Zensify is a new lifestreaming iPhone app which lets you update, discover and track pictures, videos and comments across multiple social networks. Other apps have tried to do similar things. But what sets Zensify apart is that it shows the user trends within your social graph in the form of a tag cloud of key words. In other words it brings a lot more intelligence to your social graph. Suddenly, you can see a big trending topic amongst people you follow. I’ve been wanting something similar for a while and I’m not alone. David Winer recently Tweeted: “Wouldn’t it be cool if “trending topics” were localized to the people who are followed by the people you follow.” Well Zensify does this.
And it doesn’t just do it across Twitter. It does it also does it across updates from Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Delicious, Photobucket and 12seconds. For that reason it is my new favourite app, bar none, and it’s available for free from the app store here.
Zensify is also reminiscent of some desktop apps in that it allows you to view all your social networks in one timeline, and update Twitter and Facebook at the same time. You can upload and share mobile photos, and share content from all those networks directly back into to Twitter. You can also set up and save regular search terms across your social graph. The app will also play videos from YouTube and 12seconds.
The first version of Zensify is called “Zensify Preview”, so this is not the full app just yet. Even so it’s still pretty awesome.
For instance, this morning I could see that among the people I am following (which is pretty much all the startups CEOs across Europe) that, just amongst my Twitter friends, people were talking a lot about “funding”. Each time I click a topic it takes me deeper into who is talking about that topic.
Plus the search facilities on the app are pretty good as well, allowing you to search across Twitter, videos, Facebook, and many other content types.
However, one drawback comes not from the app itself but from the fact that many people have linked their Twitter account with Facebook, so you get their status updates twice. There’s been a general trend away from doing this and Zenify, and other apps like it, will probably accelerate this as people realise how much it pollutes the stream.
Zensify is seed funded by Ipex Capital, PA Consulting Group’s venture arm and co-founded by Bastian Lehmann. So far they have 11 staff in total.
The development roadmap includes integrating public content from various sources, more social networks and web services like Google Reader, and opening up the platform for other developers. The full launch is planned for June.