It’s been four months since Apple first tried to make ‘slofies’ happen – and, like Gretchen Wieners with “fetch”, it’s struggling.
Apple has released two new videos showing off the slow-motion front camera capabilities of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The slofies show two professional snowboarders experimenting with the new feature. The athletes do flips and get faces full of snow, neither seemingly the slightest bit concerned about dropping the expensive device in their hand.
Related: What is a Slofie?
The two videos – titled ‘Backflip’ and ‘Whiteout’ – have been met with a shrug from Apple fans and skeptics alike.
While Apple has, as usual, disabled comments on YouTube, MacRumors shared the ads on its forum earlier this week – and the members weren’t especially impressed.
“It’s pretty much what GoPro’s been showing for the last decade. Makes sense for their product. But for a $1,000+ primary phone in the back country? Makes no sense,” commented one forum member.
“They keep trying to find a purpose for this gimmick”, added another.
The new ads are proof that Apple isn’t ready to give up on the feature yet, though.
The company applied to trademark the word ‘slofie’ last year, a move that would place restrictions on the use of the little-known term in the US.
The trademark would apply to “downloadable computer software for use in capturing and recording video”, meaning rival companies will have to ditch the slofie name when marketing any slow-mo camera apps instead of piggybacking on Apple’s, uh, trend.
While, this trademark would prevent Apple’s competition from snatching the term ‘slofie’, it certainly hasn’t stopped them from considering implementing similar features on their own phones.
Back in October, Samsung was spotted testing out a similar slow-mo front camera setting in the One UI 2 beta for the Galaxy S10.
Related: Best camera phones
Despite the lack of enthusiasm the slofie has otherwise received, Apple has continued to push the feature to our feeds in the hopes it will catch on with someone (anyone).
To paraphrase Regina George: Apple, stop trying to make slofies happen. It’s not going to happen!
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
