This article was published on January 11, 2013

Splid is your ‘virtual witness’, an iOS app that locks photos from editing to help prove your story


Splid is your ‘virtual witness’, an iOS app that locks photos from editing to help prove your story

If you’ve ever wanted authentic photographic evidence of something without being accused of Photoshop-fakery, this new iOS app could be what you’re looking for.

Splid officially launches today, promising a ‘virtual witness’ for anyone who, say, has been in a minor car accident, so they can store a believable record of the scene as it happened.

Photos taken within the app are locked…they can’t be edited or doctored in any way. With registration, you can also store them all in a cloud-based vault.

How it works

When you first launch the app, you’re good to go.

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a
   
b

You point, shoot, and it’s stored within the app, untouchable. You can’t import any images in from other sources, or alter the image in any way.

c
   
d

Splid also lets you create multiple albums with separate photo collections within the app. One potential use-case could be for designers, or those wishing to prove a piece of work was created by them, on a certain date or time. That said, it is actually easy to falsify this data, simply by altering the date/time setting on your iDevice, which I managed easily.

c

As noted already, Splid also offers an optional registration that brings added functionality, including the ability to lock photos independently on Splid’s servers. They’re stored full-size, with zoom included for additional detail.

It’s probably also worth mentioning that photos cannot be seen within Splid by anyone who doesn’t have the user’s express permission. And your iOS device gives each photo a unique ID as it uploads.

d

The app was launched by a company called “FDJ Partners”, founded 35 years ago, after it embarked on a lengthy complaints procedure against a ‘Big Six’ utility company in a bid to rectify a quarterly electricity bill overcharge of £700. Now, by “FDJ Partners”, we’re really talking about a couple who have been together for 35 years…it seems there isn’t actually a proper company here called FDJ Partners. But that’s fine with us.

“Inaccurate or badly estimated bills, together with erroneous or faulty readings, are the main causes for complaint against the utilities and yet very few people follow the complaints procedure to its full conclusion,” explains Fiona Jack, of “FDJ Partners”.

“Ten phone calls, 68 emails and 3 letters later and it’s easy to see why,” she continued. “The system, which lacked continuity and was overly complicated, seemed geared towards discouraging consumers from standing up for their rights. Even the seemingly obvious, such as speaking to the relevant billing adviser, was not permitted.

“Our story ended well, and eight weeks later the utility company issued its bill with a 100% rebate, plus an additional £600.00 in compensation, but our case is the exception rather than the rule,” she adds. “The utilities have had it too good for too long but we hope that, armed with The Splid app, many more consumers will join in the campaign for fairer treatment.”

It’s an interesting idea for sure, though what will be even more interesting will be whether photos taken with the app will be taken any more seriously by the relevant authorities.

Splid is available to download now for $0.99, or your local currency equivalent.

Splid | iOS

Image Credit: Thinkstock

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