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Editor's note: This article is part of KSL's App of the Week, which features a different app with Utah ties each Thursday. Send tips for future articles to ddewey@ksl.com. SALT LAKE CITY — Do you wish your Instagram was filled with just pictures of cats? There's an app called Catastic for that.
Plus11 is a Utah company that makes photo-sharing apps for niche communities all over the country. Want to share a picture from your latest fishing trip with people who would appreciate it? There's REELphoto for that.
"We are hoping to make it so that when you log into the app you know what you are getting. It's curated by the community and we feel that makes it pretty special," said Austin Wright, president of Plus11.
Plus11 built a photo platform called COphoto in 2014 that it uses for its niche community apps. It looks and feels a lot like Instagram but packs in a few additional features like forums and pictures that allow you to pinch-to-zoom.
"It might seem like something that is trivial but when someone is posting a picture of a huge fish they caught or a picture of their cute cat, even something like zooming in has made a difference for some of our users," said Wright.
So far, every app Plus11 has launched has made it to the top charts in the app stores for both iOS and Android.
"(It) has been pretty fun to see that we can kind of just plug in a new niche community and the community usually gets behind it and pushes it up there," said Wright.
The REELphoto app has more than 50,000 users and Catastic has more than 20,000 after just a few months on the market. All of the company's apps combined have been downloaded more than 300,000 times, according to Wright.
"We are looking to add tools and features that are niche specific," said Wright. "So the cat community can have cute cat wars where you can throw up one picture of a cat and pair it with another and people can compare it."
There will also be a ride sharing tool for its motorcycle app, called Revv, that would allow riders in a specific area to meet up for rides.
Most of the apps Plus11 has created are free and available on both iOS and Android. The company can also help create and design apps for businesses to use.
