A couple of weeks ago Everplaces launched their app, and I started kicking the tires immediately
Everplaces, in their own words “lets you create your own collection and map of places. You can easily find them again when you need them or want to share with friends”
The service does this by letting you add a place on your phone or computer – 4sq-style. You add the place to a category, attach tags, descriptions and photos. It syncs across devices and allows you to rediscover places vou’ve been to.
Now, at the moment, my life pretty much revolves around my home, my office and my kid’s kindergarten. That means, that there’s a limit to how many places I’ve actually added to my Everplaces account. But I am beginning to get a feel for the service, and here are some of my first impressions on the plus- and minus sides respectively
+
- The design. Everplaces is nice to look at, and I cherish that in a tool. Especially one that is meant for frequent use.
- The delightful absence of game mechanics. I was worried, that I’d have to leave little virtual items for friends or battle for mayorships, but luckily, that is not the case.
- The cross platform functionality. It is lovely to use, whether I’m on the go, using my iPhone or at home using my laptop (which now has a bookmarklet).
- (or, since this is early days still – ‘room for improvement’)
- Adding images from the phone. I would love it, if the camera was available from the the initial add-screen. Right now I have to go through too many steps to add an image to a place, and I believe images are important when it comes to remembering you favourite places.
- Adding images from the camera roll. Now, I either have to go through my laptop to add an image after having added a place or snap the pic right then and there. some middle ground would be nice.
- Sharing. I would love to be able to share collections of places rather than each place on it’s own. I want to be able to pass on my ‘Aarhus’ collection, or have a look into someone else’s ‘Berlin’ collection. In fact my guess is, that the balancing act between what’s private, shared and public content is one that keeps the team busy.
In conclusion. I love the idea behind Everplaces, and I think that whilst still not perfect (nothing ever is, right?) this service has true potential.
