There are so many camera apps out there that sometimes I think it prevents me from taking pictures. I always ask myself “what filter do I use?” and end up just going #filterless, as the kids call it these days. After using Polamatic, it hasn’t really changed my mind on the subject.
The general gist is that you can take pictures directly from the app, and import your old photos from your camera roll and iCloud. Yes, it’s another picture-taking app, and it doesn’t really get a whole lot more interesting from there. You’ll have access to the studio, which can adjust the brightness of a photo, crop it, apply filters, and add in borders or text. That’s…basically all you’re going to get here.
The main gimmick is found within the picture-taking process, where an animation will play reminiscent of the classic “Polaroid,” which instantly developed before your eyes. It’s nostalgic, but not very functional, outside of the ability to make the picture look like it’s mounted on different types of “film,” if you wish. The nostalgic filters aren’t bad, but they aren’t anything you can’t find on plenty of other apps.
As mentioned, the app also lets you do things like add text in a “handwritten”-type font that your mother may have done in her scrapbook to enhance the analogue look even further. The whole Polaroid-type framing might be cool for a photo or two—but the appeal wears thin pretty fast. In other words, if your Instagram feed was full of these, consider yourself unfollowed by all but your best friends.
Oddly enough you can link it to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, all of which have better camera tech than Polamatic. The former is probably the oddest inclusion of the bunch, as one click will probably inform you that it does everything Polamatic does, but better.
Polamatic is a bare-bones app that you really shouldn’t be paying money for. If it were free that’d be one thing, but for an app this limited, even a dollar feels like too much. If you really like the idea of seeing a little Polaroid animation it may be a way to relive your glory days, but for everyone else, just stick with your favorite premium app, or even just Instagram.
