iPhone · private beta
Live it now.
Love it later.
Afterglow is a shared camera roll for your holiday. Five moments a day, and nobody sees a thing until the trip is over. Then you open the roll together.
Not in the App Store yet. The button starts working the day we launch — until then Afterglow is being tested with a small private group.
afterglow
A week away
GroupDay 1 of 7 · shots left today: 5
Your own photos
Available from Sunday 20 September at 18:00.
Then choose which moments to share. The group reveal is planned for 21 Sep at 18:00.
Your destination
Suggestions come from Apple Maps and help us pick a cover photo that fits. You can also type your own destination.
When are you going?
For this trial: up to 7 days and 5 photos per person each day. Dates use this device's time zone when you create the trip.
Choose your vacation roll
Cover photo
A local trial trip
Your trip and photos stay on this device. Use test photos; backup and group trips are not available yet.
For later. To remember forever.
The little moments tell the story.
Your vacation rolls
A glimpse of what's to come
Here's how your album could look. Your own sealed photos are not shown here.
Salt on your skin. One more street to explore.
These are the moments to remember.
Two example photos. None of your own.
Your week in Lisbon is over. The roll opened this morning.
Twenty-four moments from five days.
Take your time. You choose what to share.
Go straight to the photos
Five travellers · 24 moments
Everyone's shared moments in one gallery. Anything you did not pick stays yours alone.
Moment saved on this device
Imperfect. Entirely yours.
Saved locally · no online backup
How it works
Three steps, then you put your phone away.
No feed to scroll, no likes to chase. Afterglow only asks for your attention twice: once when you start the trip, once when you get home.
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Start a trip
Name it, pick the destination and the dates. Share the invite code with the people you are travelling with, so everyone shoots into the same roll.
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Five moments a day
The camera gives each traveller five shots per day. No preview, no retakes, no filters. Choose what deserves one of them.
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Open it together
The roll unlocks 24 hours after the trip ends. You see your own photos first and decide which ones join the shared album.
The closed roll
Nobody peeks. Not even you.
While you are away, every photo goes straight into a closed roll. No thumbnails, no preview, no counting other people's likes on the beach. What you get during the trip is a number: how many moments are waiting.
The lock opens 24 hours after the trip ends, on the server's clock. Changing the date on your phone does not move it forward.
What you get
One holiday, seen through everyone's eyes.
A shared album
Everyone's shared moments end up in one gallery, with the day and the photographer next to each photo.
You choose what you share
After the reveal you go through your own photos first. Anything you do not pick stays yours alone.
Download the whole album
Take the full album or a selection in original quality, straight to your phone. No paywall in front of your own memories.
A cover for every trip
Each trip gets artwork that matches the destination, so your list of trips reads like a shelf of postcards.
Made for a group
Invite your travel companions with a code. Everyone shoots into the same roll and sees the same album afterwards.
Free to download
Afterglow is free during the test. If paid extras ever arrive, keeping and exporting your own photos will not be one of them.
Privacy
Your holiday is not content.
Photos live on your phone. When a trip is shared, copies travel to private storage that has no public link and no browsing endpoint — there is no page anywhere that shows your roll to the internet.
Shared photos are kept until 90 days after the trip ends, then removed. There are no ads, no trackers and nothing to sell.
Where things stand today
Afterglow is an early build being tested with a small, invited group on iPhone. Account deletion, reporting unwanted content and full recovery from the server are still being built, and are done by hand on request until they ship.
Written down plainly so nobody is surprised.
Questions
Before you ask.
When can I download it?
Not yet. Afterglow is in a private test on iPhone. The App Store button on this page starts working the day it launches.
Is there an Android version?
Not yet. iPhone comes first; Android is planned afterwards.
What does it cost?
The app is free to download and free during the test. Paid extras have not been decided, and downloading your own photos will stay free.
What if I take more than five photos a day?
You cannot. When the day's five are gone, the shutter waits until tomorrow. That limit is the point: it keeps you looking at the holiday instead of the screen.
Can I still use my normal camera?
Of course. Afterglow sits next to your camera app, it does not replace it. It only holds the moments you deliberately point at it.
What happens to photos I do not share?
They stay on your phone, visible to you alone. Nobody in the group sees a photo you did not pick.
Who is behind Afterglow?
A small independent project, built in the Netherlands. Mail info@joinafterglow.app and you get an answer from the person who makes it.
Coming to iPhone
Some days deserve a second look.
Afterglow launches on the App Store once the private test is done. Nothing to sign up for today.
Not available yet.