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Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

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Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#11

Post by marconlp »

brailsafe wrote: post #10
marconlp wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually spoke with Peer Richelsen (CEO @ Cal.com) and he asked me the same question. Also mentioning that open-source is only beneficial when selling to enterprise companies, just like PostHog or Activepieces is planning/doing. I was thinking about why someone would choose Snapify over Loom, being open-source would be one argument. But if those people are willing to pay is another question...

I've kind of wondered what the value proposition is of Loom as a business. On mac I get native screen recording and can just toss the video straight into any chat app or any video hosting platform. If you want to build a video hosting platform though, that's a different level of commitment.

What kind of chat app or video hosting platform did you use?

I've often encountered errors like: "You file is too powerful" - Discord, when trying to share my recording.

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#12

Post by kinduff »

Congrats on the launch. These points are purely my opinion, I'm a nobody, take it with a grain of salt.

1. I understand the need to push for a scheduled demo, but revealing your magic trick early is a good thing in this case, why not link a demo in your landing page?

2. I swear I have good eyesight, but I totally missed the "Record a video" CTA.

3. I had to remember what Loom was. Is okay to be an alternative, but don't rely too much on them. I should be able to tell what your product is without scrolling.

4. I really recommend you to check out ways to fit your content vertically, e.g. the video player, or the confirmation after recording a video. Had to scroll.

5. Price is a toggle, but should work as tabs, it's counter intuitive.

6. Show payment methods early.

7. Clicking "Get Started" sends me to "Sign In". You claim we don't need an account to use the product (record), but yet you assume I have an account.

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#13

Post by kinduff »

mmcclure wrote: post #9

This is super cool! We built something in the same vein but using Mux as a way to dog food our products[1]. This is certainly doing more product-wise, though in terms of being similar shape-wise to Loom. I noticed your demo example in your top comment isn’t working, which made me suspect you’re just using the raw MediaRecorder output, and sure enough. Unfortunately…that’s just not going to work for any “real” use cas…

I love the landing page! Great job!

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#14

Post by brailsafe »

marconlp wrote: post #11
brailsafe wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've kind of wondered what the value proposition is of Loom as a business. On mac I get native screen recording and can just toss the video straight into any chat app or any video hosting platform. If you want to build a video hosting platform though, that's a different level of commitment.

What kind of chat app or video hosting platform did you use? I've often encountered errors like: "You file is too powerful" - Discord, when trying to share my recording.

No specific errors come to mind for me, only in some cases files that are too large according to whatever the subscription is, or maaybe encoding on their end. Jira, Slack, Google chat, not sure about teams.

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#15

Post by mmcclure »

kinduff wrote: post #13
mmcclure wrote: post #9

This is super cool! We built something in the same vein but using Mux as a way to dog food our products[1]. This is certainly doing more product-wise, though in terms of being similar shape-wise to Loom. I noticed your demo example in your top comment isn’t working, which made me suspect you’re just using the raw MediaRecorder output, and sure enough. Unfortunately…that’s just not going to work for any “real” use cas…

I love the landing page! Great job!

Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#16

Post by marconlp »

mmcclure wrote: post #9

This is super cool! We built something in the same vein but using Mux as a way to dog food our products[1]. This is certainly doing more product-wise, though in terms of being similar shape-wise to Loom. I noticed your demo example in your top comment isn’t working, which made me suspect you’re just using the raw MediaRecorder output, and sure enough. Unfortunately…that’s just not going to work for any “real” use cas…

Thanks! I took a look at stream.new which is surprisingly similar. And yes, I am uploading and serving the raw MediaRecorder output, without any transcoding.

Did you by any chance try to view the demo using Safari? https://github.com/MarconLP/snapify/issues/12

Re: Show HN: Snapify – open-source Loom alternative

#17

Post by marconlp »

kinduff wrote: post #12

Congrats on the launch. These points are purely my opinion, I'm a nobody, take it with a grain of salt. 1. I understand the need to push for a scheduled demo, but revealing your magic trick early is a good thing in this case, why not link a demo in your landing page? 2. I swear I have good eyesight, but I totally missed the "Record a video" CTA. 3. I had to remember what Loom was. Is okay to be an alternative, but do…

Hi kinduff, thanks for your feedback!

1. Yeah, I also noticed it's easier to explain the product using a video demo. I will add a recorded demo to the landing page! https://github.com/MarconLP/snapify/issues/17

2. The big red button in the hero section?

3. My goal is for users who are searching for something like "loom alternative" end up finding snapify. This also couples with 1.

4. Thanks for reporting that, fixed in https://github.com/MarconLP/snapify/issues/16

5. That's correct, initially I wanted something like what cal.com has on their pricing page: https://cal.com/pricing, but in the end that's just a minor thing.

6. Early in the checkout process, the landing page, or the pricing page? It's currently only mentioned in the FAQ on the pricing page.

7. Are you talking about the "Record a video" button? Recording a quick video and saving it locally does not require an account, but it's required when uploading to the cloud.

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