An honest review after a year... i am moving on.

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logan
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed May 09, 2018 2:32 pm

An honest review after a year... i am moving on.

Postby logan » Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:42 am

I've used Wifibooth for a little over a year, it first started just to setup a DIY photo booth for a friend's kids birthday party. It soon turned into a little side business (for money!). I've done a number birthday parties, corporate events, graduation parties, retirement parties... etc. and have about 6 events scheduled for the rest of the year.

Pros:
  • Easy to use, easy setup for small events, very nice and intuitive GUI with a few caveats, mainly templates
  • Relatively inexpensive if you have an iPad, DSLR, and a printer laying around. Price of the app is also a lot cheaper than competitors.
Cons:
  • iPad requiring everything to be over WiFi - I had a large corporate event that was actually in the same venue as a k-pop concert. The wifi I was using could not hold a steady connect, the signal was very weak from I assume all the other devices in the area. Because of this, I am hesitant to take this to other large events or conferences. If you are just using the iPad on its own with no dslr or printer then it should be OK... however, quality is king! if you aren't using a DSLR and proper lighting, you are not getting the full potential with your photo booth. I know the WiFi thing is a limitation with iPads so I am not sure what could be done about this. Admittedly, Wifibooth has a come a long way in a year. My connection to my camera has been way better with every update. At my last event, I did have to restart my iPad to get it to connect to my camera once.. but other than that, the issues seem minor for small/medium events. I am still hesitant to try it with a really large event
  • Templates are difficult to do. Since you have to setup the templates within the app using various 'percents' of borders, it is really hard to create templates. Luckily, I do graphic design as a profession so I was able to maneuver this with various transparent logos and overlays... but don't expect to be able to purchase templates online as they won't work with Wifibooth. Lastly, not being able to select exactly where you want photos to be on your template gets stale after a while. If you notice most of my events are 3 photos in a straight boxy grid. You could do full screen overlays (like my last photo), but you run into problems when folks select more photos that intended in the gallery screen. A way to limit the amount of photos you could add to a new collage would be helpful - The developer really needs to focus on making it easy for users to create custom templates, even better if you are able to create it on a computer and/or compatible with other popular templates available for purchase
Conclusion: I would recommend this to enthusiasts who want to help friends with a inexpensive DIY photobooth. Because of the wifi limitations I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who needs to do it professionally or for anyone who is paying a lot of money.

Recently I've found myself at a crossroad with Wifibooth. Because of the events I have scheduled in the future I was looking into upgrading my iPad to a larger/newer one . I also recently upgraded my old canon airprint printer with a DNP, causing me to have to buy a WPS Pro to connect it. Because of these, I've decided to move on to a PC based photo booth. I could buy a larger Surface Pro tablet for half the price of a new iPad that will allow me to hard wire the camera and the printer directly (reliability), and I can also return the WPS Pro saving me an additional $250. I'll also be able to save a lot of time trying to create custom templates just for Wifibooth, i'll be able to offer pre-made templates to my clients in the future, saving me a bunch of time.

Happy to answer any questions.

--------------------------

My Setup:
- iPad Pro 10.5
- Canon 70D
- DNP RX100HS - recent purchase
- DNP WPS Pro - recent purchase
- Godox V860ii, Godox softbox

Samples:

First time using Wifibooth - just a simple logo, using mostly the default template settings.
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A few other highlights throughout the year
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User avatar
tim
Site Admin
Posts: 3068
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 5:14 pm

Re: An honest review after a year... i am moving on.

Postby tim » Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:14 am

Hi Logan

Wow, great photos - you did a really great job! Thanks for posting these here so they can inspire others.

We're sorry to lose you, and I definitely understand the cons you posted. Templates is something we've dreamed about for a long time, but it is difficult to get right so we are still working on it. iPad requiring wifi -- well for the first time apple relaxed USB restrictions on the iPad a fraction in iOS13, but sadly only for storage devices (still cannot get unfettered access to the USB port for camera access). We are continuously chasing Apple for this though!

Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed post. If you find other features or things you wish Wifibooth would have as you shop around, please let me know...
Please write a review for Wifibooth on the Apple App store! Indie developers like me really need people like you to review their apps. Instructions on how to write a review: http://goo.gl/w8NsDI.

logan
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed May 09, 2018 2:32 pm

Re: An honest review after a year... i am moving on.

Postby logan » Mon Jun 17, 2019 3:06 pm

Hi Tim, Re: Templates.. I think if you included a few set templates where the photo placement is static and we could just set a background or overlay, logo/wordart, option to include a border around the photo would be a great alternative.

Releasing an official PSD for 2x6, 4x6 and 6x8 templates with guides for where the photos, logo and other elements will be would be awesome.

Also, forcing users to select the proper amount of photos in custom collages should be added so it doesn't break any custom templates.

Another cool thing to implement is to allow folks to set the viewing size or zoom in a little on the live view. Most of the time, the view is a lot wider than what will show up in the collage so a lot of folks will be cut off on the sides. If there was an option to block out the sides of the live view image that would be great.


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