23snaps: Family Album Journal Reviews

by Kelly827

I love 23snaps but be VERY careful about what you upload when you mark it as private. I uploaded the pictures of my twins birth and made them ‘private’ which in 23snaps says that when you do that those pictures are only visible to you and your partner. This is not true at all. I got a call from my sister who was very surprised that I would put those pictures for everyone to see. They were supposed to be just for my husband and I but that was not the case. I even double checked that each picture was marked as ‘private’ before I deleted them off 23snaps . This is a great app for sharing pics of your kids with family but its privacy needs some SERIOUS work.

by Wenc

Can’t search for a specific niece/nephew to look at all their pictures, have to scroll through all pics posted. What? Why? If I want to view all pics of one specific family member then I should be able to. That’s not efficient and actually annoying.
Also, photos don’t go into an(infinity) gallery, they’re grouped by each post. I want to be able to see all the pics posted and scroll through them all. Can barely read the day a pic was posted- Tiny size font, light grey color on a white background. Who thinks of this and says “yeah that’s perfect.” Do you even know the demographic of users for 23snaps? They can’t read that. The UI design is just terrible. Maybe let us customize it to change the colors and that would be nice.

by Mai424

A few months back I ran into an issue where I couldn’t restore my paid account. The monthly charges kept coming in but I didn’t have access to the features. I wrote to support 4 or 5 times and did not get any response. If you look at recent updates, they have all been minor bug fixes. The uploads seem to be getting slower. I’m hoping there’s a migration path away from this to something else that’s still being worked on.

by JenWille6

23snaps allows you to have a private platform with select family and friends to share photos with it, however I agree with previous commenters saying that it has not been innovative in keeping up with technology like other photo apps. I think the $3.99/month upgrade to have HD videos at 3 minutes in length should be a given with 23snaps- especially considering this is standard now with most other tech platforms. I like 23snaps , I just don’t love it. Sadly I think if another app came to my attention that was similar but was more up-to-date in bug fixes and had more of these features built in, I would switch. For now, I’ll keep using this one, and will have hope the developers of 23snaps will make some adjustments as I do feel 23snaps has great potential.

by Peachwheels

I’m grateful that this type of app exists: a sort of limited social media for family and friends with increased privacy for your littles. I also like that it emails family/friends and has a traditional website for those who prefer that to downloading/navigating an app.

I’ve been using it for almost a year, and for the most part, it’s done what I needed it to do.

However, I have two major issues.

1. The new layout is a step backward. I find it harder to just browse old photos. I like that I can view photos/videos by month easily now, but why do away with the scrolling view option as well? I just want to mindlessly scroll through my baby’s photos sometimes and if there’s a way to do that with this update, it’s not obvious.

2. I wish I could select multiple photos/videos I’ve already uploaded into Collections. As it is, I have to open and edit each one individually or add them to Collections as I upload them. I wanted to make a monthly milestone photo collection, but with the current functionality, that would take too much time.

Anyway, just my two cents.

by Bdowney

Our family has been using this app for 6 years now and it has been a great way to share pictures with family and friends in a private fashion. We have even recommended 23snaps to many friends. While it’s been awesome using the tool, it has had minimal innovation in 6 years.

- no new or changed photo filter options.
- no stickers or other effects available.
- no support for GIF images.
- cannot combine video and photos in a story.
- status updates cannot contain paragraphs - it’s all one block of text.
- no text formatting options.
- no notification sounds
- no AI (artificial intelligence) for surfacing pictures or generating recommendations.
- no additional reaction options
- no comment tagging

The most recent feature set enhancement was a paid tier that allowed for longer videos (up to 3 minutes instead of 1), HD video, and priority support. This is not “innovation.”

Unfortunately, this is a super sticky app and a change would require not only migrating all photos, but also migrating a host of family and friends and that just isn’t feasible. I would be happy to pay a monthly or annual subscription if I was seeing regular feature releases and enhancements, but it seems like the company has all but shut down and is doing the bare minimum to keep 23snaps alive.

by Buddhastyle

Overall I like 23snaps. We use it to share what’s going on with out friends and family. From what I can tell, they respect user privacy which is the distinction from FB.

So, the bottom line is that it’s good. That said, here is what concerns me and/or I’d like to see I. Future versions:

1. They don’t update that often. That’s concerning because it makes me think their revenue model isn’t working and they could go under any day. Then what happens to all the content I’ve invested?

2. I wish I could create paragraphs. Everything is one huge paragraph. It seems like a small thing but not being able to properly format your writing kinda stinks.

3. The signup process for people that you give access to is a bit wonky. I’ve had to help people get through it, and it should just be easy.

4. Other people can contribute to your feed. I don’t like that. I want to manage who can and cannot add posts to my family’s feed. I especially want to be able to delete anything I don’t approve of.

5. I wish the max number of words allowed for for stories was longer. Sometimes I want to write an actual story. Crazy.

I pay the monthly fee for the HD video upload. I think it’s worth it. I like 23snaps. I’m just nervous it’s not getting much attention

by ChaWJones

23snaps works well to coordinate and share updates in a private forum with family. Video stream with just the basic package are sufficient and 23snaps functionality are easy to manage.
I give it 4 stars because I was disappointed that I couldn’t print books from the posts, including the texts. Not much was published when we were deciding to use 23snaps or not, and the functionality is very basic.

by CelesteCoffman

23snaps has almost all the terrific features of big name social media, without the dangers. I love that I can share my family photos and videos without concern of them being used inappropriately by third parties. If you have adopted children, 23snaps is a lifesaver to keep memories private yet preserved for your children and close family. I can’t say enough about 23snaps !

by LIG19

23snaps has been wonderful for our family. Have a baby and constantly get people asking for photos and updates? Add them to 23snaps ! It makes keeping everyone updated so easy.
Our parents LOVE getting pictures of their grandchildren and call us if they haven’t gotten a 23 snaps update in few days.
Easy to use and very fun to look back. Sometimes my husband and I just scroll through old photos before bed.

by Lex8622

Don’t want pictures of your kids blasted on social media? This is great for that. Only send to those that you want to see. My family and friends love the simple updates and feels more safe than the abyss of standard social media. App is easy/user friendly. I don’t use all the features and it’s plenty for my weekly or monthly updates.

by Lqmack

Super easy way to share photos of my daughter with grandparents and family every day with out having to share everything to social media. It was easy to download and use 23snaps , and nice that anyone can download the photos/videos that are posted to their phones if they want. So glad we found 23snaps!

by Alicia - Boy Mom Of 3

I have been using this app since the very beginning and 4+ years later, I still use it every single day! I love knowing that my content is private and is only going to friends and family members that I’ve personally invited. As a mom of three little boys, their safety is my top priority, and this app makes me feel secure - PLUS it’s so well organized! I enjoy being able to scroll through the past with ease and being able to look up our kids individually. I also love that it shows how old your child is on the day the entry was made! I am constantly telling people about 23snaps and cannot recommend it enough!

by Nicname54321

It doesn’t have cool features like on Instagram, but my sister uses it to post pics and videos of my nieces that she shares with close friends and family, and she is the only person I follow. It’s a nice option for sharing special moments with loved ones, without feeling like you are revealing your whole life story to all your acquaintances on the more common social media platforms.

by Lbobs21

I love 23snaps and have used it since my kids were born (or shortly thereafter so around 8 years now!). It’s private, I can flood my posts with pics of my kids for those who are really interested. My favorite part is that each year for Christmas we print an album from this app and it doesn’t take hours, super organized and easy to select pics and done.

by Ronrico_Slapz

I love 23snaps because its family friendly and family private 23snaps reminds me of instagram Minus the garbage a family media app where u keep track of ur family tree and preserve the memories with out filth or distractions I add family and close family friends who I want to enjoy and follow my family growth and bid versa my wife and I are with are kids at different times our profiles have different pics from both views of our family with different perspectives and it's AWESOME there is and you can access your profile and have everything there in order with dates and times u cn nudge family that may b out of the loop for a while and via versa LOVE IT LOVE LOVE IT

by Terri15

23snaps is like having your own private website of all your grandkids and other family. It is very private because no one can see this site without an invitation from the owner. I love being able to look through all the fabulous pictures of my grandkids and see videos of soccer games and birthday parties. You can make comments on any picture or video. Best of all it is free. Every family needs 23snaps.

by KidSmarts

Me and my cousins aren't aloud to have facebook, instagram, or any social network where others can post inappropriate media. (And strangers can talk to you) We started using a shared album on apple photos, but that got old and just looked like a normal album. We wanted something that looked REAL. When I found 23snaps, I showed it to my cousins right away. They loved it and wanted to use it. I created an account, then sent them the invite link. We got 23snaps yesterday, and there are already a million posts and comments. This was JUST what I was looking for and there couldn't

by SilverLiningMom

In short: The best, easiest way to share privately with your close circle!

I was looking for an easy way to share photos of my baby privately. I downloaded this app after reading the reviews and now use it multiple times a day! My entire family is on it. It has been a huge hit with my child’s grandparents especially! I love 23snaps so much I bought the subscription. If you’re looking for an app to share family pics, stories, and measurements with close family look no further. 23snaps IS FOR YOU. The subscription is also so worth it!

I did notice 23snaps was taking up a ton of storage on my iPhone. I messaged the this app help desk and they told me it was just a glitch and to reinstall. Sure enough, it worked! The help desk was super responsive and respectful.

This is my #1 most essential app on my phone. Thank you, this app!!!

by Holanovioa

Myself, my husband and kids live in NY, my husbands family lives in FL and my family lives in England. 23snaps has made everyone feel like they haven’t missed a single thing while my boys are growing up. I can not recommend this enough. It has really allowed us to remain close and feel a part of each other’s every day lives.