cameras via the in-app HipstaMart store, which come with unlimited films/exposures. In addition to these new cameras, the app now supports at no extra cost, "High Quality" mode.
It remains to be seen if this change will calm the storm, or if too much damage has been to the Hipstamatic/Synthetic brand for the app to be the success that Synthetic had hoped for, but what do you think?
The Hipstamatic Disposable camera app is available for FREE from the App Store, with 3 FREE built in disposable cameras, D-Fault, D-Lite and MegaZuck 84.
Reader Comments (22)
Now you have a well known company kinda of doing the same thing and the website blog owners are pretty much silent about it.
Makes me wonder why they don't voice there opinions loudly as they did before?
Everyone is watching them... were is there voice if they are the ones who lead all of us iPhotographers with information and what is great and not so great, new and upcoming apps.
Lets here there direction and not stand in the background.
There opinions we follow!!!
My two cents.
I just don't think this app was ready yet.
A series of shortcomings proves that customer focus is gone.
Hipsta D now is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
My faith and confidence are irretrievably lost.
Personally, the hipsta D is a joke. Sure, "free" cameras with woefully unacceptable resolution. Synthetic had no problem submitting a quickie update for the disposable to restart the review process and quell the negative reviews and no problem submitting a Incredibooth film roll that mysteriously has no sample to view, because it's horrid.
They have totally lost touch with their supporters.
When are all the "5 star " reviews with lame user names considered scam reviews??
(This does not apply to me. My fingertips are still singed from all the angry tweets and comments I've typed in the last week.)
But look: The app is fun. In some ways, mostly good, it offers a re-thinking of the Hipstamatic experience. For example, it works in portrait mode, like 6x6. It has a slider to adjust how strongly the filters are applied. It's less fiddly, in that you're not confronted by a (potentially paralyzingly) array of choices with every shot.
The shared-camera, "social" aspect of the app, though not required, might turn out to be at least a modestly game-changing idea -- provided of course that (a) it actually works, and (b) it doesn't stay bound to Facebook.
Ultimately, if we're really looking at this as photographers, the test is how well it works as a camera, right? Okay, so...
The free D-Fault camera is kind of like Melodie + Ina's 69, with a bit more grain. D-Light, also free, looks like somebody set fire to Tejas and slapped a thick black frame around it. I cannot use a camera named after Mark Zuckerberg, so that exhausts the free options.
BlacKeys 44 is a beautiful B&W camera but it's still bound up, at least for now, in the original pay-per-roll scheme, and may soon disappear from the Hipstamart. These are the only setups I've tried, and I really like two of them.
There's a Flickr group to check out, though not much to see yet:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hipstamaticdisposable/
My take (version 3.2) is that it's worth giving this app, and developer, a chance.
Being in business for myself I have no problem with people starting a company, developing an idea or producing a product that people want and making a profit on it. I used to like Hipstamatic a great deal when it was first introduced and still like some of its earliest lenses + films, search my Tumblr archive and you'll see many images from that period however I felt/feel that they kept moving further and further away from improving upon the Hipsta app and introducing other apps such as Swankolab (sucks) and Photobooth (whatever) and finally Disposable (wtf!).
This latest app with it's pricing structure offends my sensibilities. It's too bad really, Synthetic's production value and advertising acumen is second to none. A fake camera based on a fake back story involving fake lenses and fake films has become one of the most recognizable styles to emerge during this period known as iPhoneography/Mobile Photography.
I wish I could sell some of my lenses + films on eBay...any takers?
I will continue to support Synthetic as I'm sure plenty of people will. Swanko lab was never updated, and that kind of sucked but it's still a fun well done app. We all have our opinions and I feel like there aren't enough people showing support. Just people bashing them because they want more from their free apps. Someone has to pay for these apps to be made and updated.
The idea of buying rolls of film in an app is nothing more than a clever marketing way of selling in-app purchases that expire so users would have to buy the same in-app purchase multiple times. With film, you were literally buying a new roll of film. In a new plastic canister. Probably in a box too. We're not talking about that. We're talking about Synthetic selling software that was designed to stop working after a certain number of uses.
It was pure greed on the part of Synthetic and they deserve the backlash they've received. My respect for them has absolutely been lost. I'm not saying I won't ever buy from them again, but I'll certainly think twice before I do. And I'll pay more attention.
Swanko Lab is a perfect example of why Synthetic isn't exactly an honest developer. They were selling lifetime subscriptions to Swanko Lab, which is ironic since they'd stopped updating it. Next, they tried selling expiring in-app purchases for a "disposable" app. As far as I'm concerned, they're excellent marketers but shady human beings. Their recent "Family Letter" is a great marketing tactic. But I don't believe for a second that it's sincere. The Family Letter was just triage.
I hope time proves me wrong because I'm a huge fan of their Hipstamatic app, but I won't be surprised at all when these guys whip up their next piece of fishy sales tactics. Hipstamatic has been one of the top grossing camera apps since it was released. Why they have to be shady when they're already making money hand over fist, I'll never understand.
It's easy to say "Hey, that's a harsh critique." But remember... it's not like these expiring in-app purchases were their first shady sales gimmicks. Don't forget about Swanko Lab lifetime subscriptions.
I'm all for developers making a profit from their apps. I just want them to be honest. Expiring in-app purchases and lifetime subscriptions to an app they'd stopped developing...? That's not honest. I expected better from Synthetic though I admit I was foolish to do so.
The three pay cameras are also very attractive. Yes, yes, Lomora and all that, but the pricing structure didn't scare me off. Even at it's most expensive (9 rolls for $0.99, 216 exposures) it still comes in at less than half a penny per shot. At it's least expensive (99 rolls for $4.99, 2376 exposures), it's only 0.21 cents per shot. If you don't want to pay for it, don't buy it.
The four new buy-to-own cameras are interesting. I did a little shooting around the business park where I work during lunch, and liked the results. They can be described as a lot of fun with light leaks, and that's just fine with me. The more traditional pricing model for these films should sit well with most people.
It should, but I doubt it. The hate train has already rolled on this one. But I won't be on it. I'll just be using this app and enjoying the results.
A 36-pack of cameras is a reasonable price and will take aaaages to use. I say keep them, with a mix of Unlimited cameras as well.
I posted all my thoughts on the app over on my blog, with loads of pictures and screen grabs if anyone cares:
http://www.myglasseye.net/news/2011/12/my-mostly-positive-review-of-hipstamatic-disposable/
If people hadn't complained about the prices, we'd all be stuck now with an app that no self-respecting iPhoneographer would ever use. And Synthetic might believe that their future lies with the tweener/FB/social/buy-more-charisma-points-NOW crowd, not with actual photographers. And the classic Hipstamatic app might go the way of Swankolab.
Instead, the company has been given a (blistering) reminder of who its most loyal customers are, and what we've been paying them real money for, and what made them great in the first place. (Hint: naming films after living photographers, not mega-rich tech entrepreneurs, and trying to make the the products worthy of their namesakes.)
@Max, Tomba, Rob: Points well-taken! But here's another Ansicht.
This is a small company trying to prosper in a brutally competitive market. These folks are trying to make a living by thinking up new stuff. And they've chosen to swing for the fences -- sorry, American baseball metaphor -- hoping to knock the ball out of the park, rather than grinding it out on base hits. They decided to risk changing EVERYTHING -- form, function, underlying metaphor, and pricing scheme -- and their first swing was a total strike. Do we shoot the batter now, or wait another couple of innings?
Anyway, how did we get Hipstamatic in the first place? What made (and makes) it so cool? I'd say it's at least in part because of this very attitude, this defiance of conventional wisdom. Like, Hipstamatic HAS to allow for post-processing. There HAS to be an Android version. Well, actually, no. Hipstamatic is what it is. We may change it, but only to make it MORE like what it is.
Give the brotha some air, is what my son would say.