Meet Znapin, a snappy selfie challenge app

I’m normally not really one for new kinds of photo and/or video apps, but trying out Znapin today was actually pretty cool. Znapin is a new selfie photo/video app that takes the idea of the selfie and leverages it against the whole social thing. Though there are numerous apps that do similar things, I found myself fairly intrigued by Znapin, both because of its ease of use, and because of the whole “challenge” feature. But let’s back up for a moment and start from the beginning.

Available now on iOS and with a waiting list for Android, Znapin has a fairly painless (if typical) sign-up process, including email, password, username, and gender (or with a sign-up option through Facebook or Twitter if you prefer). When you actually open the app for the first time, you’re dropped into the “Global” tab of their feed, with all your basic tabs at the bottom (Feeds, Profile, Notifications, etc.).

Scrolling through the feed, I actually like the fact that photos and videos are intermixed; though perhaps not a super complicated notion, I just like it. Each entry in the feed (either photo or video) comes with a nice bold title above, and a heart (like) and comment icon below. The metrics of each are fairly identifiable, and the layout’s pretty clean.

Yet while Znapin uses the same followers/following dynamic as so many other apps, the thing that I find their biggest draw is the “challenge” feature, as I noted previously. If you click over to the “Challenges” tab, you’re greeted with a cool rolodex format that you can spin through to find a challenge that works for you. Some are quirky, like “Bros with Fros” (which produced a stunning picture for yours truly), while others are more straightforward, like “The Headbanger Challenge!,” which allowed me to video myself like the rockstar I am at heart.

If you ask me, this is Znapin’s best feature thus far, and the one that I think could help them distinguish themselves in the ever-growing photo/selfie market. That remains to be seen, but for now, the “Guitar Hero” challenge is calling my name.  

Adam Marx

Adam is a music industry veteran, having spent years on college radio and doing music journalism. He's a contributing writer on MarxRand, and CEO of a soon-to-launch new music startup.