J
Justin Herrick
Guest
Photographs are an integral part of our lives. We take photographs of everything and display them on walls, shelves, and tables throughout our homes. Why? Not just because we capture moments at a standstill. We display photos so that other people can see them and experience the same feeling that the photographer did. If photos are so important, they should be put on the largest screen in the house. Artkick is an application that turns televisions into digital galleries full of content created by the user as well as high resolution photos taken by professionals.
The way in which Artkick operates is downright simple. All that is required is the free Artkick app and Google’s Chromecast. The latter costs $35 and is an incredible value. Once the Chromecast is connected to a television, launch Artkick on an Android (or even iOS) device.
To sync Artkick with the Chromecast, tap the menu button at the top right. A drop-down menu will have a few options, but right now Connect/Manage TV is necessary. Here, a full list of devices connected and disconnected from Artkick will appear. Select a checkbox and Artkick will connect to the Chromecast. From the same field, a timer can be set for cycling through photos. And the small gear icon has a few settings including one that turns off the the original aspect ration.
Back at the start menu, Artkick will show the featured viewlists of the week that are handpicked photographs. Below the featured viewlists are thirteen unique categories ranging from architecture and space to sports and paintings. Then there are sections for My Viewlists, Top Lists, and Highlights. Of course, you can always use the search function at the top which narrows down content by fine art or photography. Artkick will display currently-casted photos at the bottom of the start menu.
The user interface on the Artkick app works, but it is certainly dated and navigating is a little choppy. Is it poorly designed? Not at all. Artkick has a details page for the each photo with its name, location, and date taken underneath a small preview. There are also buttons to share the photo, save it for later viewing, and liking it. My favorite feature is at the bottom where Artkick has a few viewing options. Grid shows all photos in one place for easy selection; FullScreen magnifies the current photo; Shuffle mixes up photos.
Just choose a photo and Artkick will beam it to the television. The aspect ratio will dictate how it appears; however, remember that the preset aspect ratio can be disabled. It will cause some images to be distorted in a very noticeable way. Many of the photos that I mirrored had black bars on the sides because they did not match the aspect ratio of my television. It was slightly frustrating because everything looks better when it takes up the entire screen.
Artkick has more than 500,000 photos to access at no extra charge. Even more photos can be added to that amount when paying for the Getty Images subscription. The subscription, following a seven-day free trial, is priced at $4.99 per month and gives users access to the agency’s impressive shots. Getty Images has a library covering news, entertainment, and sports from the past and present. Furthermore, images already stored on the device can be uploaded to Artkick.
Turning a television into a digital gallery is what Artkick aims to do and it largely delivers. From a pure functionality standpoint, Artkick is perfect because of how many categories it covers with thousands of photos. Also, the high resolution photos look beautiful. Images are sharp and colors are crisp. With that said, the UI on the app is not so good. All would be fine if this were 2011 because Artkick resembles Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Four years later and Android 5.0 Lollipop is proving how colorful and fluid apps can be. An overhaul of the UI would do Artkick wonders and make it a much more enjoyable app to use.
Come comment on this article: [App Review] Artkick turns your television into a digital gallery with Chromecast
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