My iPhone is full of photos, but the photo albums on my bookcase haven’t seen a new print since 2007. Oops. Maybe if printing images from my camera were more convenient, I’d snag hard copies of images more often. That’s why app PopBooth Photo Booth intrigued me. The universal app for front-camera-equipped iDevices (iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod Touch and iPad 2) offers users the option of directly ordering prints of four-photo filmstrips captured with the app.
PopBooth Photo Booth uses the front camera to take four images. After hitting the “Capture” button, the app will give you a countdown to taking the first image. Then you’ll see a timer circle that shows how much time is left before the next frame is snapped. Once your four photos are completed, you’ll be given the option of adding filters. There isn’t a huge variety here: black and white, vintage, colorz and 1985. B&W is nice for duplicating traditional photo-booth filmstrips, and I liked the different colors offered in colorz and 1985. I did not like the fact that your filter does not save to the image permanently.
PopBooth’s most interesting feature is in its sharing panel. Here you can opt to print your strips and have them — you get two copies — sent anywhere in the world for $2.99. You’ll need to have a Sincerely account (the app’s developer) but the in-app setup is quick. If you aren’t interested in printing your images, you can share them via email — the built-in form sends the image in the body of the message — or via Facebook. Facebook sharing requires you to use the PopBooth portal, so your images won’t appear in your photo albums. The app also saves all of your filmstrips within it, so there’s no record of the photo in your camera. I’d love to see this implemented in the future, as similar apps already offer this feature.
iPad 2 users get a special feature from PopBooth of which I’m pretty jealous. “Party Mode” is designed to replace an actual photo booth at events like birthdays or weddings. Users can purchase bulk credits for the service, and then after a guest snaps a strip they can enter their email addresses to have their very own copies mailed to their home. I’m not sure why this feature isn’t included in the iPhone version, but iPad 2 users should definitely consider this freebie app for the next memories they want to capture.
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