That’s where the apps we’ll be looking at come into play. Photos of your children saved to these apps will be automatically arranged among many other awesome features. Let’s begin.
1. Moment Garden
Moment Garden is an interactive app which allows for the organization of photos and videos of your children into a virtual album called a Garden. It’s quite easy to navigate and uses a timeline interface. Moment Garden allows for the addition of multiple children to your Garden’. After you have completed the initial sign up process you can add children by selecting New, located at the top left of the interface. To add photos/videos to the Garden, simply select Add Moment and then you can browse your computer/device for the desired photos/videos as well as add a comment you wish to appear above the photo/video as well as edit the date on the photo, if necessary. If you select Family, you will be able to view all of your children’s material in one Garden. The app’s timeline interface allows you to locate photos easily based on the period of time the photo/video was taken. The timeline begins from your child’s birth date and then flows onwards. You can also invite friends and family to view your material on Moment Garden by selecting the Family & Friends option. By default, they will receive a daily newsletter summarizing the activity of the previous day. They can, however, change the frequency of these emails if they care to. Only these persons will be able to view your garden. On adding a child to the app, an email address will be created which you can use to easily facilitate uploads. Sending items to the assigned email address uploads them to your child’s Garden. As it stands, these are some pretty awesome features. But Moment Gardens has even more to offer through its premium features. Firstly, you have the ability to print content from your children’s gardens in the form of books or even magnets. You could also upgrade from the free offering of Moment Gardens to what is referred to as Star. For $5 a month you can gain access to additional capabilities such as the ability to upload longer, high definition videos as outlined in the screenshot above.
2. Tinybeans
Tinybeans is an attractive app which allows for persons to keep track of their children as they grow. After signing up for Tinybeans you should do the following:
Add family and friends.Add a child. You can add multiple children.Add a moment.
When adding family and friends, you are required to specify the level of access which the person being added will have. You can set whether the can just view photos, videos and milestones or if they can add and view photos, videos and milestones. You can also set their new moment email frequency. Pictures and videos of your child are referred to as moments. In order to upload a moment, select the Add moment option and follow the instructions. On uploading, the date on the photo can be set and a comment can also be added. You can restrict access to moments and you can even share them on Facebook. Instagram can be linked to your Tinybeans journal as well if you’re big on social media. Clicking on the profile picture of your child to the right of the journal timeline directs you to your child’s dashboard. From the dashboard, you will be able to access the Milestones tab. Milestones are grouped under categories such as Cognition, Communication and Special Firsts. The tab to the right of Milestones is labeled Channels. This tab essentially displays and links you to relevant information related to your child. The features outlined above are all free and give the user a great experience. However, there are some additional features which can be accessed for a fee. First, is printed products, such as photo books or even phone cases. You can also upgrade to the premium Tinybeans plan. The additional features gained by upgrading to the premium package are outlined above.
3. Peekaboo Moments
Peekaboo Moments is relatively straightforward to get up and running and it is quite an attractive app. On your first start of the app, you should set whether you prefer a Mainland China Account or an International Account. You will then be able to begin adding photos of your cherished little ones. Tap the ‘+’ button to begin adding photos. You can add either a Dairy entry, Photos or a Time Capsule. A Diary is essentially a text entry you make in relation to what’s going on with your child at a particular date. With this type of memory, you can set who can view it as well as edit the date. Photos are pretty straightforward. Simply browse the photos on your device for your desired photo and upload the ones you find most desirable. The Timecapsule feature is a unique and potentially inspiring feature. It allows parents to create memories for their children for them to look back on in the future. For instance, you can record your offspring’s childhood dreams for encouragement when hard days come. Under the My Info tab, you can view parenting tips and you can also add additional children or your children’s friends by selecting Manage Babies & Buddies. You can also invite family and friends to enjoy your memories via email, text message or through Facebook Messenger under the Share tab. You can invite persons either as Family or under Fans. Family can both add to and enjoy all of your timeline while Fans can only enjoy your shared photo timeline.
4. Lifecake
As Lifecake themselves aptly put it, this is an app which is similar to time travel for parents. Lifecake aims to make the process of using the app as hassle free as possible. On the initial setup of Lifecake, you are even asked where most of your photos are stored in order to make the photo/video upload process easier. Clicking on the plus sign in the top left-hand corner of the interface displays some of the core functionality of the app. On clicking the plus sign a menu will pop up with options for viewing uploads, uploading photos & videos, uploading stories or adding children. Photos can be added from a variety of sources. You can upload them directly from your device, from Facebook, Google Drive, Dropbox and even from Instagram. Lifecake also allows for the creation of books which are made up of a collection of your children’s memories. You can, of course, invite friends and family members to view the memories you have saved. You will be able to set the level of access different people have. Lifecake offers up to 1 GB of free storage but this can be upgraded to unlimited for a fee.
Conclusion
All of these apps perform well but Moment Garden’s interface isn’t as beautiful as those of the other offerings. The one standout feature from among these apps, however, is from Peekaboo Moments. The Timecapsule feature is a great idea and could be very inspirational to your children when they get older. ALSO READ: How to Make Browsing the Internet Kid-Friendly for Children
