Can you send pictures to a digital frame with an app?
Getting a digital frame with an app is one of the best ways to connect and share with your loved ones. One of the best ways to do this is to send pictures directly from your phone to any/all of your digital frames.
For example, Pix-Star’s mobile app (Pix-Star Snap) lets you send up to 250 photos to several Pix-Star frames at the same time. Send individual photos, collections, and even entire folders.
One important point to take note of is your frame’s aspect ratio. Most digital frames use a 16:9 aspect ratio and just a handful use a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Most of our smartphones capture photos in 4:3, and capture videos in 16:9. If you send 4:3 pictures to a digital frame with a 16:9 aspect ratio, there will be black bars around the sides of the photos (or they will be cropped, zoomed, distorted, etc.).
We recommend buying a digital photo frame with a 4:3 aspect ratio. This perfectly matches most photos we take on our smartphones. Additionally, 4:3 displays do a better job at displaying the 1:1 and 3:2 aspect ratios to which most DSLRs default.
With the Pix-Star digital frame app, you can also send video and audio recordings to any of your frames. It’s quick and simple. To add to this, all incoming photos are saved to Pix-Star’s internal storage for offline availability.
Read our in-depth guide on how to send pictures to a digital frame for a step-by-step breakdown of the process.
What is the best digital frame with an app?
The best digital frame with an app is arguably the Pix-Star digital frame. Its mobile app – Pix-Star Snap – is probably the most capable and versatile on the market, particularly for families and grandparents.
Using Pix-Star Snap, you can send up to 250 photos to any/all of your Pix-Star frames. Here you can manually select which photos to send. Alternatively, you could send an entire collection or folder to save even more time.
Another great feature is Pix-Star’s video and audio support. You can record a 2-minute voice message and send it directly to any of your frames. Additionally, you can select and send 2-minute video clips from your phone’s gallery.
Each user doesn’t need to create an account to use the app. Many competing frames require each user to create an account – which is made even worse with subscription-based digital frames.
Pix-Star doesn’t charge any subscription fees or hidden costs. Unlike Nixplay and Skylight digital frames, Pix-Star doesn’t lock anything behind a paywall. You have full access to their mobile app and all the photos you send are backed up automatically to the cloud.
Are digital frames with apps free to use?
Not all digital frames with mobile apps are free to use. Among the top digital frames, Nixplay and Skylight charge recurring subscription fees to unlock access to their mobile app and its features.
Popular digital frames that offer free-to-use apps include the Pix-Star frame, Aura’s lineup, and Dragon Touch digital frames. We recommend avoiding digital frames that require subscriptions to access their mobile app (as this is often the only method for photo-sharing that they offer).
Pix-Star’s digital frames have arguably the best mobile app. It’s far more versatile than the subscription-based frames’ mobile apps. You can bulk share up to 250 photos in one go – to several frames at the same time.
Pix-Star also lets you send video clips and audio messages to any of your frames – no matter where you are. There’s no need to create an account to use the app. It’s simple, straightforward, and quick to download.
There’s a feature that lets you set photos received from the mobile app (Pix-Star photo-mail) to display automatically in the current slideshow. This ensures you never miss an important picture or moment – and automates much of the photo-sharing process.
How many photos can I send to a digital frame using its app?
The Pix-Star Snap mobile app lets you send up to 250 photos to several receiving Pix-Star frames at the same time. Additionally, you can bulk share photos more effortlessly by sending entire collections and folders right from your phone’s gallery or storage.
You can select the individual pictures you want to send. After this, select the frames you want to share them with. You only need to add the new frame once. Pix-Star’s app will remember the frame from then on (all you need is its unique email address for the first time).
Pix-Star’s mobile app’s functionality ties in neatly with its web album and remote configuration features.
The web album feature lets you import and sync photos wirelessly from external sources like social media, photo-sharing sites, and online storage platforms.
Pix-Star’s remote configuration feature lets you remotely start slideshows, adjust most of the frame’s settings, update their firmware, and manage their local and cloud storage. It’s arguably the most robust feature set on the market – lending to Pix-Star’s ideal performance in the modern home and family!
Can I control my digital frame from my phone?
Few of the top digital frames offer any remote configuration/control feature. In most cases, you need to make changes on the frame in person, or within a couple of feet using the handheld remote.
Some popular digital frames like the Pix-Star offer a versatile remote configuration feature – but not via the mobile app. You need to use the dedicated web interface for your Pix-Star frames (or multi-frame control group).
Mobile apps tend to be quite limited when it comes to remote configuration. Web interfaces (accessed via a web browser on a computer) offer a more comprehensive set of adjustable features.
For example, Pix-Star’s remote configuration feature lets you adjust the frame’s settings, start and manage slideshows, update its firmware, make changes to local and cloud storage, and more.
You have control over slideshows, the motion sensor & auto-on/off feature, and much more. It’s a far superior option to using a mobile app – which rarely has this kind of functionality built in.
