Stillcraft / Apps / Silverbox
A film camera for the family. You shoot with your phone's own camera, in any mode it has, and the pictures go on a roll of 24 or 36 frames. You won't see a single one until the roll goes to the lab; a day later an envelope of prints is waiting, with each film's colour, grain, light leaks and the orange date of an old point-and-shoot. Videos go on an 8 mm cassette and come back as a silent home movie. Free, no ads, no account, no internet.
Android 8.0+ · Free · Works offline · English & Русский
Silverbox opens the camera you already have, with portrait, night, zoom and video. When you come back, whatever it took goes on the film and the frame counter clicks on. If you like, the pictures move to the gallery's bin, so nobody peeks.
Sunny 200, warm and golden; Every 400, soft with gentle greens; Night 800, coarse grain and a red glow round the lights; Silver 400 in black and white; Slide 100, rich with deep blue skies. Each roll can be named for what it's for: "Summer at Gran's".
Hand the roll over the counter and get a receipt with an order number. Ordinary development takes a day, express an hour, once a week. Then one quiet notice, a kraft envelope, and the prints one by one as a stack.
The first frame is fogged from loading, the last frame of a full roll is cut where the film ran out, light sometimes leaks in from the edge. Film left in the camera past two months fades and turns magenta.
The best prints go in the album, two to a page in black photo corners. Every print lands loose in the shoebox. Turn a print over to write on its back by hand. Developed rolls stand on the shelf with their contact sheets and negatives.
Videos go on a cassette of 50 clips. The lab cuts three seconds from each and prints a silent film: 4:3, 18 frames a second, an intertitle, dust and flicker. Watch it in the dark with a quiet projector.
| Film | Character | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Sunny 200 | Warm and golden | Summer, sun, faces that glow |
| Every 400 | Natural and soft, gentle greens | Home and the everyday |
| Night 800 | Coarse grain, a red glow round lights | Evenings, garlands, candles |
| Silver 400 | Black and white, deep blacks | Portraits, grandparents |
| Slide 100 | Rich and punchy | Travel, the sea, nature |
| Home 8 / Silver 8 | 8 mm cassettes | Home movie in colour or black and white |
On Xiaomi (MIUI / HyperOS), Huawei, Samsung and some other phones, allow Autostart for Silverbox and remove battery limits so the envelope notice arrives on time.
JDK 17+ (Android Studio's bundled JBR works) and the Android SDK. The darkroom is plain Kotlin, nothing else to install.
git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/silverbox.git cd silverbox ./gradlew testDebugUnitTest # unit tests ./gradlew assembleDebug # app.silverbox.dev; the lab takes a minute ./gradlew assembleDebug -Pdemo # app.silverbox.demo with a family year on film ./gradlew testDebugUnitTest -Prender # sample prints and the screens, as PNGs
Because waiting is the point. You live the moment instead of checking the screen, choose your frames with care, and a day later there's an envelope to open together.
Yes. The camera's originals stay in the app next to the prints and go into the backup. Hiding them from the gallery is optional and only moves them to the gallery's bin.
If you like. In Settings choose from one to five reminders a day and the hours they may come in. Each one suggests something worth a frame and has a Shoot button that opens the camera. It stays quiet if you shot something in the last hour and a half.
No. Prints and films are made on the phone. No account, no ads, no analytics.
Settings → Backup saves every roll, print, original and film into one zip. Restore it on the new phone.
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Found a bug, missing a feature, or want it in your language? Tell us on GitHub.
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