UNUM — Layout for Instagram Reviews

by Ahreewestee

I’ve used UNUM since 2015 and would refer friends to it for ease of use and accessibility for low-income artists like myself (the free version was at least useable).

I upgraded to a paid plan for the grid quantity in 2016.

Now, after the last rounds of updates, adding new photos and rearranging the grid is so frustratingly clunky and complicated. This is a classic case of app designers wanting so desperately to add in ALL the unnecessary features they can think of while losing sight of the reason they started. Story layouts? Cool I guess but there are so many other apps for that. Why are you trying to compete in that market when you were killing it in your niche?

My biggest beef though is that you’re not even keeping your app relevant for features in Instagram. When you upload a Reel to your feed in Instagram, the thumbnail doesn’t display in your UNUM grid. So you have to take a screenshot and upload that as a makeshift solution, until the grid shifts and you can’t even rely on that. How can you call yourself an app for Instagram feed planning when you can’t even *promptly* (not months later while we pay for UNUMLayout for the months it’s useless) deliver on one of the most basic features that’s integral for that function?

After years of being a daily user, I’m so disappointed to have lost this tool.

Now with iOS’s Photos app ability to rearrange photos in an album, I’ll be using that free feature from now on.

by CaleighG51

UNUMLayout has a lot of bugs and issues, way more than any other planning app I’ve used before. Not only that, but the company does nothing to help with issues beyond that. I’ve had lots of complications while trying to get the right membership plan. When I wanted to upgrade my account, I had to create a whole new one and pay for a new year. Then about a month later, they completely changed each membership level and I didn’t qualify for any of the upgrades unless I bought a whole new year. They literally just changed the names of each membership, and they wouldn’t switch me over to get any of the new features - I’d have to completely change my account and pay again.
Anyway, I’ve been planning on letting my subscription end and then switching apps. I thought I did everything on my end to prevent it from charging me. But turns out, it wasn’t connected to apple so I didn’t see that I had a resubscription coming up and they charged me for another year. I reached out the second I got the email of my receipt and they replied saying “We’ve cancelled your subscription. Unfortunately we don’t give refunds unless UNUMLayout isn’t working”. I’m so over trying to give UNUMLayout a try and every time I’ve reached out I’m extremely disappointed and let down. And now I’ve given them almost $200 for another year subscription that I won’t be using. I would not bother with UNUMLayout.

by Katenora

I returned to UNUMLayout for the first time in ages, so I had to make an account. I hoped these changes meant that a great app had become even better while I was away, and instead I discover a hot mess. The new UI is much less intuitive, which would be forgivable, but for the bugs! I can't place pictures more than a couple of days old because my photo albums won't populate properly in UNUMLayout . My photos all show up as terrible little slivers instead of the full images and it only shows me a jumbled repeat of my last 50 or so pics, no matter which album I try to import from. The images even glitch and reshuffle as I scroll. It's an absolute wreck. I just updated again, hoping that would solve the bug. Nope. It's a shame. It used to be such a sleek app.
UPDATE: Only fifteen minutes later, it crashed and deleted the lengthy caption I had composed for one of the only photos I succeeded in getting out of my album. So now it goes from two stars to one and I will likely delete it.

by 9519RT

*Added for developer response- they say the shift function has been combines and automatically shifts now, which is true; however it doesn’t work the same as before the update. It’s not even close.*

I’ve only used the free version of UNUMLayout due to the fact that in the years I’ve had UNUMLayout they’ve never been able to get videos to load properly. When it shows what has already been shared to Instagram, it completely skips the videos, resulting in an incomplete and out of order experience. They also don’t display reels in the feed. Recently, they decided to take away what is probably the most useful tool, shift, from the free version. There’s no way I’m paying such a steep price for just the one added useful feature in an app that has yet been able to deliver a bug free experience. I might’ve paid the asking price from a few years ago, ~$3 per month, but they keep asking more money every year for something that has had issues the whole time.

by JuliusCaesarSalads

I never left a review before but UNUMLayout is so frustrating I can’t hold back any longer. I loved it when it was a simple grid planner but every new update is full of bugs, adds random features I don’t want, complicates use and makes it more expensive.
For example, now every time I open UNUMLayout I have to scroll for about 5 minutes through extra blank squares with no way to condense them. If I add new pics they come in at the top of these hundreds of blanks and there is no way to add multiple images down where I want them. Moving the multiple images is so laborious I don’t even try.
I no longer use it for captions or hashtags bc of the several times it’s failed to save or crashed while writing. On the other hand, a simple feature like alerting for duplicate hashtags would be great.
Often freezes as I try to shift. Doesn’t allow shift while an image is selected.
Perhaps the problem is that all I want to do is add images, hide images and shift. If there is a simple app that does just that it would be great. This one used to be simple but unfortunately they added so many nonsense features it became truly a pain to use.

by D-man800

I have been trying to use UNUMLayout for the last two years I was loyal and faithful to it but it was not faithful to me it has crashed at least twice losing all of the photos and data! I’ve also had to pay several times even though I purchased the elite plan for whatever reason it Wouldn’t let me use the pro features even though I had the plan so I had to re-purchase it! I’ve attempted to contact support and have never gotten any. So I re-purchased the elite plan started over and yet again went into my account and all my photos were gone they just don’t show up but if you double click on them you can see they are there but they are not visual everything just looks like white squares….ugghhh what a bummer. I don’t think I have it in me to invest any more time or money into UNUMLayout hopefully you will be able to work out these issues, it’s been very disappointing.

by Neerol

Terrible.

I never write reviews but I use to be a long time fan of UNUM. I’m a content creator on Instagram. Would always suggest UNUMLayout to people who would ask what I use to plan. I spoke about it on panels I would speak on. With all the changes I DO NOT recommend UNUMLayout.

They take away the most basic features. For the free version now you can’t even upload new photos unless you subscribe. Which is what UNUMLayout is meant to do. There are many planning apps that are free that allow you to upload at least 30 imaged every month.

I highly suggest you find an alternative to UNUMLayout. Zero stars if I could.

In response to the developers.

When having a free app and having in app purchases they don’t remove the basic uses of UNUMLayout . Your app specifically is for layouts of your feed. When you remove the basic function of your app that’s why you’re getting so many bad reviews. Content creators/influencers/brands/creative directors who use this no longer like it because of these types of changes.

Other apps such as preview allow up to 30 photos to be uploaded every month. Now ppl have to pay to upgrade to upload photos. The free version is dreadful. I appreciate your response but it I’m not using it as much as I use to love it. I would if there was a flat rate instead of monthly.

by Amy.jennings

I would love to give UNUMLayout a five star rating. As a long-time user, both paid and free version, I can say it works wonderfully most of the time. But updates have been continually stripping more and more features from the free version to where it is now practically unusable. The entire POINT is to be able to map out a grid for your feed, considering how each image will look against the next as your feed progresses. With the removal of the simple “Shift” function from the free version, anyone without a paid subscription is unable to properly plan even a few images in advance without a blind spot. I understand restricting grid space, editing options, etc, but it’s pretty nasty to remove even the most basic functions from the free version for long time users, who will now have to pay - or go elsewhere. Like I will. BAD FORM, UNUM. 👎🏻👎🏻

by Bizzy3050

I have loved UNUMLayout in comparison to other similar apps. I’ve been using it for years!! The fact that literally ALL of the features that were free for YEARS are now only available with the elite version, is completely ridiculous. I understand wanting to make revenue but considering all of the negative feedback, perhaps consider charging less. $7 for free and not new features is a stretch. Honestly, if the monthly fee was $1.99 or $2.99 I would be more likely to cough it up just to have all of the free features back. And I really wouldn’t even mind since I do love UNUMLayout and I value the features. It just seems inconsiderate for your day one supporters like myself. Couldn’t we get “Grandfathered in” or something? And charge the 7bucks to the newbs?? That would be nice and greatly appreciated. I really hope y’all fix this soon.

by Myrnamd

I used to love love love UNUMLayout to manage and plan my posts as I have several Instagram pages for my personal and business use. It was very convenient and user friendly with just enough features to make planning my posts super easy!

This recent update has removed the best parts of UNUMLayout , which I assume are available if you pay. Navigating this new update has taken more time than anything. You no longer can see how many spaces you have to work with and adding or deleting a new photo shifts the whole layout which defeats the purpose of UNUMLayout . And you should be able to shift your current grid up to 3 times, but for some reason it is now incredibly difficult to make those adjustments. I would expect an update to improve and add features, not take them away. I hope they take this constructive criticism into mind.

Is there a way a can revert to the old version?

by Haylizzle

I LOVEEE UNUMLayout and it had been so incredibly useful to plan posts to make sure my feed looks the way I want it to- but recently they eliminated almost all of the functions of UNUMLayout I use the most unless you upgrade to the paid version. And it’s not cheap! Not to say they don’t deserve to grow and start charging for the services they provide, they definitely do! It’s an amazing app- but don’t think things like shifting grids should be part of the paid service. I feel like there’s very, very little you can do in the free version now, which is the reason for my low rating. I can’t even really use UNUMLayout at all anymore for what I need unless I start paying. I’m not an Instagram influencer or business and I have a low follower count, so it really isn’t even worth it for me to have UNUMLayout anymore. Sadly, I’m forced to uninstall and look for an alternative :(

by Applecore48

I used to love UNUMLayout and use it religiously for at least 4 years, and it was the best app out there for instagram. It used to be so glitchy but even then I would still manage with it because of the grid shift features and the ability to move pictures unlike other apps. The new update though is ridiculous, and literally all of the features that were once free are now only available to premium members, including the grid shift feature that I USE UNUMLayout FOR. It won’t even let me upload more than 12 pictures at a time when it used to be unlimited, at least to the amount of grids you were allotted in the first place. I’m really not about to break my bank on $60 a year for some grid shift feature that I had access to before for free. After 4 years of loyalty to this thing, I think it might be time for me to look for another app.

by Delaneymoon

I’ve used UNUMLayout for years and am so sad that now I need to find new one for my social media planning. As most other reviews have already stated UNUMLayout became over developed past its intended use making it’s core features useless and not worth the download let alone upgrading to elite. I held on through the absurd elite updates limiting how many free squares are available and putting the main shift feature I used this for behind the elite member paywall. Looking at other reviews, complaints about reel post thumbnails not showing up in the UNUM feed has been an ongoing problem but it hasn’t been fixed. The UNUM team gave some very lack luster responses to these complaints and suggested uploading place holder images. This practically requires elite since it’s nearly impossible to do that without using numerous squares, but I am not going to pay to upgrade an app that doesn’t function to begin with. 🤡 Best of luck keeping the customers still with you and finding new ones.

by DanielSul

Ive been using unum for years and guys I understand you built a powerful app which is a reference to other companies and also an app that a lot of people uses, but seriously, these ELITE features are ABSURD, you completely destroyed UNUMLayout .

How in the world you have to pay 7$ dollars a month or 60$ a year to add ANOTHER ROW of layout photos. I mean that’s seriously absurd. You could do whatever you want with your app (which I LOVE) but it’s absurd to charge people for the most BASIC thing in UNUMLayout .

I mean, UNUMLayout is MEANT to be a “layout creator” for Instagram. If you want to add another things and charge people for that fine, good for you, but it doesn’t make sense you charge people for the most basic thing needed in UNUMLayout which is rows. Ok fine don’t put unlimited rows for free but come on just ONE ROW??? Are you SERIOUS ????? That’s a joke to your costumers. Come on...

Also you made new changes which makes UNUMLayout so confusing and slow, and it’s not my phone nor my storage or my iOS, it’s UNUMLayout . Adding a photo it’s confusing and loading the photo library it’s slow I mean your app was FIVE STARS it was perfect I don’t understand what on earth you did...

Also when you sign in tu UNUM the screen stays white and doesn’t do anything.

Im sorry but you completely destroyed app.

by Meredith Aleigha Wells

As an artist, social media, specifically Instagram is a great way to promote my work and UNUM has really helped me plan out my feed and make it stand out to casting directors. I love being able to sit down and plan out my content for the week and pick the most aesthetically pleasing order to posts my posts in. Definitely an app for Type A’s but I think everyone between people promoting something on Instagram to people who are all about the aesthetic of their Instagram will enjoy UNUMLayout. The only thing that I think could make it even better is if they came out with a feature so you could plan out your stories too! Overall I really love UNUMLayout.

by Cystal1245

I’ve seen a bunch of reviews that miss the old version of UNUMLayout . I agree.
I’ve been using UNUMLayout for years and really started using it to its full potential at the beginning of 2020.
I miss the old Home Screen with the choices of grids vs on the side.
It used to be way more user friendly and have a better UI.
I don’t get what the elite plan does...I’m on the trial right now and I don’t even use any of the features. I used to be able to send people the feed using a link and they JUST took that away 2 days ago. I was SO excited when I found out you could do this a few weeks ago and now it’s gone....
I don’t want to have to pay so much money to add members. I don’t even want members. I just want to be able to share the feed.
I pay for the $6 monthly plan and everything was perfect until the latest update.
Last question - they say they have templates? How do you even get to story templates now? How do you use UNUMLayout? Can we have a tutorial for the new version???
Or better yet go back to the old one please!!

by Juleah Kaliski

I wanted a nice and easy way to organize my Instagram and plan out my posts. Unum does that in such a great way. It's simple and intuitive design is really nice also. As a graphic designer it's really nice to use an app that just looks nice on top of having great function. Unum saves all of your recent hashtags used which is a major time saver and also lets you know they ones you get the most response from. Another feature I really like is how you can edit photos right in UNUMLayout . I edit my photos and then bring them into Unum and see the the colors are a little off and doesn't match my others I can do a quick edit right in UNUMLayout . Another time saver. I highly recommend Unum for an IG planner.

by Taythay

I’m really disappointed with the changes made in the latest update (August 2020). All of the features that made UNUMLayout useful are now locked behind a paywall. it’s especially frustrating that this came with zero warning and that the developers are trying to pass it off as “fixing some little bugs & improving performance :-)”. I’ve been using and telling other people to use UNUMLayout for years because I thought it was the best and now it looks like I’ll have to delete it and find an alternative. If grid shift were still part of the free features I’d consider keeping it but even that’s part of the $70/yr package. I can’t even fathom paying that much for an app.

by Angelm32

I’ve been using UNUMLayout for a couple of years and it’s been so great in helping me plan out my insta feed. The updates and nonstop attention to detail is incredible and is exactly why I continue to use UNUMLayout. The creative minds behind UNUM are genius! The only issue I keep running into (and this could be something on my end) is trouble uploading images from my albums that weirdly don’t want to show that causes UNUMLayout to throw me out, and sometimes I have to go into open my albums and browse my photos to refresh them in order for them to appear when trying to upload them on UNUM. Could be me, but when I use any other app for uploading photos/videos I have no trouble seeing my photos and trying to upload them. Other than this, it’s def worth 5 stars!!

by Ilsecm

i used to LOVE UNUMLayout, i swore by it and i told all my friends that this was UNUMLayout to have to perfect your insta feed. the most essential tools were free and UNUMLayout was simple and easy to use. updated it and now, less than half of the old features are even there. im assuming you can access them if you pay making this an app just like any other with no real distinction between this and every other expensive instagram planning app. what’s left is so useless that it’s not even worth using at all actually. i don’t recommend anyone bother downloading UNUMLayout, it’s just going to be a waste of time and storage space. if you dont mind paying you’re probably better off with another app anyway because the layout is no longer as user friendly as it used to be so it’s quite complicated to even understand. id give this zero stars if i could.

by WildBillWillie

I can’t get past the terms where they stake claim to by all sense “owning”, even reproducing your work!! ...even if it’s copyrighted! *It’s Hell No-Way for me!*

We do not claim ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use it. You retain full ownership to User Content and hereby provide us with a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, sub-licensable, fully paid up, unrestricted license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform, publicly display, or otherwise use, modify, and submit your User Content in any medium and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so. “Others Content” means the text, data, graphics, images, photos, video or audiovisual content and any other content uploaded, transmitted or submitted by other users via the Platform. We make no representations about accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of any contents of the Platform. Similarly, we make no representations about accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of any data from a third-party service provider or the quality or nature of third-party products or services obtained through the Platform. Use the Platform at your own risk.

by Fetylerb

I had UNUMLayout a while ago, and absolutely loved it. It let you log into your IG account and see what you’d already posted, it allowed you to grid out what you’d be putting in next. It even let you blow up a picture to 9 tiles.

NOW? It makes you log in with your email and make a password—even if you’ve already done so, there isn’t a way to log into an already-created account. Then it takes you through what I’m guessing is supposed to be a tutorial? Says “My Demo Space” at the top. Makes you put in a photo. Tells you to edit the photo, but then won’t let you click on anything to edit it. Not even “save.”

So I don’t know what happens after that, because I restarted my phone, deleted and then re-downloaded UNUMLayout , and it’s still doing the same thing. Very frustrating. I thought, “hmm, maybe my phone is freezing up.” But NOPE. My little box thing (iPhone) that allows me to lock my screen / take a screenshot / etc is still moving around just fine.

If I could give this version of UNUM 0 stars, I would.

(Again, loved the version they had last year, but this one blows)

by Satiated Grouponer

I use to LOVE UNUMLayout. But today marks the day I delete it! I can’t even. This is one of several times I’ve tried to caption a multi image’d post and then I “push” the post to IG it LOSES the caption. I’m talking GONE. POOF. All the sudden it removes the post from the UNUM app, including my carefully crafted caption along with hashtags, and then when it pushes through to IG it for some stupid reason copies unums boilerplate caption instead of my saved one. This has happened too many times now and I. Am. Done. Not to mention their hashtag clouds stopped working (of course right after I included UNUM in a blog post wrap up of my favorite apps!) def deleting that post now. Very frustrating experience. Moving in to a new app now....

by Geeeequuuu

I was satisfied with the functionality and the general use of UNUMLayout until I read the terms of service. By using UNUMLayout , you give them the ability to sell, license, and do whatever they want with your work. Check this quote: . “User Content” means the text, data, graphics, images, photos, video or audiovisual content and any other content uploaded, transmitted or submitted by you via the Platform. We do not claim ownership of your content, but you grant us a license to use it. You retain full ownership to User Content and hereby provide us with a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, sub-licensable, fully paid up, unrestricted license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform, publicly display, or otherwise use, modify, and submit your User Content in any medium and for any purpose, including commercial purposes, and to authorize others to do so.

by Msmdubb

I have multiple Instagram accounts that I use UNUMLayout for. It is great for what is needed. You can arrange tiles and move them around. You can see what you already have live on your Instagram. You can even use phantom mode to see what it looks like to delete posts you even have live on your Instagram.
The cons I’ve experienced:
Sometimes it randomly won’t show all of my posts that are live. That makes it hard to plan a color scheme aesthetic.
The reminders are temperamental. You’re better off just setting an alarm to post.
Currently, it’s refusing to let me login into my instagram. My password is correct and saved but for whatever reason UNUMLayout keeps saying I’m putting it in wrong. When it send me an email the email only redirects me to logging in to Instagram online and NOT UNUMLayout . 😫😖
I’m tired! I got so frustrated I wanted to throw my phone.
It’s a GREAT GREAT app but come on, stop with the glitching PLEASE!! 😫

by _jenn_x

Love how beautiful UNUMLayout is but functionality wise there’s a lot of issues. Attempting to make multi-photo posts has consistently been one of them. Time and time again I get a “More albums features coming soon” message whenever attempting to create. I’ve sent various messages/emails regarding this as an “Elite” plan holder and it has been to no avail. Hard to actually schedule posts when the features promised may or may not work for no apparent reason and with no customer support I’m forced to consider other options.

by Miadiaz1027

I wanted to like UNUMLayout and finally learned how to use it ... After spending a few hours working on a few future post ... I discovered it’s a copy and paste ... it went on beautifully .... problem was when I shared there was nothing in the post ... and all my work was lost .... I’m quite disappointed ☹️ ... but lucky for me I take pictures of everything ... I had it ... but it’s more about the fact that I have to do them all over through Instagram directly because I can’t trust this ... the tags work great ... I just had a problem with the copy and post for the words ... other than that I probably won’t be upgrading u less I try it in the future and it works

by Mmotta15

UNUM has saved my life quite honestly. I enjoy organizing my feed and having an aesthetic appearance on Instagram. However, lately for a few weeks now there has been technical difficulties. For example, I attempt to edit a picture on UNUMLayout and once I press "save." It takes me back to my account feed but the picture has not changed, it stays in its original version. Also I can't view a photo anymore when I hold it. I'd really appreciate it if work can be done on this issue, thank you!

by Cleanlida On Ig

Everything was going fine; I had been using UNUMLayout for around a year and a half. But today, I just opened it and all of my data and pictures that were on UNUMLayout was gone. All of said pictures are still on my Instagram, but not on UNUMLayout . I logged off and re-logged in on UNUMLayout (UNUM) but it was still empty. Now I’m re-uploading my photos from camera roll onto UNUMLayout but is there any way to recover my data? UNUMLayout was very helpful, I would just like to know what happened and if I can get my information back. Has this happened to anyone else?

by Frankboo

I use UNUMLayout daily and it’s super helpful to plan my Instagram feed out visually. Every single update causes issues, sometimes making it entirely unusable. A few months ago, an update made it so only 9 images of the posted feed were visible. Then they released an update to undo their changes. I have not updated since. Every single update is buggy or they do away with something that is very good. Then all the users complain and they fix or revert it.

by Sunshineshannon

Hands down, UNUM is the best app to plan out your Instagram feed. I’ve been using them for forever and have never been disappointed! It has made my feed more cohesive, and has given it the type of aesthetic I have been dreaming of. It’s so easy to add photos, move them around, and organize everything. I love that you can write and save captions ahead of time, that will copy automatically to your clipboard when you go to post. I could go on and on. I recommend UNUMLayout to literally every single person I meet, it’s that good. (@sunshineshannon)

by Psardoin

First, I am always skeptical! A professional model I was photographing showed UNUMLayout to me. Being able to plan my posts, create sets of tags, add commentary in a single place before using UNUM to push everything to Instagram is just... I can even find the words. Changed my posting workflow and makes me post so much more often!

BTW, I did something by accident (user error) and sent them a note. Replied back in less than 3 hours!

Very happy customer!!!

by Kathryn2853

i don’t know if my account is just glitching or if it’s my phone ios software version (12.4), but whenever i post a video on Instagram, the video doesn’t show up on UNUM. Now, this has bugged me ever since i downloaded UNUMLayout , but it has not been such a big issue as to power my rating. UNUMLayout, admittedly, provides a lot of useful information and functions amazingly. Even without paying. However, I would absolutely LOVE it if it just included videos in the feed. Same problem has occurred on my old phone (5s) and current phone (7).