The social media app is giving Instagram a run for its money with its “no-algorithms” ethos, and has skyrocketed in popularity these past few days.
Created in 2015 by Lebanese billionaire businessman Ayman Hariri, the photo-sharing app has social media fans signing up in droves.
According to Mashable, a week ago the app was ranked so low it didn’t even appear in Apple’s App Store’s top 1,500 apps. This week it’s at the top of the charts, and is the most popular app in the US App Store.
British GQ, singer Rita Ora, comedian Chris Hardwick and American filmmaker Zach Snyder all have Vero account.
The app bills itself as an ad-free platform and the “social network that lets you be yourself.” The idea behind the app is that there are no advertisers and, therefore, no need for an algorithm that boosts posts.
Content on Vero appears in chronological order and users can share images, links, music, videos, and more with their followers. The app also boasts a good selection of filters, and images don’t need to be resized in before being posted. You can also shop on the app, listen to music, share the books you’re reading and much more.
Vero has claimed it will be giving away free lifetime membership to the first million users that sign up. After, the app will charge a “small annual subscription fee” to individuals that want to join the platform.
What’s the downside?
The app is still in beta version and is extremely glitchy. Some influencers are finding the app to be “pointless”…
The Vero app has been glitchy and pointless so far
— Laura Lee (@Laura88Lee) February 28, 2018
…and some people are having big problems just trying to sign up.
First experience with #Vero
1. Registration failed
2. Restarted app
3. Verification failed
4. *Gets phone call with verification code*
5. Verification freezes.
6. Reloads app again
7. Broken feed with server errors
8. No tutorial
9. Adding friends fails
10. *Goes back to twitter*— Tanner Fugal (@TannerFugal) February 27, 2018
Vero has acknowledged the issues and is working to resolve the problems in the app…
We apologize for the late update.
We are scaling our servers to meet the increasing demand.
We appreciate your continued patience while we work to restore service.— Vero (@verotruesocial) February 26, 2018
Vero also doesn’t have a stories feature, the abilities to update a status with text or the option to create groups/pages. And while a handful of influencers, celebrities and editorial publications have embraced the app there doesn’t appear to be any mainstream brands on the platform (aside from British GQ).
While it’s too early in the game to know if Vero will pose significant threat to other social media platforms, its a fun alternative for social media fans that may be sick of Instagram’s algorithms or Snapchat’s redesign – when it isn’t crashing, that is.
You can download Vero for iOS here and for Android here.
Do you have Vero? Have you had problems with the app? Let us know in the comments below…