14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Garage has released a new application that’s exclusive to Apple’s iPhone and that automatically crops objects from your photos and saves them in catalogs on the device.
The application is not currently listed in the App Store, and users need to sign up for the download link on the official page. It is built by the Human Experience & Design team in Microsoft’s Cambridge Research lab and is only part of a closed trial, with no plan to make it available for everyone just yet.
“Thinga.Me offers the best and most compelling way of digitally capturing the physical things that matter in your life. Archive your kids artwork, show off your cool set of collectibles, keep track of the stuff in your basement. The choice is yours,” the team at Microsoft says.
Tips for the best results
Microsoft Garage explains that, in order to achieve the best results with this app, iPhone users need to take clear photos that can allow the cropping of objects showing up in pictures. The clearer the photo, the bigger the chances to perform an accurate crop, so always look for clean backgrounds with good lightning.
There is also a Painting Mode that allows you to manually add or remove certain parts from the photo in order to improve the accurate of the app.
The UI is pretty intuitive, and you shouldn’t experience any difficulties using it, with all items grouped into collections that you can manually create, name, and organize. You can also set theme properties, change the layout and effects, with Microsoft promising more such customization options in the next versions.
In case you were wondering, no, Thinga.Me is not available on Windows Phone, and not even on Android, and since this is just a Microsoft Garage project, there’s still no sign that anything can change in the coming future. Microsoft Garage is a special project lab that allows employees of the company to work on their very own projects without necessarily linking their apps with the software giant.
