Review of 'Touchnote' Customized Postcard App

Recently while vacationing in the Caribbean, I had an opportunity to use a new app on my phone called "Touchnote." The app allows you to take photos from your phone, add a personal message, and turn them into postcards that can be sent all over the world. Very rarely do you get to send or receive anything personal in the mail these days, so I thought I’d try this app for a change.

The mobile app is available on the Apple, Android, and Windows 7 app store. The services can also be accessed on the computer at www.touchnote.com. The benefit of the mobile app is that if you have your smartphone or iPod touch with you on vacation and you have access to a data or WiFi network, you can take a picture while away, create a postcard, and have it delivered before you arrive home.

I was skeptical at first about using the app, as I wanted to be sure my postcard reached my recipient before I arrived home from vacation, and I had no idea what the quality of the product would be.

After some research, I discovered that "Touchnote" has printing centers in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia; and they send all postcards in first-class mail. That means that if you are vacationing in a remote spot, or a different country (like I was), your custom postcard won't take nearly as long to get to your recipient as it would if you were sending it from a post office where you're vacationing, because it’s printed at the printing center in the country closed to/of your recipient.

They promise the following arrival times for your postcard, and from my experiences so far, this has proven accurate:

• USA - 1 to 4 working days;
• UK - 1 to 3 working days;
• Australia - 1 to 3 working days;
• Germany - 1 to 3 working days;
• Western Europe - 2 to 4 working days;
• Rest of the World - within 1-2 weeks

As for the quality of the card, I realized that I had nothing to ever worry about. The postcards are printed on high quality photo-paper, and the image and text are printed very clearly. The photo quality was nice enough that my recipient ended up framing it.

The cost for one card is $1.49. That includes the printing of the card, and postage for shipping the card in first-class mail. If you plan on sending multiple cards they have several pricing options for bulk orders- buy 5 get 1 free; buy 8 get 2 free;and buy 15 get 5 free. The credits have no expiration date so you can stock up and use them whenever. 

Their customer support is also very, very helpful and understanding. I accidentally sent a postcard when I was testing out the app on my phone, and they cancelled the card and refunded the credit I'd accidentally used. They also promise that if you’re not satisfied with the postcard, or it arrives damaged or not on time, that they’ll refund your credit. It was clear to me that they definitely care a lot about pleasing their customers.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this as a must have app for smartphone users and anyone traveling with access to a computer and Internet. The quality is excellent, as is the customer service, AND you'll get your money's worth! I look forward to traveling again with the “Touchnote” app.