Background
Lapse, a photo app that has recently skyrocketed to the number 1 spot in the US app store has a unique feature that dominates the growth-hack tactic. Lapse, which was released in 2021 has been rebranded,1 and within the past few weeks has led to a boom in its user base. The catch with this app is upon downloading, there is a requirement to invite 5 people who do not have the app to use it. Without meeting this threshold, there is no way to start using the app’s features. Once in the app, you are met with three pages; Profile, Camera, and your feed.
Lapse as a social media platform has a straightforward and limited userface. The design utilizes a simple scrolling mechanism and a dark pallet to create a simple user integration, that focuses on the photo element and categorizes them into albums. The other side of the app relies on the social feed that allows you to see the updates and posts from others. a pleasant usage of page design in Lapse is the idea of keeping most of the accessible features right in front of you on the pages, instead of clicking through pages of settings to find something.
Take a pic, and enjoy the moment
How is Lapse attempting to redefine the format of posting-based social media platforms? What initially intrigued me about this app was the invite I received from my roommate about the app. At first glance, I figured this was another random app in the sea of photography-based social media. It wasn’t until further exploration that its eye-catching visual intro with haptic feedback really sucked me into the app. The tutorial was straightforward and immersed me in the world very quickly. Making a profile unlike many other apps felt liberating, and instilled a sense of freedom to express myself. With limited ways to use the app, it seems to put more emphasis on your character and the memories you make. I find that to be refreshing in a world dominated by media that polarises your views, pits you against others and turns your life into a game to prove yourself to others. Other than the interface itself, Lapse’s shining feature and the predominant reason for its redefining of the platform is its film style point and shoot photos. These photos like film, have to be developed which in the app is in the form of a few hours you have to wait to see the photos.
This style of taking photos and revealing photos instills a sense of control in the user. The black colors in the background coupled with a glowing orange color draw the users into opening their photos like a prize. Even the notification itself to develop photos is so captivating. Spending a day full of capturing moments to then unwind at the end of the day, with the gifts of photos waiting for you. This effort and reward system is much more satisfying than an immediate presentation of the photo you take.
Walkthrough
Affordances and Restrictions
Affordances
- Customized profile (Music, bio, personal info, photo albums, friends list)
- feed with friends updates and photos
- flash and non-flash photography
- zoom photography
- direct messages with the ability to send photos taken in lapse
- featured page of submitted photos
Restrictions
- non-instant photos
- photos cannot be edited
- no videos
- can only view friends’ full profiles and vice versa
- no hyperlinks to websites or advertising
- direct message photos are called “snaps” and can only be viewed once
The Lapse Community
With the Userbase growing by the day, the community around this app is developing further. based on my own activity and my friends around me it seems that people are using this to capture the moments that stand out or mean something to them. Whether that is the documentation of their day as a photo journal, or capturing artistic photos of something they want to immortalize. Because of the limited responses you can make, most people respond with little comments or emojis. This seems to create positivity and I have yet to see disputes taking place. No matter what you shoot, the moments you capture are appreciated.
The Idea of posting and creating art is further emphasized by the featured page. This feed is a highly curated look into the Lapse community. You can submit one photo a day to be reviewed for featuring by Lapse’s team. If selected your photo will be posted on the featured feed where people can click on your profile. This mechanism may very well lead to influencers in the app. What is so interesting about this influencer is that their account can only be made up of the photos they take in the app with no editing. This creates a raw untapped vibe to the whole app which inspires you to create.
Conclusion
Since starting this analysis I have given much thought to the app itself and what it all means. When answering the question of its cultural significance and how Lapse is redefining social media, I had to place a lot of myself into this study as I am a user. After a few weeks of using the app, I honestly have to say that it instills feelings of hope and satisfaction. I feel content with myself and satisfied with my creations. Quite frankly, there aren’t social media platforms that really do that for me. Like many others, I feel that the app at its current state is less reliant on the company itself and has everything to do with the community that uses it. With how polarized the current world is caught up in its affairs of the internet age it’s refreshing to find some sense of nostalgia and the simplicity of media pre-internet. It seems the developers felt the need to capture those ideas into a platform such as lapse. I would have to say that I think they nailed it. This app suppresses the urge to doom scroll and doesn’t allow comparison to be the thief of joy. We are all our own artists, and I hope this idea continues to blossom.
- Techcrunch.com: Photo-sharing app Lapse hits top of the App Store by forcing you to invite your friends ↩︎