Show HN: (first iPhone App) Picsicle - Customized Photo Postcards

by frankdenbow • 15 years ago

52 19 15 years ago

dholowiski• 15 years ago

Not great timing... you heard that Apple is doing the exact same thing, with the built in "Cards" app in IOS5?

frankdenbow5• 15 years ago

Yep we saw that. Ours are $1 less for U.S and $3 less for international cards and has some personalization options (thought bubbles, filters, etc) that make it stand out a bit from Apples product. Hopefully they help to evangelize the idea of sending physical gifts in this way.

heliodor• 15 years ago

The best way to tackle the big competitor that I've heard of is to let them do the marketing and provide the base product, while you just provide the premium product.

brezina• 15 years ago

to be clear - the "Cards" app won't be built-in. users will still have to download it like any other app.

But more importantly, Apple's app is just one type of card app. Hallmark, American Greetings, Papyrus, Tiny Prints, etc all exist in the web and offline cards space - Apple and Sincerely are the big players in the new mobile greeting cards space.

You can't do anything like you can do with Picsicle with the Cards app: filters, thoughts bubbles, photo editing. Plus it is cheaper. Finally, this is just V1 of Picsicle. We'll see many more innovations from Picsicle and other Sincerely Ship partners over the next months and years - this is what startups do best

eekfuh• 15 years ago

Very neat. Is this using sincerely or something else?

frankdenbow5• 15 years ago

Yep its using Sincerely for the fulfillment of the postcards. Hoping to add in Facebook photos and some interesting templates, in addition to expanding the personalization options even more from the thought bubbles/filters/drawing tools/stickers that are in there now.

Looking for more feedback since this is my first iOS app.

theoj• 15 years ago

Nice use of Aviary too.

te_platt• 15 years ago

You might want to emphasize the first k sound. When I first looked I read it as Pissicle and had a different idea of what your product is. piCsicle, PiCsicle, ... ?

frankdenbow5• 15 years ago

Ah yes, i have been having some trouble with that recently and you are right. Some are thinking it is spelled with an X as well.

rookie• 15 years ago

or PICsicle?

jorkos• 15 years ago

congrats. yes, change the name. picpost is the first thing i think of... good luck on the venture

frankdenbow5• 15 years ago

Thanks! We'll think about it and see if there is a better one.

sethbannon• 15 years ago

Very cool app!

martinshen• 15 years ago

Awesome. Check out www.hipster.com

pieter• 15 years ago

Hey, I tried your app but didn't order a card. Here's why:

I had to manually enter addresses instead of being able to select them from my address book. This is really annoying, I'd rather have only the option to select pcontacts than being able to enter custom addresses

The second reason is I had to enter my CC info to orde a card. I'd rather do this through inapp purchases and then wouldn't mind paying a dollar more for it.

Finally, 4-6 weeks delivery really is too long for a "I'll just send a card from my vacation location" type of thing.

frankdenbow5• 15 years ago

Thanks for the feedback Pieter. We definitely want to make it easier to put in addresses in the ordering process, so it is definitely a high priority.

In terms of in-app purchases, it is to be used for digital good only: (check 11.3)

http://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guide...

Where were you sending to/from? Delivery times differ based on location (limitations of the postal service).

Really appreciate the feedback

younata• 15 years ago

For those of us without an apple developer account:

11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the application will be rejected

megablast• 15 years ago

You can get around this by giving them points. It takes 1 point for a postcard, and you can buy 5 points for $10. Something like that.

It may work, have not tried it myself.

zackattack• 15 years ago

Awesome! Congrats on launching :)

Show HN: (first iPhone App) Picsicle - Customized Photo Postcards

Related Stories