Progress photo and photo-a-day apps for iPhone: an honest comparison

Which progress photo apps are there, at a glance?

Here are the options that came up most for "progress photo", "photo a day", "face timelapse" and "bump timelapse" on iPhone, plus the one already on your phone.

Prices are the in-app purchases listed on each US App Store page on 15 October 2026. "Used to track you" means the listing showed a "Data Used to Track You" section in its App Privacy card.

How do their features compare?

Only for the apps that line up photos of one subject (1 Second Everyday and Apple Photos do something different). "Not listed" means the App Store listing doesn't mention it, not that the app can't do it.

Which one should I choose?

The one that matches what you want to see. Here's an honest "choose it if" for each.

Solo.Shots

Choose it if you want one subject in the same frame for months (a bump week by week, a baby's first year, a 90-day fitness journey, a beard, a plant, a pet), with reminders and streaks that follow a daily, weekly or monthly rhythm. It also makes posters and a Day-1-vs-today card, and it can build a timelapse of you, someone else or a cat or dog from photos you already have, analyzed on device. It runs on iOS 17.6 or later. Skip it if you don't want ads in a free version or a monthly subscription for the rest: there's no yearly or lifetime plan.

1 Second Everyday

Choose it if you want a video diary: a second (or a few) of every day, mashed into a movie of your life. Skip it if you want the same subject in the same frame; that isn't what it's built for. Pro is $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year, and it needs iOS 18.

Selfie A Day

Choose it if you want a simple daily selfie with a ghost image, import from the Camera Roll, Dropbox sync and a Face ID lock, on almost any iPhone (iOS 13). Keep in mind that its latest version was released on 12 June 2025, and it shows a tracking label.

Dayloop

Choose it if you want photos aligned for you automatically (face or full body), you speak one of its 17 languages, and you're on iOS 26. One sequence is free. Keep in mind its weekly plan and tracking label.

Day N

Choose it if you like a calendar for each "journey" (fitness, meals, pets, plants, outfits), stamp styles, a ghost mode and a Home Screen widget. It's available in English, Japanese and Korean. Keep in mind it contains ads and shows a tracking label.

ProgressCam

Choose it if before/after views matter most: side by side, slide to reveal or tap to toggle, with alignment at capture, batch-aligned imports and six export formats. It offers yearly and lifetime options and showed no tracking label. For before/after comparisons, it's the better pick than Solo.Shots, which has no comparison slider.

Dittoday

Choose it if you're on iOS 26 and want every project aligned automatically, a yearly rhythm option, 4K and a one-time $14.99 Pro instead of a subscription.

Lapse: Face Timelapse

Choose it if you'd rather hand-pick the photos (from the system picker or Google Photos) or start from one video, and get a face-aligned film made on device. Monthly, yearly, lifetime and pay-per-export options. Solo.Shots instead finds the person or pet across your library for you.

BumpLapse

Choose it if you want pregnancy information next to your bump photos: weeks pregnant, a due-date countdown widget, week-by-week baby-size comparisons and self-care tips. Keep in mind that its listing describes pregnancy features only, so you'd need another app for the baby's first year.

GainFrame

Choose it if you want fitness analysis: body-fat estimates, muscle-group breakdowns, an AI coach and Apple Health, Hevy and Strava connections. Its listing says photos you send to an AI feature are processed for analysis and not stored on its servers. Solo.Shots doesn't analyze bodies at all.

Apple Photos Memories

Choose it if you want a free music movie of a person, pet, place or event, made from photos you already have. It doesn't line faces up, but it costs nothing and it's already on your iPhone.

Where does Solo.Shots fall short?

Honestly, in a few places:

• Pricing: Premium is monthly only; see the current price on the App Store. There's no yearly or lifetime plan.
• Ads and tracking label: the free version shows ads, and the App Store shows a "Data Used to Track You" label for it.
• No before/after slider. ProgressCam does this well.
• No automatic alignment for photos you take: it helps you get each photo right while you shoot (ghost, guides, level). Automatic eye alignment is only used for timelapses built from your library.
• 9 languages, where Dayloop lists 17.
• No pregnancy information or body analysis. BumpLapse and GainFrame do those.

How did I compare these apps?

• I picked apps that came up for "progress photo", "photo a day", "face timelapse" and "bump timelapse" searches on iPhone, one or two of each kind, plus the built-in option.
• For each app I read its US App Store listing on 15 October 2026: in-app purchase prices, minimum iOS version, languages, the App Privacy card and the features its description mentions.
• I didn't use star ratings, review counts or download numbers.
• Solo.Shots facts come from the shipped app, version 3.0.
• If you spot something out of date, email solostaseraofficial@gmail.com and I'll fix it.

FAQ

Related guides

• Progress photos that actually line upWhatever app you use: fix distance, height and tilt.
• Your timelapse is already in your photosHow Solo.Shots finds a person or pet across your library.
• Make a timelapse from photos on iPhoneFree and app options, with the length math.
• Pregnancy bump photos, week by weekA 40-week plan you can do alone.