VHS Camcorder is a hot new app that undoes the advances of smartphonesPhone cameras are getting better and better at a ludicrous – and unnecessary –rate, with 41 megapixel sensors and editing apps meaning you barely need to be sentient, let alone properly equipped, in order to make your friends think you’re a semi-competent photographer or videographer.  Maybe photography is being devalued – I don’t know – but in some sort of backlash fuelled by Mac DeMarco videos and Topshop nostalgia, people are trying to make photography seem difficult and ugly again. An app named VHS Camcorder is proving hugely popular, promising to let you shoot lo-fi video on your nice clever telephone. The ever-reliant market-leading iPhone is capable of many things, and now, thanks to technological advances, it’s capable of replicating what the creators call “the most beautiful tape noise, static and tracking distortion the world has ever seen.” Produced by Rarevision, the app promises to replicate 1980s home video, with shitty sound and a function to degrade on demand with the swipe of a finger – a function neatly titled ‘Tilting Device Makes Things Worse’. The cherry on top is an obtrusive datestamp that can be manipulated in order to be that little bit more (less) genuine. This isn’t lomography – this is fake analogue shot with the ease and accessibility of digital. And it comes at a time when contemporary media is looking to emulate a pre-reality TV past in order to reinvigorate itself – with all the advantages of contemporary tech. Even MTV is attempting to re-engage its audiences with Bump, a You’ve Been Framed type channel based on user-generate content with an early noughties redesign. Elsewhere Juice VCR, a channel that is harking back to the good old days of non-stop music videos, where you can either enjoy what you’re given or turn the TV off.  Still hungry for more? Sign up for our weekly supplement featuring the latest news, profiles, features and innovation