Harking back to the days when trips to the local Boots to develop disposable camera photos were the norm, new app WhiteAlbum is the latest project attempting to find balance in the convenience of digital photography with the emotional aspect of the physical memento.

WhiteAlbum, from Mint Digital, reduces your smartphone camera to it’s bare functions, transforming the iPhone into a disposable camera. The app boasts no filters, no editing features and, most importantly, no retakes. Once you have filled your virtual film roll with 24 snaps (unable to be viewed) the photos are printed on Polaroid inspired 4x5” premium paper and shipped to you at the cost of $20.

The app seeks to bring back “the surprise and delight of seeing your photos for the first time”, bringing back some of spontaneity and suspense to photography and celebrating delayed gratification. It’s a welcome antithesis to the selfie - and selfie stick - phenomenon where pictures are taken, reviewed and broadcast all in immediate succession of each other.

This app isn’t the first to attempt to slowing down the photographic process - developers Nevercentre recently introduced the 1-Hour photo app where users are made to wait 1 hour before seeing their photo virtually printed in black and white.