TimeShutter iOS & Android Mobile App
TimeShutter is a personal project of one designer and one developer. It's a photography app that shows changes through time-lapsed photos and generates gifs or videos for sharing. It has more than 100K users and was featured in “Best New App” in App Store “Photo & Video” category in 2014. We started from iOS, then launched the Android version.
Featured in App Store
Our users sharing their stories with us
"Make a product from your own needs".
I was amazed when I saw that a photographer uses a fixed camera to capture the time-lapse in a BBC documentary. (Problem) I also want to apply it to our own use case, documenting the weight loss, or flower blossoming moments. Is there an easy way to adopt the fixed camera idea to our life? A smartphone would be the best tool. (Solution) A top layer alignment stabled template can mimic a fixed camera angle. Daily pictures lapse to show changes over time.
Will this app be useful to others?
We went through the top iOS apps under photo categories to find the hint, we did a competitor research analysis of each app's pros & cons. The result is YES, there is a big gap for us to fill. Then, we started! Firstly iOS then Android - English & Chinese versions.
How to promote the app?
We started learning how to build a marketing demo. Hands-on every detail, choose/edit background music. Thinking about the product name, and modeling for the product demo that I changed more than 20 outfits in the camera taken in one afternoon. We contacted some websites and free press to promote us. Lucky enough, we didn't spend any money on marketing. Quickly we gain a large group of users across the world.
Now, we are looking for new feature opportunities to make it better. I believe that starting from our own pain point is a good starting point.
Responsibility emphasizes
Created the product UX/UI in both iOS & Android platform. Simplified user interactions by engaging gestures.
User-centered design that cared about user perception. Used visual patterns to highlight features to stand out from competitors. Designed both UI and visual.
