Pixplit Is a Photo App That’s Actually Social

Okay, so let me be upfront about this: It’s another mobile photo app.

But Pixplit actually has an interesting spin that makes it more social and interactive — almost like a simple game.

Pixplit is an iPhone app that helps users build photo montages together. Basically, the first person contributes a photo and a caption, and the next person (or people) adds their own take.

Each “split” is public and can be “resplit” by anyone who wants to join in.

In a way, each post is like a prompt, asking other people to contribute. So, for example, someone might post a picture of a sunset from where they are, and someone somewhere else might add in their own view. Or someone could post a picture of their hand in the shape of half of a heart, and someone else could complete it. Or, they could take the riff in a totally different direction.

The somewhat awkwardly named app is made by a small team of seed-funded mobile app developers I met on a trip to Israel this week. It has a nicely novel visual aesthetic — though, of course, it resembles Instagram and other mobile social media apps.

“In other apps, the individual takes photos, and then it’s social later,” noted Pixplit co-founder Jay Meydad. “This is social from the start.”

Pixplit users can participate with their friends and with the broader Pixplit audience (which is not very broad — the app only launched a couple months ago, and just became available for users outside of Israel).

Meydad noted that one thing his small company needs to work on is helping match users to each other — because a montage can’t be completed unless someone else finds it.

In a way, it’s like playing a simple game — using a sort of visual hashtag to start a conversation with someone else in the world. Meydad pointed to the potential for working with brands — where Pixplit users might get to co-create montages with Lady Gaga or Nike.

Pixplit is extremely similar to existing apps, but also perhaps just enough different to attract users of its own — similar to recent breakouts like Cinemagram and Snapchat.

Montages of photos have become popular on Instagram and elsewhere, with users dropping in sets made with tools like Pic Stitch and PicFrame. And Pixplit uers can export their splits to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — but when they do so, they get flattened out into normal pictures.

Here’s what the app looks like, in case my description hasn’t come across: