Disposable camera app for weddings
Unposed puts a disposable camera on every guest's phone. One sign, a roll of 36 shots each, nothing to install, and a reveal at the time you pick.
The short answer
Unposed is a disposable camera app for weddings. You print one sign, and a guest who scans it gets a roll of 36 shots on their own phone, with nothing to install. The photos stay hidden until the reveal you pick, then the whole gallery opens for everyone at full resolution. It's free for up to 10 guests and $49.99 for any number.
A disposable camera app for a wedding gives every guest a camera on their own phone that behaves like the film cameras couples put on the tables: a set number of shots, no way to look back through them, and nothing to see until the photos are "developed". Unposed does this with one printed sign. A guest scans it, a camera opens with a roll of 36 shots, and the photos wait for the reveal you choose.
I make Unposed on my own, so this page explains how it works, what it costs and how it compares with real disposable cameras.
How the Unposed camera works
- You make the event in the Unposed iPhone app and choose the reveal, for example nine the next morning.
- You print the sign the app makes and put one on every table.
- A guest scans the sign and the camera opens. On an iPhone it's an App Clip that runs without installing, and on Android it opens in the browser. A phone that won't scan can type the six-character event code.
- The guest shoots. A counter shows how many shots are left on their roll.
- At the reveal, the gallery opens for every guest at once.
Nobody makes an account, and no guest installs anything.
How many shots each guest gets
Each guest gets a roll of 36 shots, the length of a full roll of 35mm film, unless you choose 12, 24 or 50 shots or no limit when you make the event. I made 36 the default so guests choose their moments the way they would with a film camera: there are no retakes and no feed to scroll, so a guest waits and takes the photo worth keeping. When the shots are used, that guest's roll is finished.
Each shot is saved on the guest's phone first and uploads when there's signal, so a photo taken in a barn with no reception still reaches you. Every shot shows whether it's waiting, uploading or safe.
The reveal
Until the reveal, each guest sees only their own shots, the way you can't see what's on a film camera until it's developed. You see every photo as it arrives, and you can hide any photo before your guests see it.
At the time you set, the end of the night, the next morning or later, the whole gallery opens for everyone. Every photo is the original at full resolution, with no watermark, and a guest can save the whole gallery to their phone's Photos app at once.
A disposable camera app vs real disposable cameras
Real disposable cameras give photos a film look, and some couples want exactly that. They cost money twice, though, once for the cameras and again to develop them. A wedding photographer's guide to disposable cameras suggests one camera per 10 to 15 guests, or 8 to 10 cameras for 100 guests, and puts development and scans at $15 to $30 a roll. That's $120 to $300 to develop the film before you've bought a single camera. A common wedding pack, like this 10-pack on Amazon, holds 27 exposures per camera.
| Disposable cameras | Unposed | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots | 27 per camera, shared by a table | 36 for each guest, or your number |
| Cost for 100 guests | The cameras plus $120 to $300 to develop | $49.99 once |
| When you see the photos | After you collect the cameras and develop them | At the reveal you pick |
| Who gets the photos | You, as prints or scans | Every guest, in one gallery |
Film also struggles in a dim room. In a WeddingWire forum thread, one person wrote that their reception was dark, so "unless you were on top of someone, the pictures were too dark", and that they threw away more pictures than they kept. A guest using Unposed shoots with their own phone's camera, and each photo uploads from that phone, so there are no cameras to collect at the end of the night.
If you want both, put a few film cameras on the tables for the look and the Unposed sign beside them for everyone else.
What it costs
You pay once per event, with no subscription, and every price includes every feature.
| Plan | Guests | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Up to 10 | $0 |
| Party | Up to 25 | $4.99 |
| Celebration | Up to 75 | $19.99 |
| Wedding pass | Any number | $49.99 |
A guest counts only when they take their first photo. If more guests shoot than your plan covers, you can upgrade during the event and pay the difference.
Questions
Do guests need to download the app?
No. On an iPhone the sign opens an App Clip, which runs without installing, and on Android the camera opens in the browser. Guests don't make an account.
Can guests see the photos during the wedding?
Each guest sees only their own shots until the reveal. You, the host, see every photo as it arrives.
What happens when a guest uses all their shots?
That guest's roll is finished, the same as a film camera's. Their photos are safe in the gallery and appear for everyone at the reveal.
Does it work at a venue with no signal?
Yes. Each shot is saved on the guest's phone and uploads when the phone gets signal again, even if that's after the guest leaves.
Can I collect photos without a shot limit?
Yes. Choose no limit when you make the event, and each guest can shoot as much as they like. If you'd rather have an open album with no camera at all, the guide to wedding QR codes for photos covers Google Photos, iCloud and Dropbox. To read about Unposed as a wedding photo sharing app, with the questions couples ask about collecting guest photos, see that page.
Can I use it for a birthday or a party?
Yes. Unposed works the same way for a birthday, a bachelorette party, a baby shower or a company party.
