Pinterest iPhone App: Version 1.4
The latest version of Pinterest for iPhones is in the app store today! We’ve been working on changes behind-the-pins to make our iPhone app speedier, but the update also includes a new look and new features.
So when you get a chance before the holidays, we recommend updating to version 1.4 in the app store for:
- Larger images in your feed
- Faster search
- Better compatibility with iOS 5
- Tabs that drop away while scrolling for easier browsing
- Saving pins to your Camera Roll
We hope you enjoy it and happy pinning!
Pinterest Mobile
We believe that mobile is extremely important, and mobile users should have a world-class Pinterest experience. Our goal is to make Pinterest available to anyone, anywhere they go. In support of this, we released a big update to our iPhone app last month, but lack of bandwidth on our end has left Android and other smartphone users in the dark.
This is a milestone release that marks the first step in allowing everyone to pin, regardless of what smartphone you use. Pinterest Mobile is an HTML5 application, so anyone can access from their phone’s web browser. That also means that we can update it with new features a lot faster than a native app.
From when I first started on this project, I wanted Pinterest Mobile to allow for people to experience all of Pinterest anywhere, without ever needing to visit the site on their computer. We’re still a ways off from that goal, but this is a significant first step.
What we’re launching today is a streamlined experience for iOS and Android. You can view pins and boards, look at profiles, follow people and of course, repin all the things you find. In the coming weeks, we’ll be adding the ability to search and browse by category, edit pins, and create new boards. Support for other touch based devices like Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry will be coming soon. Of course, we’ll be fixing bugs as we find them as well.
I’m really excited to be a part of the Pinterest team and I hope you enjoy Pinterest Mobile! As always, if you have any feedback or bug reports, be sure to let us know! You can visit Pinterest Mobile by going to www.pinterest.com on your mobile device or directly by hitting m.pinterest.com.
The Right Opportunity: Joining the Pinterest Team
A blog post from one of our newest team members, Ryan Probasco about moving his family from Utah to join the Pinterest team.
The Right Opportunity (via Ryan’s blog: Bitdrift)!
As they say in that commercial (you know the one I’m talking about): “Life comes at you fast.” Less than 8 weeks ago, I had no idea what Pinterest was, let alone imagined that I’d be packing up the family and moving to California before the end of July. If you ask my friends, I’m sure they’ll tell you this was no surprise; moving to the Bay Area is something I’ve been talking about for years. But still, I can’t help but feel a little shocked that I’m writing this post from Palo Alto instead of Provo today.
If you’re a startup guy like me, you probably have a hard time imagining yourself at a larger more established company (even if that company is as cool as Facebook or Google). The term ‘startup’ gets thrown around a lot these days and young companies come in all shapes and sizes. In my case, I was looking for a startup that met a few specific requirements.
Early but not without funding
I’m prepared to take a risk, but being a parent means I’m not the only one taking the risk anymore. This may not apply to everyone, but for those with families, it’s a big deal. It reminds me of something Paul Graham wrote:
“Another way to decrease the risk is to join an existing startup instead of starting your own. Being one of the first employees of a startup is a lot like being a founder, in both the good ways and the bad.”
The earlier you join a startup, the more impact you’ll be able to have. I’ve only been at Pinterest for 3 weeks and I’ve already experienced this personally. One of my first tasks was to add a feature that makes it possible for users pin videos. We launched the feature last Monday and nearly 20,000 videos have been pinned so far. I’m quite certain that nothing I’ve ever done in my life has touched so many people in such a short amount of time.
Great team with a strong sense of direction
I can’t overstate how important this was to me. There were several good signs that helped me feel good about joining Pinterest. One that stands out to me was how careful the founders have been about publicity. In an era where so many startups seem to be overly focused on the fundraising game, it’s refreshing to meet a group of founders who haven’t forgotten their users. Pinterest is under-hyped for a reason (for now anyway).
Great product with adoring customers
I knew Pinterest was something special the moment I first saw it. Now that I’m on the team I realize that even more. We get fan mail pretty much every day. And not just simple ‘thank you’ notes, either; these are long gushing love letters. We have the best users ever.
Exciting technical challenges
This one caught me off guard. I knew that joining an early stage startup would present new technical challenges. What I didn’t realize was just how much I would learn and how quickly I would be thrust into the thick of it. I feel like I’m drinking from the firehose, but there’s honestly nothing I’d rather be doing at this point in my career. Pinterest is growing so quickly right now that it’s giving me opportunities to work on things I’d only ever dreamed of before.
As you can probably tell, I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to help turn Pinterest into something millions of people use and appreciate. I’ll do my best to post more as the site grows.
Oh, and if you’re looking for a great opportunity to work with amazing people on an exciting problem for the best users in the world, apply here. :-)
Video Pins
Today, we’re excited to introduce a brand new feature at Pinterest: Video Pins! If you’ve ever wanted to pin a DIY tutorial, a cooking lesson, a music video, or just a Beluga whale enjoying a Mariachi Band, now you can.
Just push the very same Pin It button you have installed in your bookmarks bar whenever you see a YouTube video. We are hard at work adding support for other video sites.
Enjoy!
Touch Up Your Photos with the New Pinterest iPhone App
Last week, we released a shiny new version of our iPhone app. Thanks to lots of helpful feedback from Pinners, the new app is faster, more reliable, and (in our opinion) more beautiful!
One feature we’re especially excited about is Touch Up, a new interface for pinning iPhone photos. Touch Up lets you quickly adjust the saturation and exposure of your pictures with 1 finger.
To adjust the saturation, tap and drag your finger horizontally.
To adjust the exposure, tap and drag your finger vertically.
Why did we create Touch Up instead of adding photo filters like Instagram, Hipstamatic and Path?
On one hand, filters are fun. They add visual interest and a little bit of digital nostalgia to an ordinary picture. On the practical side, filters make it easy to cover up a poorly exposed photo, an all too common problem on the iPhone.
At the same time, something about filters feels just a teensy bit dishonest to us, as if we’re trying to make our pictures more artistic or nostalgic than they really are. A bigger problem is that filters can obscure the subject of a photo. When browsing filtered photos, it can be hard to get a feel for what that cocktail or shiny pair of shoes really looks like.
We hope Touch Up is a good compromise between super-stylized photos and providing a bit of digital help to iPhone photographers.
Touch Up is just one of many changes in the new iPhone app. Try downloading it today and let us know what you think!
Pinning Tip: Help Section
We have some really experienced pinners out there; sometimes you even answer each other’s questions on our Facebook page! But whether you’re on your 50th board or you just started your first five, we put together a new Help section here.
We cover Pinning 101, so it’s definitely worth a look if you’re a new pinner, but we hope the instructions and topics will be useful for anyone who is curious about changing settings on their profile or other parts of their Pinterest account.
Give it a look and let us know if we missed anything!
Why Pinterest Is Amazing
Recently we updated the “Pinterest Etiquette” - a few guidelines that help make Pinterest the warm and creative community it is today.
It may sound strange to have ‘etiquette’ for a website, but we really believe Pinterest is special because of all the incredible people pinning the things they love. Every day, I open my email to thoughtful comments and suggestions: I never cringe the way I do when reading comments on YouTube. Like no other place, Pinners have helped me discover some of my favorite blogs, what I should read next, and stores I now visit far too often. Pinners constantly answer each other’s questions about sources, sellers, links, and labels. It really is amazing.
So thanks to all of our early Pinners who’ve helped create a community we’re so proud of. As we continue to grow, we hope “Pinterest Etiquette” will help new Pinners understand what kind of community they’re joining. And no matter when you started pinning, we’d love for you to give it a read and tell us how Pinterest can be even better!
Pinning Tip: Collaborative Boards
Group projects, big projects, a second set of eyes, or just for fun - whatever your reasons for using collaborative boards, we hope it’s a helpful tool for pinners.
For example, Team Pinterest has a board for posters and things we’d like to have for the office. We can all pin our finds, whether they’re serious or not…
Here’s how to do it:
Go to the board you want to edit or create a new board by clicking Add > Add a Board up at the top toolbar on Pinterest.
On the board’s settings menu, select “Me + Contributors.”
You must follow at least one board belonging to a user in order to add him/her as a contributor.
Start typing his/her username into the text field. Potential matches to this username will begin to load; when you see the person you want, click their name. Click Add. When you are finished adding people, click Save Board Settings.
You can also invite someone outside of Pinterest to get started and pin with you.
Users who you add as contributors will receive an email notification. They can opt out or choose to remove themselves at any time in the future. You can also remove them yourself by going back to board settings and clicking the X next to their name. Whenever you make changes, just be sure to click Save Board Settings at the bottom.
Hope this tip will help some of you on your way to some great collaborative projects or inspiration-sharing!
Pinning Tip: Rearrange Your Boards
There’s absolutely no denying Pinterest users are a visual crowd. We like making boards devoted to colors, color-combinations, patterns, shapes, and it seems like we really, really like “Keep Calm” posters.
So in case you didn’t know, you can have your boards arranged exactly the way you’d like on your profile.
Just click your username at the top-right toolbar and then click the Rearrange button at the corner of your page.
Now you can click-and-drag your boards until you have the order you want.
Click the Save button and then you’re all set.
For those of you who use Pinterest as a personal reference or an extension of your blog, this can help you highlight what’s most important to you or your readers.
Ideas for a Halloween party can relax at the bottom of your page, whereas floral arrangements should get cozy with table settings.
Of course, a lot of users have suggested the ability to rearrange pins too, so if we add that feature we’ll be sure to post about it here!
Pinning Tip: Upload Pins
Okay, you’ve installed the Pin It bookmarklet and you’re happily pinning from your favorite sites…but what about a picture you’ve had saved for ages?
Another tip I’ve been asked to clarify is how to pin photos languishing in your computer’s folders.
So, here is what you can do:
Anywhere within Pinterest, you can click Add > Add a Pin on the toolbar near your username.
This will open up a Pin It form. However, instead of pasting in a URL, click Upload.
Now you can browse and select an image already saved on your computer. Click Upload and then finish off your pin as usual.
I hope that helps some of you transfer your old folders into one place so you can get that birthday party or new business card done better and faster. As always, if you have any burning questions, you can email me for tips.
