Ukky iPhone app journals your child's life, gives your Facebook followers a break
Look, we've all been there -- that moment when palm meets face after viewing the umpteenth image of your best friend's child. As cute as Louie is, there's a finite quantity of JPEGs that one can stand if you aren't Louie's creator. Of course, scaling back the number of offspring photos uploaded to public social networks wasn't the intention of those who crafted Ukky, but it's a side effect that the childless among us will no doubt appreciate. Showcased this week at The Next Web Conference, Ukky is a (gorgeous) iPhone app that's designed to journal the life of your youngster, and your interactions along the way. The word itself is Dutch for "little one" (or so I'm told), and it effectively brings the world of Path to a different niche. %Gallery-186791%
In a nutshell, users are able to create timelines for each of their children, and then upload photos and videos as their lives progress. With each one, you can add captions, geotagged metadata or full-on blurbs to describe the situation. From there, you're able to carefully select who is able to contribute to the stream (a spouse or nanny, for instance), and who is simply able to view it (grandma, we're looking at you). The real magic, however, is in the presentation. The company expects to partner up with a book company in order to allow one-click transfers from timeline to print; in theory, you'd just order another album on each birthday in order to show those who prefer something tangible.
It's also working with a Leap Motion gesture control mechanism, which would allow Ukky timelines to be displayed on a television and then swiped through. Oh, and as for displaying videos in an printed album? There's a hook with Layar which will allow printed screengrabs to be virtually activated when viewed with an iPad.
As of now, Ukky is available as a public beta for all who register at its website. We spoke to the founders here in Amsterdam, and it's clear that they're wide open to feedback and experimentation. While the existing app build only supports a single child, multiples will be allowed in due time. They're also hammering out details with a book partner, hoping to give end users the ability to customize memory albums and buy all manners of unique covers. The intention is for the app to remain free for use if you're uploading 100MB or less of content each month; if you want more, the plan is to charge "around $3 to $4 per month" for a premium account. As of now, only an iPhone version is available, but the small team is working hard to port it to Android as soon as feasible.
So, go ahead and hit the source link to get going. Do it for your friends who are too nice to complain about your posting habits. Do it for the children. Do it... for love.
