Foto Update - July 2023
What To Expect For The Rest of 2023
Hello Everyone!
I hope you are well and that all the social media noise has consumed too much of your life this week.
This post aims to communicate where we are with Foto and provide some guidance for what’s coming soon.
RIGHT NOW
Currently, we are wrapping up the last four items within the Foto App before we start Private Beta. Our goal is to launch Private Beta in August, so exciting times are approaching.
We’ve been paying attention to Threads to gain insight into what people like about it and what people don’t like about it. This user feedback has been valuable because you don’t often get to watch a new social app launch in real time with this much traction. As we build Foto, we are taking notes and jotting down ideas based on what we see users liking and disliking.
WHAT’S NEXT
July - Wrap up all features and bugs within Foto.
August - Launch Private Beta
August & September - Get user feedback from Private Beta Testers and improve Foto
October thru December - We plan on opening Foto to Public Beta or going straight to our official launch through Apple and Google App Store.
PRIVATE BETA
We are filled with anticipation over the upcoming Private Beta launch. If you haven’t participated in a Private Beta before, let me outline what we are wanting from Private Beta Users.
In August, we are going to allow up to 5,000 people to join our Private Beta group. Everyone that joins Private Beta will be asked to provide feedback, report bugs, and engage in dialogue about what they like about Foto and what they think can be improved.
We will be setting up a site for direct user feedback that will only be for Private Beta Users.
The two main advantages of joining Private Beta are that you get to help create a new social platform for photography free from Meta, Google, and other large tech companies. You will have a voice that will be heard and you can help us craft a new social experience that is healthier and different than what is available to the world right now.
The second advantage is you get to secure a brand new username on Foto before anyone else.
If you’d like to be a Private Beta User, we are asking for a one-time donation of $5 to help us continue to bootstrap Foto in the beginning.
You can become a Private Beta User by clicking the button below.
WHAT MAKES FOTO DIFFERENT?
As the word for Foto has continued to spread, we’ve gotten different versions of this question. Here is a short list of what will make Foto different than current and previous social media platforms.
No Ads
Chronological Feed
Respecting different Image Aspect Ratios
Respecting Image Metadata (all other sites strip the metadata)
Pro Features like Portfolio, Shop, and Subscriber Only Content (these features will require a monthly fee to access)
We plan on building an innovative search engine that respects the long-term value of images. This will allow for your work to be discovered over time instead of feeling like you need to always be on the content hamster wheel.
We plan on building features that allow you to customize your own feed. We want you to be in control of what your experience within Foto.
We want to help artists get prints and photobooks into the hands of their audience directly within the Foto App.
We are working to allow as much content freedom as we can on Foto within the guidelines of Apple, Google, and our eventual chosen payment processor.
We believe social media has created a lot of harm in the world, so we will be committed to building an app that works for users, provides them with safety features, and isn’t built to capture their attention at all costs. Human health is important and people need to spend time offline, not checking the Foto App every 5 seconds.
LAST
I recently was interviewed on the Exposed Negative Podcast about Foto and social media. If you’d like to hear me dive into more about Foto and what we want to build, then I suggest listening to that interview.
You can listen here: PODCAST and you can watch it here: YOUTUBE
Cheers,
Michael Howard
Founder/CEO of Foto
Love to hear it.
Not sure if I can be of help, but I signed up!