Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Answers from everyStory to my Questions and Comments

I wrote everyStory, a Cloud-Based Story-Sharing Platform, Launches Open Beta on 21 July 2015 and Adding and Tagging Photos in everyStory, a Cloud-Based Story-Sharing Platform on 24 July 2015, and raised some questions and made comments about features I liked and did not see yet.



I have had some email exchanges with everyStory principals and have received their input concerning my questions and comments:


Q1:  I’m guessing the audio has to come from a mobile app on an iPad. What about an iPhone, since I don’t have an iPad?

A1:  Correct. The audio is only available on the iPad and currently isn’t available on the iPhone. everyStory is currently in open-Beta phase and will be available on iPhones in September.

Q2:  I do have an Android tablet – is that in the works also? 

A2:  Yes, it is in the works and will be available within the next coming months.

Q3:  Who can see my album? 

A3:   Users who you share the photos and stories with are able to view the photos in a private sharing environment.

Q4:    How do I invite family members to see them? 

A4:   Users are invited to join groups through a share code and are able to record their own special memories and share with others via an email invite.

Q5:   Can I download my photos? 

A5:   Yes, you can download your photos. There are three ways to import photo to the tool such as from a computer, iOS photo album or scan physical photos directly into the app using a device camera.

Q6:  Is everyStory currently available as a mobile app only for the iPad?

A6:  iOS / iPad: we are currently iPad only.  We chose the iPad as our first test platform because of the larger form factor.  iPhone is coming in September along with a revamp of our UI based on beta tester feedback.

Q7:   Will there be a "Choose Files" option?

A7:   “drop" vs "choose files" in the web upload screen:  well you got me, that’s a bug.  I’ve fixed it in the test branch 

Q8:  Why do I have to re-open the "Add Photos" window every time after I've uploaded some photos and want to add more photos?

A8:  uploading more pictures after the first upload: this is a bug as well, we fixed it about 3 days ago (still pending QA before it gets live)

Q9:   Will there be a Tagging or Caption option that includes something more than name, date, location - like an Event description? 

A9:  tagging: the ipad app allows for separate tags for people, location, date and subject. the web site currently assumes all tags are for people.  Its on the list of improvements to add the other tag types and improve the dialog, but hasn’t been done yet.

Q10:  I didn't ask about a Delete tag...

A10:   on a related note, we also have the “delete tag” feature in the queue, so you will be able to clean up tags that you don’t want.

Q11:  "Will the tag/caption show when the photo is highlighted full screen?"

A11:  event tags: like I said there is a ‘subject’ tag, as a catch all for any other information you may want to search by. I have a “christmas” tag, for example.  In the big September release we are also adding “albums” under groups as an additional organization tool

Q12:  Is there a way to re-order the photos so that they can be in chronological order?

A12:  photo reordering inside albums will be in iPhone and iPad in September.  The web will honor those orders, but reordering on the web will lag behind the mobile devices for a couple of weeks.

I want to thank Lydia and Dave at everyStory for answering my questions very quickly with sufficient detail so that I could understand the answers.  I appreciate their enthusiasm and dedication to their product.

The bottom line for me is this:  I think everyStory is probably going to be a significant feature-laden story-telling and photo-saving desktop/laptop program and iOS/Android mobile app in the near future.  It is still in Beta development and some features and mobile platforms have not been incorporated yet.  I'm going to show patience and look forward to the product when it becomes a production application.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/answers-from-everystory-to-my-questions.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


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