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Your iPhone and iPhoto library are in sync with Simplify Photo

by Sang Tang Aug 20th 2009 at 8:00AM


Like its music app on the iPhone, which allows you to use your iPhone to tap into your desktop's music collection, Simplify Media provides similar functionality with photos through its Simplify Photo [iTunes link] iPhone app.

Many of us are forgetful in some form, and this trait is especially magnified when one proceeds to show others an "awesome photo" on your iPhone that, sadly, didn't get synced. Instead of telling your friends that you'll show or email them the photo later -- assuming you even remember to -- you can use Simplify Photo to view your entire iPhoto collection.

While increased megapixels in digital photography brings with it the promise of better picture quality, in most cases it comes at a file size premium. And because storage space on your iPhone is a finite resource, you can choose to set aside dedicated space for those really important photos and use Simplify Photo for those that are not as important but would nonetheless like to have access to just in case.

Simplify Photo is available for 99 cents on the iTunes App Store, while the required desktop client (available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux) is available as a free download at the Simplify Media site. The desktop app allows you to not only specify which iPhoto albums and events to sync, but the people as well -- via integration with the app's "Faces" facial detection feature. And if you're not exactly sure which album or event a photo is stored, you can use the app's search feature, which searches your photos' tags, titles and comments.

But the standout feature of Simplify Photo is its geolocation support. Like iPhoto '09's places feature, Simplify Photo displays a map with various dropped pins; and tapping on the pins will display the photos taken in the vicinity.

If a picture can say a thousand words, then Simplify Photo's desktop syncing capabilities have the potential to make your iPhone speechlessly filled with photos.



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Like its music app on the iPhone, which allows you to use your iPhone to tap into your desktop's music collection, Simplify Media...
 

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david watson

I've been successfully using Simplify Media since October. Streaming music to my iPhone 3G works perfectly and with Simplify Music 2 it got even better (search, resume, favorites.) Simplify Photo is the next logical step. I have to admit that when it works, it definitely has that "wow" factor.

I have streamed from iPhoto '08 and it is fine, but the ability to sort by Faces and Places is really nice in iPhoto '09.

I have to say that it's actually a nice start.

Things they need:
faster load times
zoom (they said it's coming)
ability to download full (or at least larger) size images to iPhone.
resume
share directly from within the app.
favorites

August 20 2009 at 11:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TheCastro

Not worth 99 cents in my opinion.

I love streaming music from my iMac though over my iPhone, its awesome on road trips.

August 20 2009 at 5:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Robison

Can we get some writers on this so we can understand what this app does? The TUAW article doesn't do it and Simplify's website doesn't do it.

I'm with Carrespondent on this one.

August 20 2009 at 5:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hostwisely1

This seems to be an interesting one!
The new feature is really amazing...

http://hostwisely.com

August 20 2009 at 12:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bshigenaka

I'm afraid to use any of Simplify's apps after having their Media app continually spin up my HD. I submitted questions about the issue and never heard a response.

The minute I deleted their app, my HD came to rest. Having access to all my media on the fly isn't worth taking years off the life of my HD, thanks.

August 20 2009 at 11:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carrespondent

Perhaps I'm missing something. Aside from the geolocation support, what does this do that using built-in tools to sync one's iPhone to iPhoto does not?

August 20 2009 at 11:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

While this is a great update, it still doesn't seem to be a full blown 3.0 OS update - no push notifications for DMs or replies which is something I definitely starting to look for in a Tweeter client. Seems speedier though, almost on par with Tweetie on my iPhone 3GS. Will be REAL interesting when the next version of Tweetie comes out, as since it's been a while since we've seen a Tweetie update, it's sure to be a-rockin'.

August 20 2009 at 10:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Chris's comment
Chris

Also, not sure why a comment of mine from another post ended up here - weird!

August 20 2009 at 11:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

I thought at first this app provided a different function that I've been looking for - syncing from an iPhone to iPhoto WITHOUT opening iPhoto. I don't want to sync other iPhoto libraries to the iPhone, what I want instead is a seamless background sync of my iPhone pictures automatically when I plug it into my machine without having to open iPhoto and without having to import pics manually as if I was taking them off of a camera.

August 20 2009 at 10:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jennyp

I never managed to get Simplify Media (music) to work as advertised, despite many attempts. It just sits there. So not holding my breath for this lot.

August 20 2009 at 9:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lumi

I actually thought I was looking at an update to the Photos app.
A shame this isn't the case. I don't have THAT many photos in my iPhoto library, but the sorting in Events would be a really nice touch.
Browsing through thousands of photos can be a tedious thing.

So yeah; c'mon apple!

August 20 2009 at 9:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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