If you have an iPhone, chances are you use or have heard of Instagram. The service is great; the user interface, on the other hand, not so much. Browsing has always been a pain in the app as features are buried under layers and layers of content.
That is where Gramory comes into the picture. Gramory offers an intuitive solution to Instagram’s user interface problems by providing a clean and simple browsing experience. But what makes it an app that you’ll really need?
What Does It Do?
Gramory is simply an Instagram client for iPhone. That said, it serves a similar purpose to Carousel for Mac— to explore your Instagram feeds. As it is done through an API, you are unable to upload photos to the service through the application itself.
That being said, you still do have the abilities to like, comment, search and all of the other likes of Instagram (you can even save photos you like to your photo library). In fact, I find that the lack of the ability to upload pictures allowed the developers to create a solid browsing application that blows the original app out of the water.
Browsing Made Easy
If you have ever used the Instagram app, you know that navigation is quite undesirable. Luckily, Gramory has come along to help fix this problem. Not only is browsing and navigating Instagram a breeze while using Gramory, it is also an enjoyable experience.
Swipe right to find the menu; swipe left to see other user-submitted photos.
Gramory makes use of gestures to simplify the browsing experience. Swipe right anywhere and you will be greeted with the menu. The menu allows easy access to your profile, feed and search among other things. While on a photo page, swipe left to view other photos submitted by the same user, and swipe up to share the photos to Twitter, Facebook, Email and even iMessage.
A grid system is used to help make browsing much quicker. When you see a photo you like, you can click on it to view it on a separate page. There, you are able to like and comment on photos. You can also isolate the picture further by tapping on it; you are also able to flip through the publisher’s other photos there.
Gramory boasts loads of social sharing features (left); you can isolate photos in a tap (right)
One last feature that Gramory has that Instagram lacks is that there is a Trends list in the menu. This adds a Twitter-like element to the application as it will display popular tags for photos. Again, these are clickable so you are able to view photos with these tags the same way you would any other feed.
Beautifully Designed
If you couldn’t already tell from the previous snapshots (and the icon, for that matter), this app is gorgeous. The brown color scheme is done very well and I much prefer it over the greys and blues of the official Instagram app. Plus, the neutral palette helps keeps the focus on the pictures as opposed to other elements of the application.
Even the loading page looks wonderful (left); the grid organization of this app looks great and stays functional (right)
The application also uses a grid to keep itself organized. Personally, I love this grid system as it helps keep a more streamlined and clean look to any application on any platform. Grid systems allow you to see and scroll through photos much more efficiently, as you do not have to look at all the comments and likes while scrolling through feeds. Moreover, you only have to take a closer look at photos that actually interest you, so you do not have to view seventy photos of your grandmother’s cat just to get to the good stuff.
Another great thing about this application is that there will only be one layer open at once at any given time. Swipe right at any point, and you will have the menu. That’s right, you won’t be drowned in pages of photos and profiles ever again — that’s something I like.
Finicky Features
Although the application usually performs very well, it does have a few features that are not the most reliable. I have found that the Like function has usually been a bit slow. You are unable to delete comments that you post directly from the application as well. Though this app does lack icons and buttons, it still manages to have two buttons that I found superfluous. The application has Menu and Other Photos buttons, both of which are accessible via swipes and gestures.
The app has two unnecessary function buttons that are highlighted in red above.
Another thing to note is that this application does not run all too well on older devices. I have found that Gramory is quite laggy while it is running on my iPod Touch 3rd Generation, which is something to keep in mind if you do not have the newest iDevices.
The Verdict
Gramory is an amazing way to browse your Instagram feed. The app is designed very well which makes for a very streamlined and efficient way to browse your photos. I love how the main focus of this application is on the photos as opposed to other (things) of the user interface. It’s clean, it’s simple and just a perfect distraction-less way to scroll through your Instagram feed. On top of that, Gramory adds some new Twitter-like features to Instagram, and there are a plethora of sharing options that are easily accessible.
The one thing you need to ask is if you find any purpose in this application. If you already use Instagram, then you have the Instagram app on your iPhone already. As Gramory does not allow you to upload photos, it can not serve as a permanent replacement to the original application. That being said, you may not find the need to download Gramory on top of Instagram because your feed and everything else will already be available in Instagram. However, I definitely recommend checking out Gramory if you want a solution to the disorganization of Instagram’s application.