Reactr for iOS lets you share a photo or video and get a quick reaction
Reactr (free) is a clever and just-released app that lets you get a reaction to a photo or image you've shared with a friend. Often, we send out what we think is the world's greatest pic, then get nothing from silence from our friends on the other end.
With Reactr, you take a photo or video or grab something from your Photo Library, and then attach a message and share with a friend via a text. They are notified, and can download Reactr if they don't have the app installed already. The app then offers to take a photo of them or let them create a video. They tap a button to reply, and voila -- you've got a reaction. The 'reaction' can be a message, a photo (smiling, scowling) or even a quick video.
"The idea for Reactr came after I had sent a funny picture to my friends only to receive countless 'Haha', 'OMG' and 'LOL' responses. I realized I was missing out on some priceless reactions. Then, it occurred to me that this was something missing from today's photo and video-sharing frenzy," said the man behind Reactr, Ash Gilpin. "Reactr provides a platform for allowing a more natural form of interaction between people, through photos and videos."
The app has an extensive privacy policy that I won't repeat here, but the highlights are that neither your name nor email details are distributed to third parties.
The app works as advertised, and when you shoot your photo or video from within the app you get a choice of the front or rear facing camera on your iDevice. The GUI could be cleaned up a bit. For example, a message at the top of the screen advises users to send a message along with their photos, and it looks like a button, when actually the button to do that is at the bottom. It's a needlessly confusing design flaw.
It's possible to receive messages from people you don't know if you have a pretty common user name, but the app lets you limit people to those you've identified as friends, and you can proactively block someone who is a nuisance. The developers maintain a helpful FAQ that takes care of most of the questions you might have.
Of course there is no guarantee all the feedback you get will be positive, but Reactr is an original idea what should please many social photo sharers.
Reactr is not a universal app, (it should be) and it requires iOS 6.0 or greater. The app has been optimized for the iPhone 5.
