explainer

What is Vero? The new social media app with no ads that's exploding right now.

Vero – a social media app that’s been around since 2015 – has exploded in popularity this month.

It’s currently the number one downloaded app in Apple’s app store and its makers claim it’s not just another Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook. In fact, some of its features are gaining it the moniker “the anti-Facebook”.

So what’s made Vero suddenly popular and is it worth your download? Let’s break it down.

What is everyone so excited about?

It’s hard to trace just why the app’s popularity has dramatically spiked. Before now, it had been popular with photographers and cosplayers and had been steadily growing popularity, now nearing one million users, co-founder and CEO Ayman Hariri told Variety.

The three things users seem most excited about are that it has no ads, no data-mining and no algorithm –  meaning it presents its post in chronological order. Given Facebook and Instagram are doing the complete opposite right not – much to the dismay of users – it has been labelled the “anti-Facebook”.

It’s also really easy to choose who you’re sharing your posts to. So you can pick whether something can be seen by only your ‘close friends’, ‘friends’, ‘acquaintances’ or ‘followers’. You can also turn those followers on and off as you please.

vero-app
Image: Vero.
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Okay, but what actually is Vero?

It's a social media app for sharing. Sharing photos, links, books, videos, and music.

Like any social media app, it has a feed (only it's called a stream). That feed is where you see everything shared with you. But it also get's broken up into the categories: places, movies/tv, music, links, books, photos. So you can scroll through and search within a 'collection' of everyone's photos, for instance, in one place.

Facebook has developed a messenger app for six-year-olds, and we have some concerns. Post continues.

Should I download Vero?

Vero is free for its first one million users, but it won't be for everyone else forever. A paywall is going to go up and it will become a subscription service, we just don't know how much it will cost yer. Also, its sudden popularity has resulted in a few technical issues the Vero team are working on fixing.

But the bandwagon might be worth jumping on if only to check out what creative people like Zack Snyder, Banks and Charli XCX are doing there.

Had you heard of Vero? Are you thinking of downloading it?