2025-07-13
Question
Why are you just picking the same people and same team why can’t you give others a change that gets thrown back and get a change guru top pick or guru Top winner
Updating
iPhone Screenshots
Description
GuruShots makes your photography more fun, exciting and rewarding.
Join our photography community with over 7M photography lovers from around the world and take your photography to the next level.
Discover incredible photos taken by some of the world’s most talented creatives, ranging from mobile creatives to hobbyists and photography professionals.
Grab a camera and join the game! Inspire and get inspired, learn photography, develop your own style and get the exposure you deserve. Enjoy fun and challenging gameplay that will test your creativity.
PLAY
Choose from 300+ new themed photo challenges every month. Submit your photos and find out how good they really are.
Gain votes on your photos and level up the ranks to achieve the ultimate title of Guru. Experience a new way to share photos.
Capture fresh photos with your camera or dust off photos you already have and compete against others in the world’s greatest photography game.
Boost your photos, fill the exposure meter or even swap a photo to gain maximum exposure and win the challenge. What’s your strategy?
TRACK
Track your progress in real-time throughout the game. Vote on other players’ photos, collect votes and see how you rank compared to others. Your voting power increases with every level.
ACHIEVE
Improve your photography and sharpen your camera skills through gameplay. Earn badges, collect achievements and get recognition for your photography.
Receive instant feedback on your photos from photographers around the world who share their knowledge and help you become a better photographer.
TEAM UP
Join a team or create your own and take on challenges together! Participate in team vs team matches. Chat with other members and track your team score in real-time. Move up Team Leagues and win bigger prizes!
SHOWCASE
Submit your photos to an exhibition challenge for a chance to showcase your work in international photo exhibitions.
Connect with fellow photography enthusiasts from all over the world. Over 100,000 GuruShots members have already exhibited their photos.
Special magazine challenges give you the chance to get your photos featured in leading online and printed photography magazines.
GuruShots is a one-of-a-kind photography community with members at any level from mobile creators to DSLR camera photographers.
Download the app or enjoy it on the web for free. Let the fun begin!
SOCIAL MEDIA
www.gurushots.com/
www.facebook.com/gurushots
www.instagram.com/gurushots
www.youtube.com/user/gurushots
What's New in Version 2.41.3
We've updated the app to fix some bugs and make features load faster.
Seller
Name
Gurushots Ltd
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
2.41.3
Size
497.9 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
Frequent/Intense Contests
Compatibility
iOS 16.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.4 of 5 (1,207 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-07-05
Reseting password not work
Want reset my password so put in e mail ok they send me a link good then I activete through link and!!going to just normal login not a reset page!why?on a PC as well not work!!!
2025-06-10
You don’t get paid, false advertising
A nice app and can be addictive on getting your votes for a photo, however I believe it’s slightly rigged as I have seen different people using the same photo from a previous game. Each game you play costs coins. If you don’t keep winning you will have to pay for additional coins. I thought the user was paid to upload photos, I don’t like the way that it’s falsely advertised that you get paid for photos. You pay the app to get more coins etc… to keep playing. If I am uploading good photos why should I pay. They should be paying me. I am unsure of the app creator’s motive. Perhaps it’s just to steal your data
2025-05-31
Instagram for… pros?
It’s a good app, and can get addicting but sometimes frustrating when you enter the comps. You’ll lose to photos that legitimately don’t even fit the prompt (when dueling or flash challenges), or in some cases for me at least, an amateur looking photo that is often grainy, poorly edited, out of focus etc. Not sure how the ‘voting’ process works but it doesn’t make a lot of sense and kind of defeats the point against genuine photography. These issues take the fun out of the competing aspect of the app, which then just makes it another instagram with less photos of people’s dinner and even less selfies with duck faces.
2025-05-25
Buggy
Was enjoying it. Then during upload it froze. Deleted and reinstalled and now can’t get back in. Shame!
2025-05-19
Everything is centred around spending money
They even want to use your photos to train AI
2025-01-28
Glitchy, buggy and money hungry
Not a die hard fan like some of the other reviewers here, I’m a newbie to this app to show my photography “prowess” and see how people like my shots.
My experience is mixed. I have to say this app is incredibly badly coded. You can tell when you try to upload images from gallery, no dialog box renders so you have to close the entire app. The developers have not done sufficient testing on their releases. I know as I’m an engineer myself.
Finally, it’s clear the owners of this app are money hungry. You can barely do anything as a newbie without paying for “coins”. It feels like I’m in some kind of weird casino game or online poker. This shouldn’t be how it works. Monetise the app on a paid for life subscription to remove ads, not gamify something that could be entirely fun and rewarding for new and budding photographers.
Poor play. Hope you chaps see the error of your ways and change your course of action otherwise I can see this app being dead within a years time.
2025-01-22
Problematic
Although I love GuruShots I am frustrated with the constant problems lately the constant having to contact them to log back in and the whole platform freezing I am wondering if it’s all worth it
2024-12-29
CASH GRAB FAKE GAME
All users are bots I loaded into a competition (which conviniently had 99/100 users in) with 120 votes instantly all users have first name and last initial as their name and once you get to second competition you easily get to 1st place and then lose exposure when you use all your votes up forcing you to pay for fills to get back up to top spot absolute cash grab disgusting scam by the devs
2024-12-12
Great game
Had a login issue which was resolved very quickly thanks Leslie! Nice to get the support when you need it.
2024-11-05
Love to hate
I was one of the og users of this app i would rave about it recommend it to anyone i could because it was based on talent pure photography talent if you where not the best you could not win and that was fine it encourged to improve photography skill now it pay to play the most amazing photos can get no attention while pictures that are no effort pictures can win if the app user pays enough the app has gone so down hill from its orginal purpose its frankly painful it painful to watch one of my former favourite apps turn into a cash grab so i deleted my account now off to find a place that is about the art not the money
2024-09-19
Was brilliant…
I joined this game a long time ago and to be completely honest at first it was superb. I loved playing it and the game rewarded the player brilliantly.
Then within the last 6 months, everything has changed and not for the better. The new company who have taken over the development of the game, are seeming to be more money hungry than the previous owners. They have started to phase out the tools and replace them with an in game currency but it’s not for the better. They are trying to drive out the existing players and replace them with newer players, who don’t care how much they spend.
The only thing I can take out of this game is that through the teams platform, I have met some wonderful people around the world and now consider them a second family.
I won’t be playing this game for much longer unless they scrap some of the changes and revert back to a game that was never broken.
If it ain’t broke…. Don’t try fix it.
2024-08-04
Pay to win
The idea was good back in the days to try yourself, upload your pictures and challange them. But they not telling you can only challange is landscape format, otherwise your pictures will be on the bottom of the rank list, or you need to pay for keys and swaps to have any chance to win, or you need to hang on your phone all day to maintenance your “exposure meter”.
If your are a professional photographer this isn’t your place.
The game also have loads of issues to join challanges and upload pictures. If you using any kind of additional AI based editing tools on your pictures you will be banned. Gurushot, was a noice try really but…. 👎🏻
2024-07-15
You have ruined the game
I have used this game for months and today you have added this coin feature. It has made the game far too expensive like for £9.99 you used to get 4 keys and now that price doesnt even get you 3 keys as your 50 off. The flash challenges cost 20 coins yet only first place gets that back. I propose that if your going to stuck with this system you need to match the prices as before or at least make it so you can win coins more easily. Everyone I have spoken too has said that this system has completely destroyed the game as most want to leave because of this as its far too expensive now. I dont mind paying your prices from before but currently no chance am I spending anything on this
2024-06-12
Don’t bother if you actually have talent
This app has many many flaws. When you submit photos, you have to vote for others in order to get exposure on your images up. This means people just vote for any old photo in order to make their own more noticeable. The actual good photos never get votes for. It’s awful.
2024-04-29
Terrible
Terrible, pointless money grab. Tried, got fed up and have tried again years later and it's even worse.
If you like photography, you deserve more than to subject yourself to this.
2024-04-28
Recent update has ruined the game
What’s with all the adverts?! I can’t play anymore it’s too annoying.
2024-04-09
Glitchy at the moment.
I have been using GuruShots since pretty much it started, lately I seem to be getting a few glitches. Like when I want to vote on a challenge and click on it, it opens up the new challenge page for the game I am already competing in.
Secondly when I am voting in a challenge it brings up a join this challenge screen and won’t let you finish voting until, you have clicked on that challenge and then it takes you away from the screen you have been voting for.
Thirdly the random company adverts popping up, when I go to join a challenge I don’t want the ads to play before I am allowed to join the challenge, it’s annoying to have ad pop ups in other away of the game but when voting and joining a challenge is a little annoying.
2024-03-07
Turbo and no response
Just want ask on this forum because I’m writing to you on your support email but is not response for last two weeks
Turbo scheme is absolutely ridiculous rubbish and money drain !!!! What posses you to set up algorithm to choose worst picture as a winner??
Is not fair to good and perfect shots
Also app on iPhone is glitched every half hour and your last update is not helping at all
2024-02-18
In app purchases glitch - STILL not fixed
There has been an error on the app for a month now.
Payment being taken for keys but the product not applied and an error message popping up.
Are you ever going to acknowledge the issue and fix it?
2024-01-29
Turbo feature
Am thinking of deleting this app now. Too many ads which I could perhaps have coped with but the ridiculous turbo feature which is just like playing roulette has put me right off.
2024-01-27
Turbo feature
I always thought guru shots was a fun game mostly focussed on quality photography. I have enjoyed the platform for several years and am a Guru.
Now we have a new “turbo” game adding a new lottery based on time your prepared to play or ability to pay for 2 keys (turbo, boost) in a challenge. This has nothing to do with quality photos it’s a lottery i will not play these challenges and feel sorry for those aspiring to be guru who have to deal with this.
The turbo feature makes you choose between dubious photos to guess the most popular. The aim seems to be do encourage you to waste keys having another go.
Turbo has come into one photo challenges which means swapping in the challenge is pointless as any other photo will not get the same exposure.
I am actively considering leaving the platform please get rid of this and return the platform back to a photography competition.
2024-01-24
same problem
trued it out on my photos and done the following and it seems that it’s not working or happening
2024-01-06
GuruShots
Although this website is a good idea, I’m not sure that paying for things improves photography.
2023-10-19
Great app
I love this app!
2023-09-23
Contact
After being unceremoniously booted out of my account for no reason I have been unable to log back in, I have sent four emails and four please contact me requests but have not heard anything, I have been playing this game since it began so this is really frustrating and disappointing. Sort yourself out Gurushots🥵🥵🥵
2023-08-15
Eyeful
The quality of photography on this site is incredible, not only do I enjoy taking part but I’ve learned so much about the art. People are friendly and helpful. I never get tired of this experience.
2023-07-28
So much promise.
This app genuinely has so much promise but is let down on many levels. I’ve never reviewed an app before so I will try and make it as constructive as possible. I’m writing this as someone who has come in the top 10 multiple times and regularly get top 100 or top 10%. I’ve also had printed photographs in multiple exhibits and have spent money in the app for swaps, boosts and fills. I’m currently stuck at Master level and frankly I’m bored.
1. Strategy. Strategy. Strategy. I honestly have tried countless times to use different strategies. Entering late, swapping, swapping back, boosting late, etc. yet none of these seem to deliver the insane boosts some other photographers seem to get. I’ve seen awful photographs win where the gurupicks are outstanding. This shows that this is NOT rewarding the best photos in the challenge correctly, and that this app is made for engagement and ultimately to get people to purchase from the store.
2. The mechanism of swaps and boosts means that the timing (seemingly random) is crucial. Even if you do swap and boost at the right times, those who seem to know the right time to do so win. The timing is clearly essential, and results in those knowing this ‘strategic’ timing get benefit.
3. The app massively favours and rewards speed voting. This ain’t good for voting for the best pics. I’d love to see the stats of users who vote properly vs speed vote…
4. The app rewards specific image ratios, limiting creativity for us photographers hugely. Portrait images for example perform terribly.
My final thoughts are - this is a game. It rewards those in the know who can swap at the right times and understand how the algorithms work. If you don’t know this you will always drop down the leaderboard time and time again, even if you’re sitting in the top 3. Prepare to be frustrated. I’ve given it 2 stars as ultimately it is a solid app with a great community. I just wish there wasn’t this hidden method for jumping up the boards.
2023-07-14
Easy to navigate
A great platform to show your skills and eye into the world of professional photography.
2023-05-16
Sanity saved
From lock down to lock it down this has been awesome!
2023-04-27
Addictive
I downloaded this about 2 days ago and have not left it alone since! I found all my old photos and collected my favourite ones and posted them here and I’m really loving it so far and can’t seem to put it down
2023-04-14
Trouble with in app purchases
I have to say I do love this app and I’ve been playing for a while but recently when I’ve purchased a swap or bundle keys it takes the money but I’m not receiving them and I’ve contacted them and had a nice reply but I’m unable to have refund or the items there for unable to play which tbh is annoying I don’t want to lose all I’ve put in. 🤯
2023-03-26
What makes a good photo?
I was excited to use this app after seeing a sponsored post on Instagram. The reality is a little disappointing. The overall quality of entries isn’t inspiring. I thought I’d be exposed to a better quality of curated images, based on the best entries. Instead, I feel forced into voting on average photos to get exposure for my own imagery. I want to be inspired but I’m not. I want my own skills to be pushed but they’re not. So, what makes a good photo? Anything but random likes. Nice try GuruShots. If only I could see the truly good shots. You almost got it right.
2023-02-26
Great app, but
It is a wonderful app. Photos being sent are quite inspiring and seeing your level and exposure go up is fun, however, I have already completed all requirements to be on "Veteran" but because they included "successful swaps" as a requirement for the levels between "Rookie" and "Veteran", it became very awkward. I think it undermines the levelling system to put requirements for levelling up behind a literal paywall, as swaps cost real money or as a random prize for attaining a certain level in a challenge ( I have yet to understand how the prizes work ).
Apart from that, you get challenges with clear requirements for only certain lower level profiles are allowed to enter and yet half of the "Guru's Pick" photos are from Gurus well beyond the cap of said challenge.
2023-02-23
Poor
Can’t even upload pictures 🙄
2023-02-23
App
I can no longer get on it needs new update and my phone doesn’t do it and now I cannot get on old one
2023-01-22
Waste of time
If you consider yourself anywhere near serious in photography this is a waste of time. You can’t get even inspiration here, it’s flooded with c**ppy pics of quotes, instarepeats, and all sorts of cringe. There’s a lot to love in vernacular, low quality photography, but you won’t find anything here. This is not about photography.
2022-11-13
££££
It’s okay not bad, but I’d say avoid spending you’re money on it, I had a rank of 25 in one of my challenges and I spent money about 2X for the boost, and increased rank to 15 but left the app for like 3 mins and came back and fell to 400 something, point is at the end of the day with the millions download Guru a shots are making a hefty amount of money. Yes it’s optional but b honest it’s designed in a way that ppl will eventually pay and it’s how this works, if that’s the case it’s not such a genuine game, a genuine game would make it fair on all grounds and I’d say that’s what u need to do. Really a genuine money making app for the developers not us ppl. And don’t tell me strategies to get exposure, listen I know we’ll enough about how things work nowadays.
Also how do I have 600votes with like 400 views cause that’s not right
2022-10-31
Lost my keys, swaps and fills after last update!
I love this app. I’ve been using it for a while a now. Earning keys, fills and swaps is hard. Lost them over an updated is simple unacceptable! 😡
Fix this asap please.
2022-10-04
Easy way to improve your photography skills
I’m using app for last two years. It gives me a lot of fun but also way to follow photographers better than me.
2022-08-29
Great Fun
Just started using this app. and have quite enjoyed it so far! Literally have so many photos that I take and have taken but sometimes end up doing nothing with them.
This app. Provides you with a platform that allows you to enter them into some sort of competition for free, sometimes to win in app. purchases or sometimes to win magazine exposure. Obviously the really great photos win, people that have really developed their skills and profile, but that what’s also great about using this app. The exposure you get to other photographers, all at different levels, is very useful for self critique and development.
For me this app. actually reminds me of Instagram when it first started before it lost itself. A place where people for an enthusiasm for photography can exhibit their work and appreciate others work. Great fun!
2022-08-19
Unfair hardly any genuine photos
I joined this app as thought it was a good way of showing of some of my photography. I mainly do photography as a hobby and am no professional but every now and then I get a few good pics that I like to show off. I have noticed when joining challenges that the majority of photos uploaded are just screen shots of professional photographs taken from google and not the members genuine work. This makes it very difficult for genuine photographers to get any sort of chance to gain votes. This app definitely needs to be moderated more so that this pictures cannot be used
2022-06-29
Stopped working after while
For a week everything was fine but now every time I reopen the app stop it stops loading pictures and don’t allow me to use any of the functions. Works for a while when reinstalled but that’s very annoying solution. Unfortunately I can’t use it now as i feel in disadvantage.
And it makes me sad especially after I invested in it and managed to build my rank up.
2022-06-11
The World through others eyes
Great place to see what and where other find interest and beauty and improve your own skills.
2022-03-14
UI issues
Needs to be better optimised for 13 pro max screen!
2022-02-22
Very buggy
As much as I enjoy using GuruShots. The app is extremely buggy. Despite the frequent updates, these bugs don’t seem to disappear.
2022-01-19
Ads and updates
I used to love this app, but it’s been getting increasingly pushy with ads for in app purchases and entries, and forcing updates. Update - changes to the boost feature has further ruined the app for me. You’ll likely never get past ‘Expert’ level, because you need Guru Picks to get further. Don’t bother with it, you have to pay for almost everything now, there’s very little point downloading it.
Edit: I downloaded this app to have fun with a personal hobby, not as a strategy game. I have apps for that. That wasn’t what was advertised, and I didn’t have to jump through those kinds of hoops just to get enjoyment when I started using this. The response I got from developers just further reinforces the fact that this is no longer an app I want to support.
2021-10-30
Gamifying photography
I love this app for two reasons:
It’s a great way to showcase my work, be part of team games and also challenge myself to take different photos than I typically do. The challenges sometimes are really great.
The second reason I lode this app is that I love looking at other peoples work. I enjoy the voting.
BUT… this is also where the app has (to me) it’s biggest flaw. All the photos are displayed in one long stream, which is hugely distracting for an app that’s meant to be about serious photography. It’s also often hard to see where one photo stops and the next one starts. All of this makes it hard to judge a photo when there is so much other stuff going on in the adjacent pictures.
My suggestion - why not use a tinder-like interface with one photo on screen at a time, and then a swipe right for a vote, swipe left for a reject. With only one photo on screen and no distractions. It would do the work more justice.
Also it would stop random voting behaviour. Right now people just click on random shots to vote and get exposure (I suspect - but based on other reviews here). This would stop that as the effort of swiping is the same in either direction.
My 2 cents - but I think this would massively improve the app.
2021-10-06
Really good… but
The game is really good but I do have a couple of gripes!
1. The game reduces the quality of the image 10 fold! Just wish I knew what the best export settings were to get the best image quality in the game.
2. Can’t upload from files app! So I have to copy my image from my External SSD onto my iPad, wait for it to sync over iCloud (because there is no dedicated iPad app) and then upload the image. It’s a chore so 9/10 times I don’t bother. Which is a shame!
3. iPad version of app! Where is it????
For these reasons I have gave this a generous 3 stars. When it could of been 5!
2021-04-28
Do not use this app!!!!
After nearly a year of using the app buying fills, keys and swaps and spending money on it my account has been deleted all of a sudden!
People do not waste your time and money if you do as it’s all a shamble.
Very disappointed.
2021-01-18
Makes a pastime fun
Love the principle only drawback being that the absolute amateur is up against pros which can mean it takes a while to level up. Unfortunately a lot of photos can be very similar or repetitive and oftentimes generalised holiday snaps come into it which whilst very nice aren’t always of a suitable standard. Other than that a good app with.
2020-11-26
Fun game - but awful app!
Gurushots is fun to play - as long as you remember it’s about playing a game and don’t get it confused with anything to do with merits derived from good photography.
However the app is dire. It is without doubt the most unreliable app I have ever used and it is not unusual for it to be non-functional for hours at a time. Their website will work but the app won’t. This has been the case for years and the developers clearly have no intention of doing anything to remedy the situation.
2020-11-01
Waste of time
Brilliant idea in theory. The algorithm is trash - have been in the top 10 for some competitions for some time until the last 2 minutes when all of a sudden everyone at the top gets pushed down to past 100. Loads of amazing photographers on there but some of the photos that win or get picked look like they were taken with a potato or are extremely explicit. There are accounts on there stealing other’s photos and ranking high. Also you can’t get anywhere unless you spend loads on fills, swaps and keys. It is important to note you don’t win actual money with GuruShots which doesn’t botherme but I paid to be featured in an “exhibition” which was on a photography website, when the article was published the part that featured my photo just had a link directing you back to GuruShots to view it. Don’t waste your time or money on this app
2020-09-23
Ruined by constant pop ups
I used to play this a while ago, overall it’s good and with the teams feature it is quite fun. But to many things constantly pop up trying to get you to buy coins, or pay to enter a competition to display your art or various other stuff. A lot of the time it causes the game to then crash or freeze, if they weren’t so determined to force their advertisement on you every few seconds I’d rate this game 4/5 star but it is just to much. And I play EA games, even they aren’t as bad!
2020-09-01
Good concept but too many issues
This app has had considerable issues during my use over the last few years. Too many times now have I had to contact customer services when payment has been taken for in-app purchases, and the product not been added to my account.
Such a shame as the concept of the app is excellent, just so poorly delivered.
The only way to do well is by increasing exposure of your pictures, which is made as a combination of voting and swapping pictures. The in app purchases for “swaps” etc come in a variation of bundles, however repeatedly I have made the purchase, had the money taken from my account, and not had the items I have purchased.
I have contacted customer services to have them manually added, however they can’t help as they “aren’t Apple”.
Such a shame as this could be brilliant
2020-07-26
Great way to show your photographs
Enjoy using GuruShots as it is a good way to show of your photographs and join in various challenges and see what other players think of your photos by giving you votes towards them and watching your profile increase over time if you enjoy photography then give it a whirl you may be surprised at the results you get.
2020-07-22
Great Entertainment and Fun Competitions
App works great and no real technical issues in using. GuruShots is suitable for levels of photographers, wether you are just starting or just wish to promote your talent. If you don’t want to pay any charges, then it’s down to raw talent and people liking your work. The premise of GuruShots is you upload your work, and to increase your chances of moving up the level you need to vote for other people’s. The higher up the level the more it is about the quantity of the photograph. From Newbie to Guru, there’s something for everyone to get involved in. Been using for over a year and still enjoy.
2020-07-11
I really enjoy this!
I’m not a professional photographer, and I make pictures with my iPhone 7.
Yet, I feel successful in this app and it’s really encouraging!
You need to spend some time voting, which is a bit time consuming, but I think some people just don’t understand how this works. You have to vote on a hundred photos - you may vote them up with a tick or press x and keep their votes the same. You can vote either way, I guess it’s up to how honest you are- but if you vote a hundred photos, your pictures will be shown more and more times.
Voting is actually fun!
And the whole app is really exciting.
2020-06-24
A Perfect App to Improve
This App was exactly what I needed to restore my desire to become a better photographer. For over 35 years I have dabbled having joined clubs, developed and printed my own photos, done courses etc. The reality for me though is like all skills you just need to learn and practice as often as you can. The reasons why this app works for me are
1) It sets out many different themes to get you started on thinking what to take. (Just sitting / walking around with a camera waiting for a photo to appear in front won’t work long term; you have to set out with a purpose and plan.
2) By voting you get to see a huge variety of perspectives on a topic which will in turn set something off in your mind for the future. (There is no foul in recreating an image with your own spin, it is a great learning process)
3) You give and get feed-back. Yes it can be a little tedious but like any skill you have to put the time in to improve.
4) It is a central point where an absolute novice can put a photo against a pro and win.
A last point 😓, post processing of photos has been happening since the first few was taken; it is part of the process. Learning how to do it is an essential part of the trade and can be equally enjoyable. Embrace it and don’t knock the ones that do it and win; it was already a winning contender once the shutter was pressed.
2020-02-26
Photography???
Sadly GuruShots isn’t now about photography it’s all about how well you can play the game and the algorithms. Also the quest to become a guru can be long but once you get there the promise that you can run your own challenges is just not true. I have submitted many challenges and had them refused every single time. If you check the challenges you will see that certain gurus have multiple challenges running and a lot of the others are also familiar challenge starters sorry to say .
Also once you do make guru status you are right down at the bottom of the pecking order again in the quest to become a super guru which has targets that are virtually impossible to reach without spending a lot of cash and that’s where the game falls down for me, it has become a cash cow and that’s it .
The concept of this app is a 5 star idea , the truth of the app is at best a 2 star app for the reasons stated above .
2020-01-11
Pay to win
The idea behind the app is great and as someone who enjoys photography I disagree with the statements people are making about needing top of the range equipment. The main issue a lot of people face is they have little clue about composition which is what wins. It doesn’t matter about the camera but if you’re just posting pics from day to day life then you can’t expect to compete with the people who do go out there looking for that ultimate picture. That being said, since I started using the app, it has moved very much towards pay to win. Unless you’re prepared to pay silly amounts on swaps and keys, it’s unlikely that you’ll ever get near that top spot. It used to be that if you performed well in a competition you would get rewards in the form of keys and swaps based on your performance. Now, the only way to really get those is to part with your cash. The developers have clearly gotten greedy which has caused detriment to the game. As much as I enjoy it, if this isn’t remedied it’s likely I’ll stop using it.
2019-10-16
Love it!
I love using this app. It’s really helped me get my photography hobby back and it’s a good place to display some of my favourite shots. I love the voting system, it means everybody gets a fair chance to be exposed and also help others at the same time. I’ve seen people complain that they don’t like enough photos to get their exposure up, but I’ve never had that problem, I personally think there is so much talent on this website and I love voting and looking at other people’s work, not just for the exposure! I’d recommend this if you want to showcase your photography and get fresh inspiration 😊
2019-09-23
iOS 13.
This app has not been updated for iOS 13 and is now completely unusable on my iPhone X.
Every time that I try to join a new challenge the app locks up as soon as I try to select a photo from the Device, GuruShots or Instagram folders which are all greyed out on my phones screen.
I have since logged in on my iPad Pro and even though I used my correct login details it has created a completely new account.
😡
The reviews about you having to travel the world not and needing to own an expensive camera with loads of lenses are laughable. Most of my shots have been taken with my iPhone X and invariably do very well.
May be those complaining should Google the term “composition”.
Some of the photos entered are absolutely hysterical. They’d struggle to get one like on FB or Instagram.
Edit: My original account, which was at the Expert level, has now been replaced by my newer Novice level account. This app has a very poor and amateurish login system that will destroy your account if you try to login on a different device.
😩
Edit: to make matters worse I have just received an email from GuruShots and when I click the link it directs me to my old account that I can not now access on my iPhone or iPad.
😡
2019-08-11
A fantastic App!
I really like this app; it’s a great showcase for your photos whatever your ability. Some of the challenges are interesting and allow for creativity. However, as the previous person said, the idea that you have to vote to get exposure for your photos isn’t great. Another point is that in some of the challenges, the winners’ photos are very similar; very little scope for the imagination and interpreting the theme. That said, the positives outweigh the negatives!
2019-07-06
Errors and things
Recently I’ve had to reinstall several times due to Error timed out notice, irritating.
I’d also like to say, don’t expect to win anything unless you’ve become Guru, I’ve noticed that all winners have been Guru/Champion status. Also, if you’re skint and can’t afford to buy all fills and swaps, you won’t win either, BUT, if like me you simply like posting pics, it’s fun.
2019-06-05
Great fun n games!
Enjoy the pass time and also getting ideas of technique finishes. Find the themes a little repetitive and would like to only vote for photos I like but then my photo seems to drop out of other competitors views and with that little to no votes for my work.
It is very competitive and at the same time fun. I find that i am now constantly aware of GuruShots whenever Im about to click
2019-05-27
Great phone App
Really good game very time consuming. Starts off easy but gets more difficult at the higher levels. Takes some time to work out how to get the best results for your photos.
Great resource for checking out great photos and photographers.
Overall would highly recommend for people who love photos and photography. My only negative point is the lack of support for latest iPad pros (and maybe other iPads). Just get the small sized phone window on the screen. Such a shame when there is a device with a huge screen able to do justice to the great photos but you can only view a reduced size image.
Please fix this with a full screen iPad version.
2019-04-29
Not quite there
Whilst I love the idea I have finally decided not to continue. My main problems are the voting system which means you quickly get in the habit of just voting quick not really looking to get exposure up - and you need to do it several timed a day. Sadly the number of times I’ve gone to bed on the top 10 and woken in 250th place is too disheartening. Secondly it feels like I need to buy my way up to top levels because swaps make too much difference. I’m a good photographer and have had a number of shots VERY similar to winners - they have 2000 hits - I have 200. Also suits a particular type of photo - I’ve entered several colour comps - the top 50 shots will all be close ups of flowers - nicely shot but predictable. Overall disappointing but might come back one day
2019-04-02
Good app but update to UI is horrible.
Good app, premise is good, execution is descent.. however the layout and updated UI is appalling! Go back to the old interface, it was more intuitive and less frustrating. I have found myself not using it as much purely because the new interface is so much more frustrating. I have given the UI a few months, I still cannot get away with it.
2019-03-24
Very frustrating!!
The idea of the app is great but deeply flawed...
If your photographs are any good you will in time get to “Expert” level by gaining points etc.
Trying to get above this level is near to impossible so the whole thing becomes frustrating, annoying and time wasting.
The problem is that as far as “expert” it’s purely down to how good your pictures are, getting good votes for them and achieving certain levels in each contest.
Beyond that, at least one of your photos has to be ‘picked’ by the Guru who sets the contest...and there lies the big problem...
Unless you’re prepared to stay awake for 24-48 hours and keep voting and voting in order to stay noticed and up in the rankings (and therefore stand the chance to get picked by the Guru) you might as well stop playing...
I have been in endless competitions ranked in the top 10,20,30 etc, gone to bed (and therefore stopped voting) and then woke up the following morning finding myself at 200 or below so no chance of being picked.
Unless you happen to be in the high 50s just when the Guru picks his favorite photos you’ll never get picked and progress to the next level.
Also if you actually look at the 95% of photos generally picked by Gurus, they are all photos submitted by other Gurus, Masters and Champions...somewhat of a ‘closed shop’ me thinks...
Enjoy the game up to expert and then get ready for some long winded frustration... Good luck! :((
2019-03-22
Amazing idea, not so amazing users
I love this app, I’ve recently got back into photography and it’s great to show off your work and look at others work while getting a sense of accomplishment from it .. HOWEVER, there is an abundance of nudes on this app, not artistic nudes.. full on, dude in a g string with his wang hanging out. Why does every app have to be used like Tinder?! Not only that but a lot of people don’t use the app properly, they find photos on google and post as if they took the photograph, I just wish people would use the app properly because there’s some INCREDIBLE photographers on there that deserve some recognition for their work.
2019-02-01
App Change
I was using this for quite awhile and I was enjoying.
It was nice to get a little reward after taking part in a challenge, but new update has got rid of that for the daily bonus which I fill lacks, its to much to have to do, just to get the type of prize you get...
I feel like all the app wants now is money so hardly using it, unless they put it back the way it was
2019-01-27
Can’t see comps once finished on mobile
Overall a good app. I have a gripe though. For some reason you are not able to view the challenge standings on mobile once they’ve finished. You get an alert saying “xyz challenge has recently ended”, you click on it and see your ranking and number of votes. There’s no way of clicking to see the challenge though and others that were around you or the photos the top rankings took. I’m sure you were able to do this on mobile not long ago.
2019-01-25
Fun but annoying too sometimes
This is a fun game. There are dozens of challenges to enter with photos. Sadly some players don’t read and stick to the brief for each challenge. There are rewards available for players who choose to complete certain tasks. Rewards used to be much easier to obtain but rules and procedures keep changing. There are in-app purchases for those willing to pay for extra rewards (resources as they as called). But you can play for free. It is very difficult to win a challenge. It’s a bit like croquet in that you can be winning at one time and then suddenly find you’ve lost the lead and have no chance of winning. To make sure images have maximum exposure to other players and therefore maximum votes requires the user to keep voting in each challenge. With over sixty challenges it’s taking hours....and it’s a tendency to become addictive.
2018-12-10
Good App, not great yet
There’s a host of dreadful photographs to endure, some by the so-called Gurus, before you find your niche in Gurushots. Once you have you can enjoy the comps, learning and stretching your horizons. It’s a marvelous idea but the threshold of excellence takes a week or two to become obvious.
There are some problems:
Some people use this app to post inappropriate pictures. The pics disappear once reported but there are still too many which sufficient good AI should spot.
Stylistically the voting process favors over-processed pics - many of these winning prizes. The way they are displayed on the voting screen favours simple images, saturated colours and overly bright exposure. Those setting competitions should pay more heed to this and disqualify over-processed images where appropriate. Or confine them to separate comps.
The user interface is in need of improvement since it crashes mid vote. It’s horribly clunky and counter-intuitive. I want the competition list in the order in which they close, not the order I entered them.
It should be something on user safety - protection from harassment, reporting inappropriate behavior and comments - in the help section.
2018-09-29
Improvement is needed
The app and the concept behind it are truly fantastic! The result and the whole app is developed very well and user friendly. Well done! But on another hand I experienced issues as I forgot that i used my Instagram account and had loads of login issues and resetting passwords. But at the end it remembered my account under the sign up button for instagram. I experienced some crashes too, usually after scrolling the photos of each contest.
The most needed feature is to have an option to edit photos straight before uploading them. This can be either through the standard edit package from the mobile devices or any other downloaded apps. This would allow us to edit photos straight after we choose the right ones.
2018-09-14
Good but needs work
The app is fun to use and has great potential. I love how easy it is to add and swap photos and do it quickly. It’s good to see so many photos and photographers in one place. I would like the app to have a better design and experience however as a user. The app is incredibly clunky at times and isn't attractive in my perspective which is confusing as it is an app for photographers. It would be great for the app to reflect that. The app also charged me for a purchase I didn’t authorise which was also confusing. There are also loading screens for every tab which is especially annoying when the tab loads but crashes and displays nothing - a bug that could easily be fixed. Overall great ideas but a below standard execution and I would like to see improvements being made regularly.
Thanks
2018-09-09
Ok
I kind of like the app. The new structuring for auto voting is basically theft and the game developers should be ashamed of themselves. On iPhone the app is full of bugs and crashes often. But my main gripe is the photographers themselves. If you like seeing an endless stream of cats and dogs then this really is the app for you. In a competition named aircraft there will be endless cats and dogs. In one named mountains, again endless cats and dog. Birds, you get endless cats and dogs. No matter what the subject you will always get loads of photos of cars and dogs. And children, don't get me started on the children.
My actual star rating would be two and a half. This could be a good app but the developer needs to do something about all the irrelevant photos.
2018-07-30
I have problems
Overall I love the premise and I think it works well, now on to my problems with this app.
I hate the fact you have to vote to get expose, I only want to vote for photos which I like and think are great but that means I have to sacrifice my exposer. Sometimes it feels like my photos aren’t getting out there and I’ll be boosting the exposure and not seeming to get votes but I have had photos that have been guru picks and had over a thousand votes so that could just be my photo isn’t good enough so I won’t judge to hard on that point. I genuinely just think my style of photography just doesn’t work on this app and that’s fine, not everyone has to like experimental. My main flaw is that I find myself voting for every photo just to get the exposer up and I don’t like that. The app should be about photography and every photo should get the same chance and let the people decide what is good and not
2018-07-11
Brilliant platform!
I completely disagree with the review above. You don’t have to have the best gear or edit them like crazy. Iv submitted photos I have taken on my phone which have done extremely well and don’t edit my photos. I have been an amateur (mainly wildlife) photographer for 5 years now and only my friends and family have ever seen them. Iv been using this for 3 weeks now and it has given me massive confidence in my pictures. The variety of competitions have made me focus on many different subjects and taken me out of my comfort zone. I love it!!!!
2018-06-04
Unfair!
So when I first joined this app I thought it was a great idea, I enjoyed uploading photos and playing along! I then realised that unless I owned a top of the range camera, with 100 different lenses and I didn’t visit every corner of the world on a daily basis in order to snap a wide variety of subjects, then basically I was just wasting my time! It seems that only the photos taken using the top equipment, then professionally edited within an inch of their lives get any credit here! I also wonder whether my photos actually get any views, as I never see any of the photos in my vote feeds which make the top pics or guru pics! The top photos however have 4,000 plus votes, whereas I’d be lucky to get even 300 votes on all photos entered in one challenge! There’s something not quite right here I think, and am thinking of removing my photos and withdrawing from the app!
2018-05-22
Great app and idea
I have been enjoying using GS for about a month now and have risen the ranks at a reasonable pace. The app works really well. My conscience as a user is that the way you raise revenue is by asking people to purchase extra boosts, swaps etc. For me this has a major issue, that is that results become distorted by those happy to pay and those who would never pay for extra boosts (me as i consider it cheating and therefore my results to be of little value in relation to my images) I would be happy to pay a monthly (sensible) premium to be a member. I will never pay for boosts...
2018-05-18
Good but not quite
I do enjoy the app a lot however sometimes when I open the app it keeps coming up with the same pop up message “something went wrong” and can’t see if anyone had voted or liked any of my posts, also when I upload a certain picture it keeps saying that the height and width need changing, by the time I’ve done that the photo looks squished and unprofessional, plus it’s been cropped to an inch of its life, it makes the photo look shoddy and squished together, but anyway it’s a good app for any budding photographers out there