Tiiny is an app that I've been using the last few days since it came out. The premise is simple.
Share tiny little photos (and videos) that disappear after 24 hours.
It's a neat concept that seems to remove unspoken barriers that build up naturally in any other "social network." Ugh, hate that phrase. No we don't need yet another social network, but to me, for now at least, this feels like something different.
Here's more context from Kevin Rose via Product Hunt:
"Tiiny is quick way to share little (212x212) photos and videos with friends. But why? At first glance the idea of tiny pictures (that you can’t enlarge) sounds ridiculous. The world doesn’t need yet another photo sharing app. Even if it did, why tiny photos? Let me explain.
When you have a small disposable photo you relax a little. All of a sudden it’s not about applying filters or making sure you get the perfect pose, it’s about rapidly blasting out a handful of fun pics and videos instantaneously. Sharing those little moments in your life that get lost. Those moments that are silly, fleeting, imperfect. Those snippets of life that represent our unguarded, most expressive selves."
Pretty interesting idea.
When you log into the app via Twitter, the app auto-follows all of the same folks you already follow on Twitter, creating an instant feed for you.
Chances are you're familiar with the names and faces from your Twitter feed, so Tiiny becomes a tiny video extension of the same people doing random things. Silly things. Things you wouldn't normally see them posting, but in this context, the pressure is low and it reveals a new online layer of everyday life.
It's made of three sections: the popular feed, the main grid, and your profile.
The popular feed, as it is, is mostly videos from Kevin Rose and a handful of others, due to the amount of Twitter followers they started Tiiny with.
Perhaps this feed will get a batch of different people as more people join or maybe it will evolve more into an Explore-like section, ala Instagram, over time to become slightly more interesting.
The main grid is where the magic happens. The always-on camera is ready to snap a pic or video with the quick tap of a finger, so be careful where you're pointing your camera. All of the tiny squares are nestled tightly together creating a fun and silly vibe amongst the Tiiny collective.
The profile shows a small snippet of follow counts with some notifications in a list below. The notification badge is a number with a heart and is so much more fun and refreshing than that little red dot with a number that every other app uses.
Marc did an great job with the design and wrote a super bang-up article on the whole design process. Likewise, Sam and gang did a great job with the iOS dev on what I can only imagine was a really interesting challenge due to the shear volume of videos playing at once.
Tiiny isn't for everyone and who knows how long people will feel compelled to keep making tiny videos, but for now, it's fun and you should totally try it out.