It’s hard enough to play host to a party, but imagine having to also be the event photographer, in addition to prepping food and DJ’ing music. A new app called PartySnapper makes everybody else a photographer, while you get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
The free iOS app, created by German developer Boinx Software, works like this: Using the app on their iPhones or even iPads, guests at the party shoot photos (which they are probably doing anyway, with or without the app). The photos are then automatically transmitted to and collected on the app on the host’s iPhone or iPad; the app requires only one button push to snap and transmit the photo, so guests can concentrate on partying. All the images are saved on the host’s device (there’s no need to ask a guest to send them), and if it is connected to a TV or projector, it can be used to display slideshow images from the party (Party Light mode), in real time. Not only does it free a host to do other things, but also he/she gets to relive the party afterward with different points of view.
The app is useful for small parties or those on a shoestring budget, who need to rely on the services of friends rather than pros. Besides house parties, the app is great for events like weddings, which was what inspired Boinx engineer Bastian Wölfe to create an early version of the app.
“Being the geek that I am, I knew I wanted to do something a bit nerdy for our big day,” Wölfe says in a release, referring to his wedding. “At so many weddings, they give out old disposable cameras for guests to snap pictures with, but these days, just about everyone has an iPhone they’re taking photos with anyway. I thought, why not find a way to connect everyone in so the pictures they snap are not only automatically saved in one central place, but automatically stream to the venue’s screens instantly? It created a really fun and engaging element I knew others would want to have at their weddings and events, too the app.”
While the app is free, there are premium in-app add-ons. There’s Party Hard mode that increases the 10-picture slideshow limit of Party Light to unlimited; $5 gets you seven days, $10 for 30 days, and $30 for a lifetime. Boinx says the lifetime option is ideal for party promoters or venues, and is making it available for $15 for a limited time.