Description: Binbine is a social app for Android that aims to take on photo sharing with a new twist. Rather than coat your images with different colored filters like Instagram, or join groups like Flickr, Binbine is all about putting two photos together to create a single share. These two photos each carry their own tagline and what you choose to share together is up to you. You can share a pair of photos that go together, complete opposites, before and afters or juxtapose images side-by-side to deliver some sort of commentary. Bines, as these pair of images are known, can be seen in feeds and you can comment or like these bines, as well friend other users to create a sort of community around binbine.
How it Works: First of all, you’ll need to download Binbine from the Play Store. Straight away you’ll be able to view bines from others.
To share your own creations, you’ll need to log in or create an account, which is nice and easy from the get go.
Once you’ve set up your own account, you can start to share your own Binbine, this is done by choosing two photos, either shooting them there and then or by choosing them from your gallery.
I’ve decided to go with a nice lighthearted share about my cats, who secretly love music. When you share a photo or two, you can add a caption to both images as well as a main title.
You can view the Best and New feeds without signing up for an account, but without an account you won’t able to add friends or share your own things. Let alone like or comment on beautiful shares like these.
Opinion: As a closet photographer myself, I can see the importance and the effect that grouping certain photos together can have. Putting certain pairs together can create some pretty potent effects, as well as being lighthearted. One of my favorite finds on Binbine was a picture of the desert in California and then one in Russia, looking very similar. Something like that can paint a pretty powerful image and suggest that the Russians and Americans are more alike than we first thought. I chose to go with something a little more lighthearted and had a good time pairing some snaps together. It’s all up to you and there’s a lot of fun to be had with Binbine.
Ratings
- Speed (5/5) – Binbine runs well and I never had any issues sharing photos or loading those I wanted to take a closer look at. The more you use Binbine, the more surprised I was at how smooth the app continues to run.
- Features (5/5) – A great new take on the whole photo sharing thing, Binbine has a lot to offer those looking for something fresh and different.
- Theme (4/5) – Binbine is a good-looking app and all of the controls are easy enough to find and it’s straightforward in how it works as well.
- Overall (4/5) – If you’re looking to share photos without the drama of which filter to choose, and the focus on creativity rather than #selfies, then Binbine and its mechanic of sharing two images at a time is for you.
Pros
- Binbine works well, is easy to get to grips with and offers something new all in one swoop.
- Easy and simple methods are used to connect with others and nothing ever has to be too personal if you don’t want it to.
- Sharing photos in pairs might not sound like much, but it can speak wonders.
- A nice breath of fresh air from Instagram and the filter choice overload.
Cons
- Image ratio selection, rather than just squares would be nice, I personally prefer to shoot in 3:2.
- Tighter integration with the likes of Twitter would help the service take off.
Conclusion: Binbine is a great application that offers a welcome breath of fresh air from the usual photo sharing sites out there. It’s key mechanic of offering two images paired together might seem overly simplified, but it works incredibly well. You can control what your share says by what two images you choose to pair together and what you say about them. A great way to express your photo taking in a subtle, yet powerful new way and a good way of connecting with new people, Binbine is definitely worth taking a look at.