When someone shouts "Marco," you know to answer with
"Polo." But Marco Polo isn't just a children's game or the name of a
13th-century Venetian traveler famous for his explorations in China.
It's also a mobile video messaging app that is being downloaded at a
rapid rate.
App maker Joya Communications describes
Marco Polo as a "video walkie talkie." Another way to view it is as an
enhancement and alternative to your usual text messaging routine. It's
an easy way to send short videos back and forth with your friends and
family.
The
interface is friendly and the learning curve is short, so you can see
why it's catching on not just with Snapchat-obsessed millennials, but
all sorts of smartphone users.
What it's good for
Marco
Polo is especially good for short-and-sweet video messages. You're
probably not going to use it for a 10-minute tutorial (though you can if
you want) on how to make your favorite dinner, but it's ideal for a
quick snippet showing the finished product off to your best friend. You
can look back at your video conversation history and just tap a
thumbnail to re-watch videos that were already recorded and sent back
and forth. In that sense, it's much like having a visual version of text
messaging.
Get going
After you
download Marco Polo, it will walk you through a quick setup process
where you verify your phone number, choose a profile photo, and search
for friends. It offers to send invitations to your contacts, but be
careful about accidentally spamming everyone on your contact list.
Either skip this step or carefully select the contacts you want to send
invites to. You can always send out individual invitations later on.
Marco Polo will automatically pull up the contacts who already use the
app, so chances are good you will find someone you know right away.
Chat with the Polo Bot
You
could dive right in and send a video message to a friend, or you can
hone your skills and practice with the Polo Bot, an automated Marco Polo
contact. You can set your phone's camera to selfie-mode or choose to
use the forward-facing camera if you don't want your face in the
picture. Record a short video by hitting "Start." It will send when you
hit "Stop." You can rewatch your recorded videos by touching the
thumbnail at the bottom of the screen. Polo Bot will respond back with
tips about using the app.
When you've got a feel for how Marco Polo works, then try out sending messages to your friends.
Invite politely
Marco
Polo is gaining traction with smartphone users, but not everyone is
aware of it. Look for the person-shaped symbol with a plus sign next to
it at the top of the app. Open this and you will see a list of
"Suggested Friends." This is where you can send out individual
invitations to join you on the app. You may also have the option to send
invites through Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Gmail or other
apps on your phone.
Delete your videos
Marco
Polo stores the videos you and your friends create in the cloud, so
you're not eating up valuable storage space on your phone. If you don't
want a particular video to live on in infamy on Marco Polo, you can
choose to delete it by holding down on the thumbnail for that video.
This pops up a selection of options, including "Delete this Polo." You
can only delete your own videos, but not other people's videos.
Goofy extras
Marco
Polo knows how to goof off. Voice filters (touch the icon that looks
like a hybrid of a mic and a magic wand) will alter your voice to make
it sound like a robot or a strongman, or as if you've just inhaled
helium.
There's a text option for typing over your
video and a doodle feature for drawing freehand. Access text by tapping
the "T" icon and it will open up your keyboard. Type whatever you like.
If you type a lot, the text will move off the top of the screen. To make
the text disappear entirely, just tap the "T" icon again.
Engage
the doodle feature by tapping on the pencil-shaped icon and then just
draw on the screen with your finger while you're recording. This can be
useful if you want to point something out within the video frame, but
you could also give yourself cat ears and just play around. As with the
text feature, tapping the doodle icon will then clear the screen.
There's
a little bit of Instagram flair here since Marco Polo offers some
visual filters. They're fairly rudimentary, but you can choose between
Natural, Pop Art, Movie Star, Toon, Sketch, Night Vision, and America
(which makes everything red, white and blue). Change filters by swiping
your finger across the screen. You can play with filters while recording
a video. Just swipe away and choose your favorite special effect.
Marco
Polo could end up giving Snapchat some serious competition. The app is
available for both Android and iOS devices.
Find it in the Apple App Store and Google Play.
