Flixel Review

Just a couple weeks ago, I reviewed Cinemagram, an app that allows users to create images with moving video elements. Flixel allows users to do the same thing but is a superior service in a few ways.

The most significant triumph of Flixel over Cinemagram is that Flixel is free. It’s tough to get a social network off the ground if new users have to pay for the app. Flixel makes money from in-app purchases, specifically, selling filters for Flixel images.

Creating a Flixel has quite a few editing options that aren’t just limited to adding filters at the end. Users can also control the loop direction (instead of just repeating, users can make the video go forward then reverse). While actually shooting the video, users can turn on the flash (I love when video apps allow the flash to stay on), display a grid, and use either the back or front-facing camera.

Unlike Cinemagram, Flixel doesn’t allow users to shoot a video and then pick the clip afterwards. There’s a set amount of time the video shoots and that’s all it allows. Because of this, most Flixels have to be staged, whereas the cinemagrams don’t necessarily.

Flixel allows sharing over social networks: Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. It also includes the option to share via email and save to the camera roll.

Like Cinemagram, this app has some serious loading problems. Since both apps load many flixels/cinemagrams at a time, they’re basically just loading multiple videos on the same screen. Though, Flixel does a better job at taking care of this problem by displaying thumbnails of the Flixels instead of the actual video motions. To actually see a Flixel in motion, users have to tap on the thumbnail. This is something I hoped Cinemagram would implement to reduce to lag in the app. Despite this, Flixel is still laggy on certain screens.

The one addition that Flixel absolutely needs is adding clips from the camera roll to the app. This way, instead of staging Flixels, users can create them from events they’ve already caught on video.

Since it’s free, it can’t hurt to give Flixel a shot and post a Flixel on Facebook or Twitter. Like Cinemagram, every friend I showed this to immediately downloaded the app.

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