SonicPics — Create Slideshows on the Fly
Making slideshows on your iPhone is now almost as easy as making a phone call.
Many analysts talk about the “post-PC” era, and while there’s still some distance to travel before we can fully accomplish power-intensive tasks — like video editing, Powerpoint creating or heavy-duty writing — easily and comfortably on a tablet, apps are slowly porting certain tasks to the mobile platform. Slideshows are the latest functionality to make the transition, with apps like SonicPics making it simple to give voice and movement to your photo montages.
What’s the App?
SonicPics, developed by Humble Daisy and available for $2 for iOS devices, creates slideshows with photos you take with your Apple mobile device. Marketing itself as a “digital storytelling app,” SonicPics gives you the ability to add narration to a group of pictures, which you can take in-app or select from the Camera Roll.
You record your narration within the app, choosing the level of quality for the sound recording to help control file size and quality. From there, you can choose to save the completed file — which can go up to 60 minutes in one session — to your device, upload it to YouTube, send it via e-mail or use Wi-Fi to save it to a computer.
You’ll Want It If…
You can obviously use this slideshow app for social and sharing purposes, like creating vacation and family event slideshows. But other demographics will find more uses for Sonic Pics.
Educators, for instance, have gravitated towards SonicPics, since the slideshows are a great accompaniment to lectures and lessons, with the ability to create simple audio books, museum tours, and other simple multimedia. In short, if you’re in a profession that requires simple slideshows — whether they’re real estate tours, town visits, lab results, sales presentations or others — SonicPics could be a valuable addition to your mobile productivity suite.
If you’re an Android fan looking for a similar app for your platform, try SlideShow Application, which promises even more robust functionality, though it doesn’t upload directly to YouTube.
It’s Not My Thing — What Else Ya Got?
The features all run smoothly, and the interface is clean and simple, making the app easy to learn and use. Some users report that the app has some snafus on older iPhones and iPods, but the company has a generous, and rare, 30-day refund policy. And others say the app has a tendency to select a photo multiple times, which can be annoying. If you’re not completely satisfied or find the app doesn’t work as smoothly as you’d wish, you can e-mail the support department for a refund.
But the company has a strong product to stand behind, and with a satisfying user experience overall, most people should find SonicPics useful and fun. It’s actually more likely you’ll wish the app could do more. For example, some may long to add music to their slideshows, or be able to add text and titles to their slideshows. Sonic Pics doesn’t have these capabilities, unfortunately, though it executes the features it does have very well. Those who want more razzle-dazzle might be better off with a full-fledged video editing app like iMovie, though these more power-intensive apps may over-tax your devices and lead to a less smooth user experience.