I love photography and I love glass
certified instagram hater (not really, i still use it, but its not what it used to be, and im sad about it) i’ve been a passionate hobbyist for 10+ years. i love glass because i just love looking at good photography and sharing my own. ive been able to connect with some cool people so far, and it feels so much better to share my work with a concentrated group of fellow artists who get it and appreciate the art. the app is constantly improving which i appreciate.
Show less
Where photographers should be
This app is such a refreshing take on a photography forward social media app. No ads, no algorithms, no numbers, just beautiful photos and positive vibes. If you’re on the fence about paying for a subscription just go for it and dive in for a few weeks. You won’t turn back. Instagram is painful to use after getting used to Glass. I can’t wait to see where the developers take this app.
Show less
Response from developer
Thanks for such a thoughtful review! We really appreciate it!
I wanted to believe the hype
I think an ad-free photography community experience is worth paying for but Glass doesn’t really stack up. Incredibly slow development team, still missing a lot of basic features but happy to take your premium subscription money and drag things out over years at this point.
Response from developer
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate your honest perspective and understand your concerns. We’re an incredibly small team, there are just 2 part time engineers working on the product, so we appreciate the patience.
Photography focused app
The community isn’t huge, but that might be an advantage. You can get to know other photographers’ styles. No ads, no influencers, no videos or reels.
Response from developer
Thanks for such a thoughtful review! We really appreciate it.
It’s not there yet, but I’m hopeful
Update: 3 years after launch. This is a wonderful tight knit community. The app has become wonderful. The team is small but actively works to make improvements.
-
Initial review on launch:
The premise of the app is great. I’m happy to pay for a community that isn’t overrun but ads, product ambassadors, and influencers. But the functionality at its initial release is far more basic than I had hoped for. No ability to curate what you see in any capacity. There’s a search field for photographers only, not photos. I’m starting to see mature content with no way to hide it, so I haven’t been opening the app in public. No way to favorite, like, or bookmark. The quality of work on the app isn’t quite there yet either. I see more snapshot style photos than I do carefully crafted photos. Not to say that’s a bad thing, but since there’s no search functionality you have no way to change what you see. It’s all up to Glass. I’m hopeful they’ll improve given time—the team has a forum for suggested improvements and I’ve seen them on Twitter being fairly receptive. I spent $30 for the first year with high hopes, so we’ll see how it goes.
-
Initial review on launch:
The premise of the app is great. I’m happy to pay for a community that isn’t overrun but ads, product ambassadors, and influencers. But the functionality at its initial release is far more basic than I had hoped for. No ability to curate what you see in any capacity. There’s a search field for photographers only, not photos. I’m starting to see mature content with no way to hide it, so I haven’t been opening the app in public. No way to favorite, like, or bookmark. The quality of work on the app isn’t quite there yet either. I see more snapshot style photos than I do carefully crafted photos. Not to say that’s a bad thing, but since there’s no search functionality you have no way to change what you see. It’s all up to Glass. I’m hopeful they’ll improve given time—the team has a forum for suggested improvements and I’ve seen them on Twitter being fairly receptive. I spent $30 for the first year with high hopes, so we’ll see how it goes.
Show less
Response from developer
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We're glad you appreciate the premise of Glass. We understand your concerns about functionality and are actively working on improving the user experience. Your input is invaluable to us as we grow and develop the app. We're committed to creating a community-focused platform and your support means a lot. We hope you'll stick with us as we continue to make enhancements.
Sublime Photography App
A well designed app, a great community, thoughtful developers. A great balance between minimal design and functionality.
Response from developer
Thank you so much! We’re so glad you’re enjoying it.
My new favourite home for photography
Glass has become my go-to community for photography. Meaningful conversations are so superior to “likes”, and with Glass that’s what you get - the community is amazing!!
The app is really well thought out and photos look beautiful. It’s nice to be able to see the work of the people I follow (there’s no algorithms deciding what you should see). There are no distractions. It slows me down and I spend longer appreciating the work I see.
I love Glass so much I’ve now decided to use it for my portfolio.
Thank you to the Glass team!!
The app is really well thought out and photos look beautiful. It’s nice to be able to see the work of the people I follow (there’s no algorithms deciding what you should see). There are no distractions. It slows me down and I spend longer appreciating the work I see.
I love Glass so much I’ve now decided to use it for my portfolio.
Thank you to the Glass team!!
Show less
Response from developer
Thanks for such a thoughtful review, and we love to hear you’re using it for your portfolio too!
Wasted Potential So Far
If the curators don’t follow you, you may as not well bother - there’s a lot of evidence that there’s an “in” group - if you’re not in that “in” group, or if you don’t immediately cater to their specific tastes (and I believe there are only like, 2 curators so tons of room for bias for sure), then you’ll basically get no discovery. Very difficult to find other people you like as well, that goes both ways.
I’m not a big fan of algorithms, but relying on such a small team of curators who seem to have conflicts of interest isn’t a great solution, either. And if you don’t post often, good luck getting seen by a larger group of people because the timeline feed is a slog to go through. If you want an audience, you have to be as addicted to this app as you would with Instagram.
I’m not a big fan of algorithms, but relying on such a small team of curators who seem to have conflicts of interest isn’t a great solution, either. And if you don’t post often, good luck getting seen by a larger group of people because the timeline feed is a slog to go through. If you want an audience, you have to be as addicted to this app as you would with Instagram.
Show less
Response from developer
Thanks so much for the feedback. We’ll keep trying to make Glass better and more inclusive for everyone!
Love it
Amazing app, fills a hole that has been vacant since over a decade. Anyone who appreciates photography should take a look at this app.
Response from developer
Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear that Glass meets your expectations. Your support means a lot to us. Happy shooting!
THE Best
Now that I have seen how a real photography community and sharing app works I will never go back to Instagram, Threads, X or any other influencer driven, algorithm run platform again.
I am not a professional photographer, it’s more of a hobby and bit of therapy for me. It is nice to be able to follow those that are and not be force fed advertisements. Glass seems to have a well rounded community interacting with one another instead of engagement farming post designed to be seen by the algorithm. So happy to not have to constantly see the annoying fake “I am following every photographer that follows me” type of stuff.
I enjoy being able to see the equipment and settings that someone has used for their photo. I am currently in the market for some new lenses, it has been nice to select the lenses I am interested in and be able to quickly see what photos others have taken with them to help in my decision process.
I really enjoy having the public profile that anyone can access through the web without having the app or their own subscription. If I want to have a portfolio to share with someone that option is there and can also be turned off/on.
5 Stars
I am not a professional photographer, it’s more of a hobby and bit of therapy for me. It is nice to be able to follow those that are and not be force fed advertisements. Glass seems to have a well rounded community interacting with one another instead of engagement farming post designed to be seen by the algorithm. So happy to not have to constantly see the annoying fake “I am following every photographer that follows me” type of stuff.
I enjoy being able to see the equipment and settings that someone has used for their photo. I am currently in the market for some new lenses, it has been nice to select the lenses I am interested in and be able to quickly see what photos others have taken with them to help in my decision process.
I really enjoy having the public profile that anyone can access through the web without having the app or their own subscription. If I want to have a portfolio to share with someone that option is there and can also be turned off/on.
5 Stars
Show less
