Back in September, I reviewed Flickr’s long-awaited app for iPhone and iPod Touch. My review wasn’t glowing and recommended that Flickr fans wait for an update before downloading the app. I promptly deleted the app, not giving it another look until last week, just after the photo-sharing service rolled out an update to support iOS 4. I don’t want to plagiarize my own review, but I have to once again tell fans that the free Flickr app still doesn’t measure up.
Most notably, the Flickr update gives support for multitasking, allowing users to upload photos in the background. There is no push notification if your download is successful, but a badge does appear and disappear on your springboard. The app also uses fast-app switching, bringing you back into the app from where you left it. Flickr added simultaneous upload to Twitter, but users have to authorize the service through Flickr’s regular website. My test uploads errored out on Twitter when I had Flickr running in the background, but did successfully post to both sites when I had the app fully open. That’s a trade-off you’ll have to choose.
Flickr claims to support HD video uploads, but when I uploaded video from my library to the site, the app automatically compressed it. Flickr did not compress video I shot directly from the app, but that’s not the most convenient method. The “You” and “Contacts” tabs on the homepage synced to my account with no problem, but I was never able to see any information within the “Recent” field.
Flickr is a step up from its first incarnation, but the app is still committing a cardinal sin when it comes to EXIF data. The app is still stripping photos of this information and overriding it with the upload date, time and location. This was a problem for me almost a year ago and certainly something that users should have expected fixed long ago.
