Over the past few weeks, a new exciting app has entered the social media scene, it is called Lapse. Despite having been around for about two years, it feels as though the app has blown up overnight. Debuting in 2021 and then undergoing some edits and re-going live in June, the app rapidly made its way to the top, currently sitting at number one in photo and video charts on the Apple app store, beating out Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
The purpose of the app is to mimic a disposable camera, you can take a photo at any moment, after doing this you need to wait a period while the photo is being developed in a “dark room.” You can then look through your newly edited photos and choose if you want to share, archive or add them to an album. Similar to BeReal, the idea is for the app to be a more “unfiltered” version of social media that will allow people to connect by taking away the ability to edit the photos.
Lapse labels itself as “the invite-only disposable camera” and to create an account you are required to send an invite to at least five friends in your contacts. This rule has been the source of some of the complaints about this app as there are concerns for people that might not have people they want to send it to. Another annoyance that has been brought up in response to the app is people’s frustration with the waiting period before the photos are done processing. This is a frustrating part of the app but it also makes it more fun in many ways, as well as it contributes to the idea of the app being an online disposable camera.
The app incorporates a lot of fun and different elements that other apps do not have, not only the editing of photos to look more vintage. For example, as you set up your profile you can pick up to 36 photos to be a part of your “roll” and the photos are automatically edited to look retro. Along with this, you get to pick a group of emojis and a song that represents you or your life at that time. On top of this unique customization of your profile, you can also react to other people’s posts with a random assortment of emojis and make albums of your own photos.
It feels like the app has really just picked up the most over just the past month or two, but the question is will it last, or will the Lapse just become another short-lived trend? Lapse also shows how Gen Z has a slight obsession with nostalgia and trends from previous decades, this has been seen through clothing styles returning through the trend cycle in a more updated sense. This app takes an older trend such as disposable cameras and updates it to make it more accessible for the younger generation.