Social Networks For The iPhone
As I wrote previously, the release of the 3G iPhone has the potential to reshape the mobile web and usher in greater advancement of mobile social networks.
I wrote in that post, some of the features a mobile social network requires; some of these features already exist in present offerings, which are analyzed below.
iRovr
iRovr, which claims to be the first social network designed specifically for the iPhone, launched into public beta a year ago this week. The company founder, Erik Madsen formed the company one day after the iPhone launched in the US, when he was browsing websites and could not find any social networks specifically optimized for the iPhone.
iRovr is designed specifically for the iPhone, as such, while you can login from a desktop browser, it is still formatted for the dimensions of the iPhone.
iRovr uses email to upload content. This method may seem a little convoluted and may yet prove its undoing, but they have tried to make it as simple as possible.
There are specific email addresses for each type of content:
Photo: irovr@photo.irovr.com
Blog: irovr@blog.irovr.com
Bookmark: irovr@bookmark.irovr.com
Video: irovr@video.irovr.com
However, you can use the one address, irovr@irovr.com, to post any type of content and iRovr will automatically determine the type of content and upload it accordingly.
To update your profile on iRovr, you send an email to irovr@profile.irovr.com. The text you enter into the body of the message becomes the text on your homepage. If you add a photo, it becomes our profile image.
Everything you post goes into the iRovr stream, which is the default view on the homepage. Your profile can be modified with various themes and the more adventurous are able to build a custom theme, which will go into the list for others to use. You can also leave comments and send private messages.
While iRovr may have been the first social network built specificaly for the iPhone, but as noted, updating content via email may prove to be prohibitive to new users, when compared to other services in this niche that do not require this step. The fact that it does not presently have any location based feature may also work against it.
Loopt
Loopt has some neat features and integrations that will ensure it becoming popular. It enables you to connect with friends via the interactive map and see what they are doing, as well as share photos and comments. Loopt can be linked to Facebook and Twitter for status updates and to FriendFeed via Loopt RSS feed updates.
Loopt also integrates with Yelp for receiving reviews about locations nearby on the iPhone map, although at this stage you are unable to contribute reviews from inside the iPhone.
If you are on the market, Loopt provides the opportunity to meet new people nearby, if they are sharing their information. I worked on a similar sms based service several years ago and can see a definite market for this.
Loopt is free to download from the App Store.
Limbo
Limbo is a name you may recognise. It is one of the largest mobile communities in the US, with 2 million registered members. Limbo is a kind of Twitter, Facebook, Loopt mashup that allows you to view and interact with friends within a close radius of your location. It has other cool features, such as grouping your friends into activities so you can see who is doing what without having to search each person individually.
Limbo is free to download from the App Store.
Facebook for the iPhone has been available, via the Facebook for iPhone website since August last year. It now has 1.5 million active users. With the App Store, they have improved their offering by releasing a native app for the iPhone.
With the native application, you can take photos with the iPhone’s camera and upload them directly to your Mobile Uploads album on Facebook. You can also view your Friends, Photos, and Inbox, as well as interact directly via Facebook chat.
Presently, Facebook for iPhone doesn’t provide much extra from the web based offering. For example it doesn’t provide any location based services. This will change in the future though, with Facebook developing an opt-in feature to share your location and discover nearby friends.
Facebook for iPhone is free and can be downloaded from the App Store.
MySpace
As with the Facebook for iPhone app, the Myspace iPhone app integrates seamlessly with the online social network, allowing users to use all the standard features, including adding friends, uploading photos, etc.
As with Facebook, there are no extra features, and no utilisation of location based functions, however, just like Facebook, these features will come in the future.
MySpace is free to download from the App Store.
Zintin
Zintin is the newest of this group and a recent entry into the mobile social network space. Zintin has gone directly for the location awareness features of the iPhone to build an application that allows the user to view nearby Zintin users and friends. Zintin also enables interaction with people nearby as well as sharing contact information. Users can share pictures and information via their wall and in the next update, will be able to write on others wall’s.
Zintin is free to download form the App Store.
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