there are some things you just shouldn't do

exactly what I would have done

totally. Threw that one in there as a joke ;)

Just a few that come to mind...

Mailchimp - Freddy

Github - Octocat

Trello - Taco & Chorizo

Google Android - Android

Reddit - alien

Linux - Penguin

Hipmunk - Chipmunk

Travelocity - gnome

MS Word - Clippy (the paperclip)

Congrats on launching! This is a pretty cool app; however, one I don't see myself ever using. I don't want to be "that guy", and not to devalue the idea or amount of work put into this, but I'm going to state a major point of contention for me:

This removes all the things that were to be the intended use of Dribbble, i.e. opening a discussion/critique/feedback on a given design. This just further devolves Dribbble into a "like" based economy.

Whether that's good or bad is certainly a personal opinion and is an ongoing discussion. Personally, I really wish Dribbble was more a platform for constructive feedback than "likes" and pointless comments.

I've been using Adobe apps for 12 yrs and very recently just started using Sketch. It has greatly improved my speed in creating mockups and generating assets for development. Sketch is not a replacement for PS. Its just another tool for designers, that for many (myself included) is a tremendous improvement over PS for creating UI and design for screens.

Where PS fails, Sketch excels: asset generation, artboards, speed, simplicity, intuitiveness.

I still use Ps and Ai for their individual strengths (photo manipulation/digital art and vector drawing, respectively), but Sketch has become the goto for all UI/web design work.

with Inbox and now this, I may soon be an android convert...

Yeah I hate that too, but oddly I haven't gotten that pop up.

that slow gradual zoom-in on the photos is creepy

check out niice.co

But it sounds like you might want something like InVision if you want to get feedback from colleagues and clients.