

Show HN: Collections for Mac, now with Instagram Support and a Revamped UI - jordanlee
http://collections.me

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jsdalton
It is unclear to me what this app is. It's Instagram and Google Docs for Mac?
As a single app?

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jordanlee
Hi! Fair question. We're trying to build a universal Finder, a single point of
entry to all of the digital content you have that's currently dispersed across
an ever-growing number of cloud and web services. A bit of this was present in
a TechCrunch article earlier today
([http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/24/collections-for-mac-
instagr...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/24/collections-for-mac-instagram-
google-drive)), but we're currently writing a blog post that will more fully
explain what we're up to.

~~~
jordanlee
The post is live: <http://collections-me.tumblr.com/>

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bherms
I mentioned this on the last Collections thread, but I'll mention it again.
Getting an email with the word "collections" in it causes a quick jump when I
glance through my emails. Not sure how to get around that since it's the name
of your software, but it makes me feel like I forgot to pay something and
upsets me.

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jordanlee
Many have aired this, and we've been concerned about it ourselves, but our
hope is to subvert and overcome the connotation.

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jwallaceparker
Looks beautiful, but there is no description the app or its purpose - just a
description of 2 of its features.

So, what is it?

~~~
jordanlee
See here: <http://collections-me.tumblr.com>

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hospadam
Honest question for the devs - why the focus on Instagram? I thought that your
original product was fantastic (despite the security problems). I feel like
adding in Instagram takes away from the awesome original version: an amazing
desktop version of Google Docs.

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jordanlee
See here: <http://collections-me.tumblr.com/>

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jenntoda
Beautifully done, exactly what I wanted to organized my docs. Sadly, I am
drooling over how my pictures could be organized too, but I don't have an
instagram account - can you organize FB pictures? Pretty please? :)

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jordanlee
That's next. :)

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jc4p
So is it no longer in beta? It didn't replace the previous version I had
installed because the name no longer includes "beta".

Why do I have to login again? Do you have DEBUG off on the production server
this time? I was weary giving my credentials the first time, still am.

Is the spreadsheet editor still just an web view? Yep, looks like it is.
That's my biggest hinderance here, it's so much easier to edit spreadsheets in
Chrome because I can do things like edit the page without having to find the
mysterious icon for it on the top right.

I haven't tried editing any other filetypes, so I don't know if you have any
actual integrated editor that isn't just using Docs in a web view, but I think
that's really a much more important aspect of a program like this for myself
rather than it being able to login to all of my random accounts.

~~~
tonyx
Hi jc4p, the product is still in beta. (If you go to the about page for the
product you'll see that it says Beta2) The reason we removed Beta from the
name of the app itself is that we started using Sparkle for auto updating the
app, which seems to break if the app name changes. If we keep Beta in the name
of the app, we won't be able to automatically update you to a full version
later. That's why we removed it.

About spreadsheet, we know the experience is still not great and could use a
lot of work. Stay tuned and we hope to have something for you in the next
couple of days. As for security, since last launch we've consulted with Heroku
security team, implemented password policy and done a great deal of other
things to keep infrastructure secure. We have an upcoming blog post dedicated
to security planned which will give you more details about how we keep your
data safe. We'll let you know.

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rodly
I'm interested in the developer's thought processes regarding the functions of
this application.

Google Docs and Instagram are related how? I don't conflate users of either
services with users of the other necessarily.

~~~
jordanlee
Hi rodly, we just wrote up a little blog post to explain our thought process.
Check it out!

<http://collections-me.tumblr.com/>

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rodly
"Our long-term vision for Collections is to build a cloud-enabled universal
Finder, through which you’ll be able to access all of the digital content you
have that’s currently scattered across an ever-increasing number of cloud and
web services."

If you posted something short and sweet to this effect on your homepage, you
would definitely increase user retention. I like the idea, and think it's
definitely a problem needing to be solved.

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tomflack
Since the people involved with this app are replying in here:

Is this another app I will come to love and find invaluable only to one day
wake to "we've been bought by Google!"?

Do you have a business plan that involves long-term support for (and
monetization) of your users?

If not, I simply won't install something that has the raw potential to be so
important to me.

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jordanlee
Hi tomflack, we despaired at Sparrow's purchase and are in it for the long
haul.

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tomflack
Thanks for replying, I won't ask you to reveal monetization plans but have you
taken any VC?

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jameswyse
Doesn't seem to work in Mountain Lion. I launched the app, added my google
account, then went to add my Instagram account, however I had to do a password
reset, when I switched back to collections it was unresponsive. Re-launching
the app shows me the chrome of your main window and then it goes unresponsive
again.

If I can be of any help with your testing, let me know!

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tonyx
Hi jameswyse, thanks a lot for offering to help. We have yet to test our app
on the latest Mountain Lion. We will install Mountain Lion tomorrow and test
the app. Feel free to email us at support@collections.me and we'll drop you a
note once we finish testing the product on mountain lion.

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jameswyse
Thanks, will do!

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tonyx
Hi james, we just installed Mountain Lion and can confirm that this issue does
indeed exist. We're working on getting it fixed and will get back to you.

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tikhon
the fact i still love this app despite their terrible security problems from
the last launch is a very good sign for them. i'd pay for this. don't need the
instagram support though. sticking to professional stuff (like docs) seems
like a more prudent move. google will be chasing this company soon.

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seclorum
Tried it, don't have a use for it. I'm not an Instagram user, nor do I use
Google Docs much.

Will there be support for other 'collections' cloud services, like Delicious
for example? I could see it being a handy interface to my bookmarks in
Delicious, if it were supported ..

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Zaheer
Not sure how the Instagram fits into the original goal of the app ... but
cool!

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kposehn
I really am enjoying this app and I think you have made something great. I do
agree with the sentiment that you haven't yet made the value proposition as
clear, but that will change.

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newman314
When this was first posted, there was an issue with security credentials. It
would be good to know more about what you are doing to secure things going
forward.

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tonyx
Hi newman314, we've consulted with Heroku's security team and implemented all
the best practices suggested by them. We started enforcing a password
complexity policy for all of our accounts (Heroku, Amazon, codebase, database,
etc). We got an upcoming blog post on security planned in which we will inform
you much more on how we keep your data safe. Stay tuned!

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omarkassim
Just re-downloaded. I love the new icon, I think that swung it back for me.
Beta 1 was hurting my Dock.

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drobati
Doesn't resize on my 13" screen meaning I can't see content? Kind of weird.

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tonyx
Hi drobati, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Could you give us a bit more
detail?

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mukaiji
great job! I liked the previous logo though...this one is too... colorful.

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Simucal
I agree. This new logo looks like a lot of the more generic designs I've seen
submitted in 99design contests.

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csallen
Yep, it's a combination of the drop shadow, the floating shadow, the color
choices, and the shine on top of the colors.

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quadrahelix
No Snow Leopard support? :(

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tonyx
We should buy you a copy of Mountain Lion so you can test out our app :)

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bound008
awesome. i have been in need of some instagram api tokens. thanks guys!

