Instant Film Maxx
Instant Film Maxx app icon

An instant camera that makes you wait for it

Press the red shutter, listen to the print whirr out of the slot, then shake it and watch the picture come up. The whole ritual of instant film, on the phone already in your pocket.

Download on the App Store

iPhone, iOS 18 or later. $29.99 per year.

What it looks like

Every print you keep, stacked up
Every print you keep, stacked up
The film stock is live in the viewfinder
The film stock is live in the viewfinder
Your stack, laid out like a pile of prints
Your stack, laid out like a pile of prints
Write on the white border, then keep it
Write on the white border, then keep it
Six stocks, previewed on your own shot
Six stocks, previewed on your own shot

How it works

1

Pick your film, then shoot

The stock is live in the viewfinder, so you see the grain and the colour cast before you press the shutter, not after.

2

Shake it while it develops

The print pushes out of the slot with the sound of rollers, and the image rises out of the emulsion over three slow seconds.

3

Caption it and keep it

Write on the white border in handwriting, then add it to a stack you can scroll through like a pile of real prints.

Guides

How to make iPhone photos look like real filmThe four things that actually separate a film photograph from a digital one. Why do instant photos need shaking?They do not, and the film manufacturer has said so for decades. Here is what shaking actually does. How to add a date stamp to your photosThe orange corner date, why it looked like that, and how to get it back. How to get the vintage film look on an iPhoneWhich era you actually mean, and the settings that get you there.

Questions

How do I make my iPhone photos look like real film?

Match four things: grain that varies with brightness, a colour cast across the whole frame, highlights that roll off instead of clipping, and a frame you commit to. Instant Film Maxx applies the first three at capture time, so the viewfinder already shows what will develop. Learn More

Do you really have to shake an instant photo?

No. The picture develops inside a sealed sandwich of chemistry, so waving it adds nothing, and shaking hard can leave blotches. Warmth is what actually speeds it up. The app keeps the gesture anyway, because waiting is unbearable and your hands want a job. Learn More

Can I put the date on my photos like an old camera?

Yes. The orange corner date came from a quartz databack that exposed LEDs straight onto the negative. Instant Film Maxx burns the same seven-segment stamp into the print, and can add the city name next to it. Learn More

Which film stock should I use for a vintage look?

Depends which decade you mean. SX-70 for soft seventies warmth, 600 for punchy eighties colour, Golden for sunlit frames, Vintage for aged prints and Fade for sun-bleached ones. Learn More

What does the subscription include?

Unlimited photos, every film stock, all three formats, captions, date and place stamps, and your whole saved stack. One plan at $29.99 per year, and nothing else to buy inside the app.

Do my photos leave my iPhone?

No. Every picture is shot, filtered and developed on the device and saved into the app's own storage. Nothing is uploaded. There is no account and nothing to sign in to.

Take the first one

Eight shots to a pack, the way it should be.

Download on the App Store