This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensure that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.


Sunlit 2.0 Released as a Micro.blog and WordPress Photo Blogging App

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 4 years since Sunlit debuted as an iOS photo-sharing app built on top of App.net, the social network that has since been shut down. App.net didn’t make it, but Sunlit is back and has been reimagined as a photo blogging app for Micro.blog and WordPress sites.

Sunlit makes it a breeze to create short photo blog posts that it calls Stories. The app has two tabs: ‘Stories’ and ‘Discover.’ The Stories tab lists any past Stories you’ve created. New Stories are created form the button in the top right-hand corner of the screen. Photos can be added from your Photo Library, Flickr, Dropbox, and Instagram. After selecting the photos you want to use, tapping the Add button takes you to the Story editing screen where the images are grouped by date.

Each Story can have a title, date, location, and description. Rearranging the photos in a Story is a simple matter of dragging them into the order you want, though Sunlit does not support iOS 11’s ability to drag multiple items at once. On compatible iPhones, the photos settle into place with a satisfying tap from the Taptic Engine. Locations can be chosen from previous Swarm check-ins or by searching for nearby locales on a map. You can edit photos and apply filters by tapping on one from the Story view too.

Stories can remain on your iOS device if you prefer, but the real value of Sunlit is publishing them to a Micro.blog or WordPress site. After connecting the app to your Micro.blog or WordPress account, publishing is a one-tap process. After everything is finished uploading, Sunlit provides a URL that you can share with others. To make changes, just edit your Story in Sunlit and tap ‘Publish Changes.’ There’s also an option to ‘unpublish’ posts. The workflow couldn’t be simpler.

The second tab in Sunlit, called ‘Discover,’ is dedicated to exploring the photos posted by others on Micro.blog. The tab displays a grid of photos by Micro.blog users. Tap on one, and it opens against a black background with the photographer’s name, a link to the post, and a button for opening the post in the Micro.blog app.

The primary thing I’d like to see improved in the next version of Sunlit is the iPad experience. The app doesn’t support dragging and dropping multiple photos within Sunlit or dragging photos in from other apps. Also, on the iPad Pro, tapping on a photo in a Story opens a zoomed in version that extends beyond the boundaries of the screen and is shifted to one side. That’s a layout issue that is slated to be fixed in an upcoming update, but for the time being, it makes viewing photos more difficult on an iPad Pro than an iPhone. I’d also like to see Sunlit sync Stories across iOS devices, which it does not do currently.

Those criticisms aside, Sunlit is one of the lowest friction ways I’ve tried to create a photo blog, which I appreciate. I also like that Sunlit wasn’t built into the Micro.blog iOS app as a feature. The separation of the two helps streamline the experience in both apps. Judging from the Discover tab in Sunlit, photography is one of the most popular uses for Micro.blog, so it’s also wonderful to see a dedicated app that will continue to feed that growing part of the community.

Sunlit is available as a free download on the App Store.

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.