On lazy days, I just like browsing the web looking at random photos from friends or anything on the web.  I like looking at how others view the world, taking a photo at an obscure angle or tweaking with the lighting or the shutter speed.  It’s like the photos are telling a story.  And I’m not the only one who enjoys this.  That’s why there are so many photos-sharing apps these days.

Google officially launched Photovine, a photo-sharing app for iOS devices available for download in the iTunes for free.  Photovine was made by Slide, a company acquired by Google in 2010, and was launched in beta last month.   Only a few lucky ones were invited to try the beta version leaving the rest wondering what lies beyond that intriguing exterior,

“Plant a photo, watch it grow.”

A teasing phrase followed by,

“Photovine is a fun way to learn more about your friends, new people, and share your world like never before.”

So what is Photovine?  What separates from all the rest of the photo sharing apps available today?

Photovine works by pooling your photos by topics or categories called “vines” which is defined as a constantly growing family of photos connected through a common caption created by you, your friends, and people all over the world.  And these vines are not your typical categories, it can be anything like “The Things I Love About Summer” or “Best Childhood Memory” or “The One” and in those vines, people add their photos thus creating their own stories making it a social, creative and fun way to connect with people.

When one adds a photo to a particular vine, you’d get to see other people’s take on that particular vine and that is really interesting.  You could easily get lost browsing through the photos of others, others may even inspire you.

You can also add your friends from Facebook, Twitter and even in your phone’s contact list or even via e-mail or text.  But whether or not you have friends using Photovine, I’m sure you can still enjoy browsing through the photos of other people, having a glimpse what someone else’s life is like.

As Apple users are already getting the hang of this newly released app, Android users are clueless as to why this cool photo-sharing app was first launched in iOS and not on Android.  The iOS already has Instagram, Photovine would have been a great add-on for Android devices, especially since Android is Google’s own outlet for launching apps.

While we wait for Google to bring Photovine to Android, the search giant’s also lending an ear to music discovery.  In an effort to make sure you don’t forget about its own cloud-based Music app, Google’s launched Magnifier, a music blog to help you discover new tunes.  It’s all part of the Music beta program, which is competing in the newfound Spotify era.

While some Google apps gain little attention and others find widespread success, they’re always part of a larger ecosystem that centers around your personal cloud.  From photo-sharing to music discovery, the media aspects of the consumer cloud are driving a great deal of activity from Google, as it continually seeks new ways to leverage not only its own platforms, but others’ as well.