What's to come of MobileMe Gallery?

[JDDavis]

So iOS5, Lion, and iCloud are all great. I'm glad to see all the improvements and integration. As I was reading up on everything I got an email from Apple about iCloud. It says all the known facts and that MobileMe users would be extended to June 30, 2012 free of charge. After that it says MobileMe will no longer be available.

Great, but.....Has anyone read what happens to MobileMe Gallery? I can't find anything similar in the Cloud yet. It seems the Cloud will make it easy to sync and share pictures between devices but MobileMe Gallery is really a place to host pics and videos on the web. Granted it's not the greatest gallery hosting service out there but I have grown to use it extensively for family viewing of family photos and videos. The one click publishing from Aperture and iMovie make it very easy to put pics and videos up for the family and they all know where to go to get them. I stopped using iWeb for family stuff because one click posting from Aperture and iMovie was just easier.

Anyway, maybe someone has read or heard something about pic and video hosting with iCloud? I read that only the last 1000 (I think) photos will be on the cloud. I didn't ready anything about video. Again as far as I have read it's all about sharing/syncing stuff between your devices. I really hope they keep, and improve, some kind of gallery service. I could go back to iWeb but that's an extra step and I wonder what will happen to it since my site is hosted thru my MobileMe account?

Love the new stuff, but I've got questions that need answerin'.

 

[munkees]

I have been think about this too. I am hoping there will be some more information in the future. This also applies to websites hosted at MM.

 

[VirtualRain]

My guess is that Apple will drop that. It makes no sense to continue investing to compete with existing photo hosting solutions like Flickr, Smugmug, Zenfolio, Picasa, etc.

 

[JDDavis]

My guess is that Apple will drop that. It makes no sense to continue investing to compete with existing photo hosting solutions like Flickr, Smugmug, Zenfolio, Picasa, etc.

I kinda agree that there is no real money to be made competing with the other services but it is a way to provide an integrated service to Apple customers that makes things easier. Happy customers are return customers. On the photo side of the house I guess it's not that big of a deal. I use Flickr and Zenfolio and you pretty much have one click posting from Aperture with both of those. I just liked having all of the family stuff on the MobileMe Gallery only and it being right there with videos. The video part and one click posting from iMovie would be what I would miss the most. It works well and I can manage where the movies are (and what size) through iMovie. I know iMovie can post to other things like YouTube and Vimeo but I'd rather not have to send all the family to Zenfolio for pics and YouTube for family videos. I really don't want my family videos on YouTube anyway. It's unfounded, but for some reason the thought of putting my family videos on YouTube is not a pleasant one to me.

We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[sananda]

I love MobileMe galleries but right now it pretty much looks like the won't exist in a year.

 

[paulsalter]

I currently use mobile me galleries and flickr

mm for family pictures, flickr for everything else

i suppose if it does go then i will just move everything to flickr (family/friends viewing only, but will need to get them to sign up to flickr to view)

be sad to see galleries go

i wonder what happens if you migrate to iCloud in the autumn (fall), will your galleries end then or still continue till june 2012

 

[fcortese]

From the whole iCloud presentation, PhotoSteam was stressed, but I too found myself wondering about what would happen to my albums and videos in moblleMe. I guess we are stuck with waiting for those using the beta versions to begin sharing their experiences with us or for Apple to react to questions about what will happen to galleries and how if at all it would integrate with iCloud.

 

[munkees]

Maybe the will be away in iCloud to host MM galleries. I hope will have to come up with something, also for video, it kind of leaves a big hole in the iPhoto/iMovie share, making it no longer a turn key solution, I guess we shall have to wait and see what happens or does not happen.

 

[VirtualRain]

When I got into photography, I started out using MM galleries, but quickly discovered they are terrible. The quality of the photos after they compress them is horrible and the features are way behind. I quickly switched to Zenfolio. Amazing service, quality, features, customization, and recently iOS apps, for only a small fee.

If you want to share crappy quality pictures with family and friends, even Facebook is better than MM.

So that's why I suspect Apple has no intent to carry MM galleries forward. I'd rather Apple focus on adding value like synchronization through iCloud and forget about hosting/sharing.

For Video, there's Youtube... no need to compete with that either.

 

[walnuts]

I agree with you all- I use the gallery feature often and would hate to see it go.

But, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Steve really stressed the iCloud idea and how it was part of a move to get rid of the traditional file system (in fact it was in line with a lot of the statements in he made in that video was posted on MR a few days back). Apple has made iCloud APIs so that other apps could use iCloud storage as part of this strategy.

I see iPhoto and Aperture as apps using the Gallery as iCloud storage. It would seem to me that the iPhoto/Aperture/Gallery link serves as a great example that they would hope developers would follow. It would be shooting themselves in the foot to ask developers to integrate iCloud into their apps while removing their own services.

I do think (and this is why it wasn't mentioned) that the Gallery WOULD count towards your 5GB limit. It wouldn't be "free" like everything else in the presentation (and I could see myself and others exceeding the 5GB limit relatively easily with a lot of photos) . Apple probably hasn't worked this out and didn't want to muddy the presentation with this level of detail.

 

[Small White Car]

MobileMe is still my favorite way to share photos. I really hope they keep it.

The best hope I can offer is that iCould is keeping the '@me.com' e-mails, so they're not necessarily changing everything. Perhaps the galleries will survive the transition.

 

[csjcsj]

I wish they'd bring back homepage. Gallery is ok but homepage had way more options. I've finally converted some of my homepage photo albums to Gallery, and now they'll take away that too?

Why do early adopters continue to get screwed?

 

[munkees]

When I got into photography, I started out using MM galleries, but quickly discovered they are terrible. The quality of the photos after they compress them is horrible and the features are way behind. I quickly switched to Zenfolio. Amazing service, quality, features, customization, and recently iOS apps, for only a small fee.

If you want to share crappy quality pictures with family and friends, even Facebook is better than MM.

So that's why I suspect Apple has no intent to carry MM galleries forward. I'd rather Apple focus on adding value like synchronization through iCloud and forget about hosting/sharing.

For Video, there's Youtube... no need to compete with that either.

I have been looking at zenfolio, for photos will work, but my website and videos, that is another issue. I do not want to upload my videos to youtube, I have a vimeo plus account. Youtube is just so trashy now days, the homepage you get is full of advertisement and links to videos you do not want.

I guess I will have to look for a small place to host my website.

I enjoyed having one account to do all this, now I have to have many accounts.

 

[Small White Car]

When I got into photography, I started out using MM galleries, but quickly discovered they are terrible. The quality of the photos after they compress them is horrible and the features are way behind.

Huh. This is terrible? I'm afraid my standards must be low because they all look fine to me.

 

[sananda]

Huh. This is terrible? I'm afraid my standards must be low because they all look fine to me.

Image

They look great to me too!

 

[Steven in VA]

Family Galleries

I have a family MM account; our kids are scattered from DC to Hawaii. They post photos and videos for each other, for the whole family, for friends--all in a much nicer setting than any of the Picasa/Snapfish/etc ilk. We all use our galleries; they're a great family asset. If iCloud takes the galleries away, it will be a huge disappointment for many of us who like them.

 

[JDDavis]

When I got into photography, I started out using MM galleries, but quickly discovered they are terrible. The quality of the photos after they compress them is horrible and the features are way behind. I quickly switched to Zenfolio. Amazing service, quality, features, customization, and recently iOS apps, for only a small fee.

If you want to share crappy quality pictures with family and friends, even Facebook is better than MM.

So that's why I suspect Apple has no intent to carry MM galleries forward. I'd rather Apple focus on adding value like synchronization through iCloud and forget about hosting/sharing.

For Video, there's Youtube... no need to compete with that either.

I agree that Zenfolio is is great and way better than MM Galleries but that's not really the point. That's why I use MM for sharing family photos and videos and Zenfolio for all my "quality " shots. I like that I can store full resolution jpegs on Zenfolio. I've never had a problem with the quality of MM for sharing family photos and videos online. If there is a shot that someone wants as a print I upload it to Zenfolio so they can get full resolution or buy a print.

It's really the combination of one click photo/video uploading and viewing that I will miss if it goes. Aperture/iMovie/MM Galleries work great together and it's a very quick workflow. I know there are other services out there but I'm swimming deep in the Apple koolaide and enjoy the integration. I realize MM Galleries are no more secure than any other service but the thought of putting photos and videos of my 5yr old daughter on Facebook or YouTube just creeps me out. Both of those are two big of a target for nare-do-wells (sp?) Besides, what I really want is for my family photos and videos to be in the same place online.

You might be right in that they see no value in competing but to me a gallery service seems like a natural extension of iCloud for sharing with people not on your network or without iOS devices.

 

[JDDavis]

I agree with you all- I use the gallery feature often and would hate to see it go.

But, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Steve really stressed the iCloud idea and how it was part of a move to get rid of the traditional file system (in fact it was in line with a lot of the statements in he made in that video was posted on MR a few days back). Apple has made iCloud APIs so that other apps could use iCloud storage as part of this strategy.

I see iPhoto and Aperture as apps using the Gallery as iCloud storage. It would seem to me that the iPhoto/Aperture/Gallery link serves as a great example that they would hope developers would follow. It would be shooting themselves in the foot to ask developers to integrate iCloud into their apps while removing their own services.

I do think (and this is why it wasn't mentioned) that the Gallery WOULD count towards your 5GB limit. It wouldn't be "free" like everything else in the presentation (and I could see myself and others exceeding the 5GB limit relatively easily with a lot of photos) . Apple probably hasn't worked this out and didn't want to muddy the presentation with this level of detail.

You make some good points and I hope that you are right. Other than having a .mac/.me email the real reason I pay $99 a year for MM is to have the single place to post family photos and videos that is integrated with my photo and video editing software of choice. Perhaps iCloud will offer some kind of "private viewing" of your cloud hosted photos and videos. Something where you could send an invite to someone you wished to give access to.

I just thought of another thing I liked about MM Galleries. My brother who just bought a new Apple TV (recent convert) can subscribe to my MM Gallery and view it on his TV. I know ATVs will be able to "photo stream" but I wonder if that's only your ATV photo streaming your photos?

More questions than answers. It's early though so we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[mackmgg]

I just thought of another thing I liked about MM Galleries. My brother who just bought a new Apple TV (recent convert) can subscribe to my MM Gallery and view it on his TV. I know ATVs will be able to "photo stream" but I wonder if that's only your ATV photo streaming your photos?

More questions than answers. It's early though so we'll just have to wait and see.

The AppleTV also has an option for subscribing to Flickr streams. If Apple doesn't have anything to replace MM, that may be an option to look into. Also, most apps let you upload straight to flickr

 

[VirtualRain]

Huh. This is terrible? I'm afraid my standards must be low because they all look fine to me.

I did an evaluation of MM, Flickr, Zenfolio, and Facebook... Uploading the same high res JPEG to each service just over a year ago. At least at that time, MM and Facebook both resulted in significantly soft recompressed images. So bad, that I felt they reflected poorly on my photography: almost implying to viewers that all my shots were done using a camera phone. Flickr was much better but their UI at the time was not to my liking (it's improved now). Zenfolio did the best job of conserving sharpness and quality on the reduced sized images, at least to my eyes and seemed to do the best job presenting thumbs and images together and scaling the image size to the viewers display.

Whether MM goes away or not, you should try out Zenfolio... I think there's a free trial. Try uploading few of your fav photos to compare. You might be impressed with the improvement... Especially if you're shooting with expensive high quality gear and doing post in Aperture or Lightroom with some output sharpening.

Did I mention their latest iOS app is also very nice?

BTW, I'm not a shill for Zenfolio, just passionate about photography and preserving as much of the quality as possible for those I'm sharing my photos with.

I agree that Zenfolio is is great and way better than MM Galleries but that's not really the point. That's why I use MM for sharing family photos and videos and Zenfolio for all my "quality " shots. I like that I can store full resolution jpegs on Zenfolio. I've never had a problem with the quality of MM for sharing family photos and videos online. If there is a shot that someone wants as a print I upload it to Zenfolio so they can get full resolution or buy a print.

It's really the combination of one click photo/video uploading and viewing that I will miss if it goes. Aperture/iMovie/MM Galleries work great together and it's a very quick workflow.

I'm surprised you don't use Zenfolio for sharing as well. It can be much more than a portfolio site. Since you probably are paying for an unlimited storage account already, why not use it to the fullest... For all your photo sharing needs?

There is one click export from Aperture to Zenfolio as well. I'm confused why you would use MM.

 

[paulsalter]

Whether MM goes away or not, you should try out Zenfolio... I think there's a free trial. Try uploading few of your fav photos to compare. You might be impressed with the improvement... Especially if you're shooting with expensive high quality gear and doing post in Aperture or Lightroom with some output sharpening.

Cheers for that, I have heard the name but not looked into it

Any idea how this compares to smugmug, i have been looking into this but not done anything yet

 

[Ish]

MobileMe is still my favorite way to share photos. I really hope they keep it.

The best hope I can offer is that iCould is keeping the '@me.com' e-mails, so they're not necessarily changing everything. Perhaps the galleries will survive the transition.

Love it!

 

[JDDavis]

I'm surprised you don't use Zenfolio for sharing as well. It can be much more than a portfolio site. Since you probably are paying for an unlimited storage account already, why not use it to the fullest... For all your photo sharing needs?

There is one click export from Aperture to Zenfolio as well. I'm confused why you would use MM.

I do use Zenfolio for the family shots that people want prints or high res copies of. I use the export to Zenfolio option in Aperture and love it. Works great. The only reason I use MM Galleries over Zenfolio or any other service is that with MM I have the same easy uploading of photos and videos (with iMovie) and it's a single place on the net where family can go to view both photos and videos. If Zenfolio supported videos and had a export API in iMovie I'd use it for everything in a heartbeat.

 

[Small White Car]

Whether MM goes away or not, you should try out Zenfolio...

Ok, I've been playing with Zenfolio for half an hour and I'm still stuck with several major problems. Maybe I'm missing options (this thing has control panels all over the place) so I might just need more time.

But as of right now, my problems are:

1) The gallery thumbnails won't fill the page. I can turn off all the stuff in the left column but it just stays as a big empty blank space so half the page is just empty for no reason.

2) Same problem when viewing an individual photo. It's not as big as it could be because the page is reserving the right column for options that I have hidden.

3) I can't seem to hide the 'buy' button.

4) It took me forever to turn off all the stuff on the page, can I save that as a default somehow? I wouldn't want to have to do that every time I make a gallery.

5) What's the point of my home page? It shows the logo I uploaded but nothing else. I have to click 'all my photos' to see anything. So what's the point of the nice clean URL if that's never what I'd e-mail anybody? Am I supposed to somehow add galleries to this page manually? (Not a dealbreaker, just weird.)

6) Not too fond of the guestbook, but I could live with it. Likewise, the menus are always on showing way more than they need to, but I'll live. (Not a dealbreaker.)

7) How can my guests download all the photos at full resolution with one button? I can't even figure out how to do it in a complicated way (like, by manually selecting them all) let alone in an easy "here's a button" way.

8) There's probably no way to view these on an AppleTV, is there? (Not a dealbreaker.)

- - -

So 5 of these 8 items are deal-breakers for me and the other 3 are just annoying. Maybe I'll figure them all out but I'm not feeling too positive.

I've said I've never found anything as perfect as MobileMe. It's been several years now. I don't think anyone else is interested in making something like that or they would have by now.

 

[Waybo]

Huh. ... they all look fine to me.

I'm sorry, but I see a SIGNIFICANT difference between them... they progressively get paler. I don't know the right terminology to describe it, but:

Compare the top of the head, just before the shadow. In the original, it is clearly a brown/tan. It looks almost pink in the MM view, with the MM download in between.

Compare the eyes. They get lighter and lighter.

Compare the nose. Black becomes a dark grey.

Compare the forehead. The color is washed out in the MM versions.

Compare the face. There's a lot more white in the MM version.

(It's more evident in the larger versions than the thumbnail.)

If I'm going to go to the effort of making my photos look the best I can (in my photography and in my post editing), I don't want the images to change ... if someone is going to download my photo, I want them to get the same quality as I have. Even if it's just family and friends.

If they share a photo with me, I want the best they have, so I can fix it, as much as possible, to my standards. (Q: How do you spell OCD? A: CDO, it has to be alphabetical!)

I love MM for keeping my contacts and calendars synced on my Macbook Pro, my IPad and my IPhone ... but that's all I use it for.

I don't use the email, but I can sympathize with those who might loose that identity. That's why, years ago, I created my own domain, so my email address would never change, unless *I* chose to change it. http://www.aplus.net/ has worked fine for me.

Of course, to take advantage of the ICloud, you have to upgrade to the new OS... which might mean it won't run on older machines???

Just my initial thoughts ...