14 DAY TRIAL // A free iOS app called Acts of Sharing has been released on Apple’s App Store. Designed by Anthology Creative, the app enables individuals to build local online communities of friends through which they can easily share any items that they’ve listed in their collections.
Acts of Sharing is a social networking site designed specifically for lending and borrowing material items.
The group aims to help make the idea of “sharing not buying” a more likely option for consumers with Earth Day knocking on our doors.
As an example, Anthology Creative says items can range from books, games and CDs to power tools, camping gear and even cars.
The app has a built-in barcode scanner that lets users quickly scan anything on a store shelf and see whether anyone in their local network already has the item to share, so they don’t make any unnecessary purchases.
Commenting on the purpose of the application, Brian Boitmann, founder and chief sharing officer of Acts of Sharing said, “The concept of sharing is nothing new, but often times many of us make the mistake of purchasing something while not realizing that we could just as easily borrow it from someone we know.”
“We designed the Acts of Sharing online platform, and now our new iPhone application, to make sharing easier while encouraging smart consumption. When a person knows what material items may already be accessible to them and available to borrow, they’re able to make more informed purchasing decisions—and in some cases no purchase at all,” Boitmann added.
In addition to barcode scanning, the iPhone app allows users to do pretty much everything they would normally do using the web-based tool on their desktop computers.
Features include creating collections of items they want to share, or wish lists of items they want to borrow, building a network of local friends with whom they want to share, and efficiently tracking items that have been shared from their collections, as well as rating users who borrowed from them.
The Acts Of Sharing iOS app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and requires iOS 3.1 or later.