If You Love Sharing Video, Socialcam Was Made For You [Review]

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This is Socialcam, from the people that brought you justin.tv.

The name is well chosen. Socialcam is a cam for being social. It’s not just a cam. You need to know that before you download it, otherwise you might be put off by just how social it is.

The first thing you see is a sign-up screen. No sign up means no cam. There are two options: sign up with Facebook, or sign up by email. The app’s makers obviously really want you to sign up with Facebook, because if you tap the email button you get an alert saying “Really? Not Facebook? You sure? Facebook’s got all your buddies on it!” … or words to that effect.

Anyway, at least you have the choice.

If you take the email route, you have to enter your email address and your full name. The app sends you a password in plain text by email. Oh dear. At least you can change it inside the app.

Eventually you get to the video part, hooray. It’s pretty neat, actually. The controls are minimal. The main thing is choosing a special effect and hitting the record button. You swipe sideways to change the fx, which you see in a real-time preview on screen. Some of them are very nicely done, like Acid, Foil and Rouge.

Any friends you’ve connected with are taggable in your videos. And the videos you take start uploading to the web automatically, as soon as you’ve stopped recording. The idea is to make video sharing fast and social and hey, it works.

Don’t get Socialcam if all you want are the video filters. There are plenty of other video camera apps that do cool filters. And don’t get it if you don’t want to share: it’s fairly insistent about connecting you with people, and will nag you to do so.

Do get Socialcam if you like shooting short snippets with your pals, and will be happy to share them with everyone, particularly if you’re happy to do so via Facebook. That’s what this app is all about.

[xrr rating=70%]

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