Looking for a few apps to spice up your web and social content? Mike Reilley of Journalists Toolbox has these three free tools for you to consider.
Can 15 million+ users be wrong? Fyuse is a free spatial photography app that allows smartphone users to quickly capture 3D photos. In order to snap a photo in 3D, the user walks around the object, model or scene that they want to capture. The app then takes the short video and transforms it into an immersive 3D Photo.
Available for iOS and Android, shareable to social platforms and embeddable on your website.
Canva a little more difficult than you’d like? Check out this mobile app for making infographics on the fly. Export HD images for use on websites and social media in minutes. Sorry, though, it’s iOS only.
Need a quick way to map multiple locations and illustrate the scenes with photos? Photo Mapo works with both iOS and Android and can be shared instantly to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In addition, you can save your creation to your camera roll for uploading to your CMS.
Reilley’s done the work for you on these three, but he has advice for anyone who is a little bored with his or her reporting and production toolbox.
“My approach is that I download the free version of the app, play with it a bit and see what it offers that my other apps don’t. Then I think of ways I can work it into either my personal life, journalism or both. Some work for one but not the other. I also Google or email the app builders and ask for examples,” Reilley said.
In the end, though, Reilley says he doesn’t get too hung up on choosing the latest and greatest.
“Apps and web tools will come and go, but journalism should always be the foundation of what we do. The apps are just a means of newsgathering or delivery, like a pen, paper, recorder, etc.”
