Posterous is a microblogging platform that makes creating media-rich posts a breeze. Previously, the only access to Posterous via iDevice was through the mobile site or using PicPosterous, which has been available in the iTunes App Store for about a year. PicPosterous was handy, but its limited functionality—simple photo and video uploading—wasn’t ideal for Posterous power users. Now, Posterous has launched a fully functional app for iPhone and iPod Touch, which is free in the iTunes App Store.
One of the great things about Posterous, both in its app and website formats, is that new users can instantly start a site through the service without any sort of pre-registration. If you already have Posterous sites, you can log in and manage all existing sites — or start a new domain in-app instantly.
Creating posts uses a typical interface, although the app doesn’t seem to support landscape typing, which may annoy some. Through the info “I” on the post page, you can add tags and geotags, and set individual autopost and privacy settings. The plus sign allows users to take photo and video within the app, or you can choose existing media from your camera roll. Within the settings panel, users can choose the quality of their photo and video posts, which will upload in the background while you multitask. Posterous also supports voice files, but I didn’t see a way to include these from the app.
Posterous’s app isn’t flawless. There’s no way to save drafts or edit existing posts, although you can delete them and schedule autoposting. Autopost is one of Posterous’s big draws—you can simultaneously post to a host of other sites—but there isn’t any in-app enabling of this feature. When viewing my Posterous sites, I was initially taken to a mobile version of the site. I tried the “use full site” function at the bottom of the screen, but couldn’t find a way to revert back to the preferred mobile version, even after exiting the app.
Posterous is one of the easiest to use services I’ve found in recent memory, so if you’re an iPhone user looking to start blogging, give the Posterous app a try.
