"READ, WRITE & SHARE BEAUTIFUL WORDs" by opuss
This week I discovered Opuss in the App store and already (despite a few connection problems), I would say it is the best writing app ever! It is currently App of the Week in the UK.
What is it?
It's a bit like how Instagram is the Twitter for photos, except this is for writers. Initially, you think, how is that different to Twitter? Well, Twitter is for short status updates and often full of links to external sites. Opuss allows you to write more and everything is contained in one place - no external links. Also, it's got a quirky cat and wood themed design that looks really smart.
Write it
To write a post is easy; you just click on the paw print in the middle of the icons list. This the large one labelled 'Compose' at the bottom of the screen. Then you title you piece and write away, add some tags, post and your done. Alternatively, when you signed up, you will have received an email address to send your posts too and these will be uploaded but tends to be slightly slower. Therefore, you can easily post to Opuss from your mobile or PC.
Read it
The left hand icon 'Feed' with a picture on a dinner bowl is where all the posts submitted by yourself and people you are following will appear. This feed will become more active as you start subscribing to others.
The 'Top' icon with a picture of a collar on takes you to the screen picture on the left. This lists all the most highly rated posts for the day, week, month and year. This is handy for discovering what others are enjoying on Opuss and you may discover somebody new to follow.
The 'Find' button with a little mouse on it is where you can run searches to find things that will interest you. Click in the search bar to type your criteria (i.e. 'Holidays') and decide if you want it to find Opusses (posts), Authors or Tags. Then you can search to read something choosing from Everything to something more specific like a poem or a quote. These categories are then broken down into even more specific criteria (i.e. Joke that is Adult, Animal, Food, Geek, etc).
Account it
The 'Profile' button is all about you. On this page you can see an overview of your Opuss posts count to date, number of people following you and number you're following. If you are competitive, there is also a rank number. Beneath this you can see a News feed, which is worth checking to see if anyone has commented on your work or chosen to follow you (good etiquette is to follow back). Then there is a Liked feed so you can find posts that you enjoyed reading to read again. Then there is a Friends page where you can link your Opuss to Facebook, Twitter or your email account to find your friends and get them to join the fun too.
When you get a notification the app makes a cute 'Meow' noise. I didn't realise this and spent some time looking for my cat only discover I had a number of notifications on my Opuss.
The app has also got some entertaining 404 error messages for when connections are lost. It's not often that an app gets praised for not working but these do make me chuckle and I know the app is fairly new so I just take a break and come back later. Other members have logged in and out (standard IT reboot) which also seems to fix this.
The Future
Currently, Opuss is only available on the iphone and ipad (and maybe the iTouch). There is talk about it being rolled out onto other platforms for everyone to enjoy. The poll currently is in favour of it being developed for PC use but plans are that it will be available for all mobiles in the future.
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