The 10 Best Apps to Take a Photo Every Day and Turn It Into a Video (2026)

Taking one photo of yourself every day sounds trivial. Doing it for a year — and ending up with a smooth, watchable video instead of a shaky slideshow — is a different story. The right app handles the three things that make or break a daily photo project: reminding you to shoot, aligning every photo consistently, and turning hundreds of images into a video automatically.

We tested and compared the ten best apps for taking a picture every day and turning it into a video — plus a roundup of every other app we evaluated along the way. Whether you call it a photo-a-day project, a daily selfie journal, or a picture-a-day timelapse video, these are the apps that do it best in 2026.

Quick comparison

App	Platforms	Alignment	Transitions	Price
Daily Selfie	iOS & Android	Automatic face detection + ghost overlay	AI face morphing or classic timelapse	Free / Pro $3.99/mo
1 Second Everyday	iOS & Android	None (video clips)	Hard cuts between clips	Free / Pro $9.99/mo or $49.99/yr
Selfie A Day	iOS only	Manual grid + ghost image view	Classic timelapse	Free
Lapsey	iOS only	Manual guide lines	Classic timelapse	Free / $9.99 lifetime
Close-up	iOS only	Manual (reminder-first)	Timelapse videos + GIFs	Free
Selfie Time Lapse	Android only	Automatic face alignment	Classic timelapse	Free / premium unlock
Lapser	Android only	AI-assisted (credit-limited)	Crossfade + split-screen	Free (2 projects) / Premium
Dayli	iOS only	Photo alignment guides	Classic + before/after	$4.99/mo or $24.99/yr
Dayloop	iOS only	Automatic face + full-body alignment	Classic + time-travel slider	Free / Pro subscription
Everyday	iOS only	Manual face overlay	Classic timelapse	$2.99 + $1.99 IAP

1. Daily Selfie – Photo Timelapse — BEST OVERALL

iOS & Android · Free with Pro at $3.99/month

Best for: anyone who wants a smooth, professional-looking transformation video without manual work.

Most photo-a-day apps make you do the hard part: line up your face against a grid or a faint overlay, every single day, and hope the final video doesn't jump around. Daily Selfie automates that. Its smart camera detects your face in real time and guides you into the same position every day, and when it's time to build your video, AI face morphing interpolates between photos so the result flows like one continuous shot instead of a flip-book.

Three features are hard to find anywhere else on this list:

• AI morph transitions. Every other app here uses hard cuts or a simple crossfade. Morphing is what makes year-long transformations look cinematic — the difference between a video people watch to the end and one they scroll past.
• Import your camera roll and get a video on day one. The app reads the dates on photos you've already taken, sorts them chronologically, aligns them, and builds your first video immediately. You don't start at zero — most people quit these projects in the first two weeks precisely because the payoff feels months away.
• Unlimited separate projects. Track your fitness transformation, your baby's growth, and your plant on the windowsill as independent collections, each with its own reminder.

Beyond that, you get a ghost overlay of yesterday's photo, daily reminders, 20+ professional filters, date overlays, background music, and Full HD 1080p export. Photos are stored locally on your device and everything works offline.

Pros:

• Automatic face-detection alignment — no manual grids
• AI morphing: the smoothest transitions on this list
• Instant video from your existing camera roll
• Unlimited projects, offline & local storage

Cons:

• Free tier is ad-supported
• AI morphing is designed around faces; non-face projects use classic timelapse mode

 Download on the App Store ▶ Get it on Google Play

2. 1 Second Everyday

iOS & Android · ★ 4.8 (48K+ ratings) · Free with Pro at $9.99/mo or $49.99/yr

Best for: capturing daily moments, not tracking a physical transformation.

1 Second Everyday is the giant of this category — 4.8 stars from more than 48,000 ratings on the App Store, and Webby awards on the shelf. But it solves a different problem: you record a one-second video clip each day, and the app stitches them into a montage of your life. As a diary, it's wonderful.

What it doesn't do is alignment. There's no face detection, no ghost overlay, no consistent framing — so if your goal is a fitness, skincare, pregnancy, or glow-up video where your face or body stays locked in place while time passes, 1SE's output will feel chaotic rather than transformative. It's also a heavyweight app (334 MB) and the most expensive on this list, with extras like watermark removal ($4.99) sold separately.

Pros: huge, proven community and track record · Smart Fill auto-compiles your montage · Freestyle and Journal project types · cloud backup and collaboration (Pro).

Cons: no photo alignment at all · most expensive option here · 334 MB install, requires iOS 18+.

 App Store ▶ Google Play

Choose it if you want a montage of your days. Skip it if you want a transformation timelapse.

3. Selfie A Day – Everyday Photo

iOS only · ★ 4.7 (3,900+ ratings) · Free

Best for: a proven, no-cost daily selfie habit on iPhone.

Selfie A Day is one of the most established daily-selfie specialists on the App Store — nearly 4,000 ratings at 4.7 stars, and still receiving updates. The feature set covers the essentials well: a camera grid and ghost image view for lining up your face, camera roll import for photos you already have, reminders, date search, and instant playback movies you can share straight to Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.

It also has two features that privacy-minded users will appreciate: Dropbox sync of every selfie as you take it, and password-protected albums unlockable with Face ID or Touch ID. Siri Shortcuts support is a nice power-user touch.

The gap versus the top of this list: alignment is manual (grid and ghost view — no automatic face detection), and the output is a classic cut-style movie without morphing or crossfades. And there's no Android version.

Pros: free and battle-tested (4.7★ from ~4,000 ratings) · Dropbox sync and camera-roll backup · Face ID–locked albums · import of existing selfies.

Cons: manual grid/ghost alignment only · basic cut transitions · iOS only.

 App Store

Choose it if you want a free, well-proven iPhone selfie journal. Skip it if you want automatic alignment or smooth morph transitions.

4. Lapsey: Daily Selfie & Photo

iOS only · ★ 5.0 (22 ratings) · Free with $9.99 lifetime Pro

Best for: subscription-haters.

Lapsey's killer argument is its pricing: a $9.99 lifetime unlock — no subscription, ever. It's a lightweight (13.7 MB), actively maintained app with a 5.0 rating from a small but happy user base, and it has a genuinely nice touch: private albums locked behind Face ID — worth a lot if you're taking shirtless progress photos or documenting a medical recovery. You also get a calendar view, comparison mode, and an achievement system for streaks.

The trade-off: alignment is manual guide lines you position yourself, so consistency depends on your daily diligence, and transitions are classic cuts — no morphing. iOS only.

Pros: $9.99 once — cheapest long-term option · Face ID–locked private albums · tiny 13.7 MB install, 9 languages · streaks, achievements, calendar view.

Cons: manual alignment only · no Android version · small user base so far.

 App Store

Choose it if you'll pay once and align carefully. Skip it if you want automatic alignment or you're on Android.

5. Close-up, Daily Selfies

iOS only · ★ 4.7 (1,300+ ratings) · Free

Best for: minimalists who value longevity over features.

Close-up has been quietly doing one thing well for over a decade: it reminds you to take a photo of your face each day, then turns your collection into time-lapse videos or animated GIFs. At roughly 1 MB, it's the smallest app on this list by a factor of ten — and unlike the other veterans here, it's still actively maintained (its latest update shipped this month).

Backups sync through your own Dropbox, and photos can even be tagged with locations. What you won't find: automatic alignment, morphing, filters, or multi-project management. Close-up is deliberately simple — which is exactly why its users have stuck with it for ten-plus years.

Pros: free, tiny, and reliable · a decade of continuous maintenance · GIF export is unique on this list · Dropbox backup.

Cons: no alignment assistance at all · face-journal only — not suited to body, baby, or project tracking · iOS only.

 App Store

Choose it if you want the simplest possible daily face journal. Skip it if you need alignment help or track anything besides your face.

6. Selfie Time Lapse

Android only · 50K+ downloads · Free with premium unlock

Best for: Android users who want free automatic face alignment.

Selfie Time Lapse (by isidroid) is the most-installed dedicated selfie-timelapse app on Android after ours, and its headline feature is genuine automatic face alignment — rare in the free Android tier. It imports photos from your camera, gallery, entire folders, or supported networks, previews your sequence as a slideshow, and lets you control framerate and quality on export. Reminders and Dropbox backup round out the premium tier.

The caution: recent reviews repeatedly mention data loss, crashes, and photos playing out of chronological order. The alignment tech is good when it works, but for a project you'll invest months in, back up your source photos somewhere the app can't touch them.

Pros: automatic face alignment for free · flexible import (camera, gallery, whole folders) · custom export speed and quality · 50K+ install base.

Cons: recurring user reports of data loss and ordering bugs · Dropbox backup locked behind premium · Android only.

▶ Google Play

Choose it if you're on Android and want free auto-alignment. Skip it if reliability is non-negotiable — keep your own backups either way.

7. Lapser: Daily Photo Timelapse

Android only · Free (2 projects) with Premium upgrade

Best for: Android users who want AI alignment beyond faces, plus their own cloud.

Lapser is a newer, more polished Android competitor. It offers AI-assisted alignment for faces, objects, and landscapes, a ghost overlay camera, editable dates, milestone markers on the timeline, and before/after comparisons. Backup goes to your own Google Drive — your photos stay in an account you control.

The catches are in the free tier: it's limited to two projects, AI alignment runs on monthly credits, and exports are medium-resolution with a watermark until you pay for premium. It's also a small app (around 500 installs at the time of writing), so the community and track record are thin.

Pros: AI alignment for faces, objects & landscapes · backup to your own Google Drive · milestones and before/after comparisons.

Cons: free tier limited to 2 projects with watermark and alignment credits · very small user base so far.

▶ Google Play

Choose it if you're on Android and like the bring-your-own-Drive model. Skip it if watermarks and alignment credits would annoy you.

8. Dayli – Daily Selfie Timelapse

iOS only · Free with $4.99/mo or $24.99/yr subscription

Best for: people who want zero data collection, full stop.

Dayli is a newer, clean take on the daily selfie timelapse: alignment guides, before-and-after videos, unlimited albums, HD export, and support for 10 languages. Its standout is the privacy label — the developer declares that no data is collected at all, the strictest stance of any app on this list.

It's early days, though: the app is on version 1.0.1 with almost no ratings yet, alignment is guide-based rather than automatic, and pricing ($4.99/month or $24.99/year) is on par with far more mature apps. Requires iOS 16.5+.

Pros: zero data collection — strictest privacy here · unlimited albums and HD export · before/after comparison videos.

Cons: brand new, almost no track record · manual guide-based alignment · subscription-priced like mature rivals.

 App Store

Choose it if absolute privacy is your #1 criterion. Skip it if you want a proven track record or automatic alignment.

9. Dayloop: Photo Journal

iOS only · Free with Pro subscription for multiple projects

Best for: full-body transformation tracking on iPhone.

Dayloop is the newest serious entrant, and it brings one capability nobody else on this list has: automatic full-body alignment alongside face alignment. If your project is muscle gain, weight loss, or posture — where the frame is your whole physique, not just your face — that's a meaningful edge. A translucent overlay helps you match framing at capture time, an interactive "time travel" slider lets you scrub through your transformation, and everything stays on-device with nothing uploaded anywhere.

The trade-offs are typical for a young app: a tiny rating base so far, a Pro subscription required for more than one sequence, and no Android version.

Pros: automatic face and full-body alignment · time-travel scrubbing slider · fully on-device, nothing uploaded · camera roll import.

Cons: brand new with almost no ratings · one sequence on the free tier · iOS only.

 App Store

Choose it if you're tracking your whole body, not just your face. Skip it if you want maturity or run multiple projects for free.

10. Everyday

iOS only · ★ 3.7 (388 ratings) · $2.99 + $1.99 in-app

Best for: minimalists who want the original photo-a-day experience.

Everyday practically invented this category — it was covered by the press back in 2011, and its core loop (reminder → face overlay → movie) is still the template every other app follows. It's tiny (6.4 MB), cheap ($2.99 plus $1.99 for unlimited timelines — no subscription), and backs up to your own Dropbox.

The problem is that it was last updated in January 2019, and its 3.7-star rating reflects that: users report compatibility issues on modern iPhones and iOS versions. The developer also hasn't provided privacy details to Apple. We include it out of respect — but starting a multi-year photo project on an app that hasn't been touched in seven years is a real risk.

Pros: simple, proven concept · no subscription ($4.98 total) · Dropbox backup and flexible reminders.

Cons: abandoned since January 2019 · compatibility issues on modern iOS · no privacy details provided to Apple.

 App Store

Choose it if you're nostalgic and cautious. Skip it if you want an app that will still exist when your video is done.

Other apps we evaluated

We looked at every other daily-photo app we could find. These didn't make the ranked list, but each might fit a specific situation:

• PhotoChron (Android, 95K+ installs) — for years the Android photo-a-day app, with overlay guides, Google Drive backup, and daily/weekly/monthly cadence. But it's been abandoned since 2019 and its 3.1★ rating is full of camera failures on modern Android. We can't recommend starting a new project on it. Google Play
• TimeShutter (iOS, $0.99) — a once-popular daily selfie app with a respectable 4.5★ history, untouched since 2018. Same verdict as PhotoChron: too risky for a long-term project. App Store
• SelfieStory – Picture Everyday (iOS, free) — a promising 1 MB micro-app with automatic selfie centering and photo import. Only a handful of ratings so far, but worth watching. App Store
• Era: Daily Selfie Timelapse (iOS) — a brand-new entrant with face detection and even an Apple Watch app. Too early to rank; no meaningful user base yet. App Store
• Daily Selfie Timelapse – FaceTL and Daily Body Selfie Timelapse (Android) — two minimal, fully-offline apps from the same developer, one for faces and one for full-body shots. No accounts, no uploads — but also very small user bases and basic feature sets. FaceTL · Body TL
• Daily Pic: Photo Progress (iOS) — appeared in our research but wasn't available on the US App Store at the time of writing, so we couldn't evaluate it fairly.

How to choose

• Fitness, weight loss, or muscle gain: automatic alignment matters most — your camera distance and angle drift over months of gym progress. Daily Selfie and Dayloop handle this best, and both work as a free weight loss progress photos app to start. See our guides to tracking your fitness transformation and weight loss progress photos.
• Pregnancy: you'll want week-by-week consistency and offline, private storage. Here's how a bump journey timelapse works.
• Skincare, braces, hair, or beard progress: a skincare progress tracker lives or dies on before-and-after consistency — identical lighting and framing is everything, and that's where face-detection alignment beats manual grids. Guides: skincare, braces, hair, beard, glow-up.
• Babies, pets, or plants: any app with a solid ghost overlay works; prioritize unlimited projects and easy import. See baby growth, pet growth, and plant timelapse guides.
• A diary of your life's moments: that's 1 Second Everyday's territory — go with it.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a picture-a-day timelapse video?

Three steps, no desktop editing software needed: (1) take a daily photo in the app — or import photos you already have from your camera roll; (2) let the app align every frame automatically so faces or framing stay locked in place; (3) export the compiled video in HD and share it. In the past this meant transferring photos to a PC and manually crop-aligning every frame in a video editor; a modern photo-a-day app automates the entire workflow.

Can I turn photos I've already taken into a timelapse?

Yes — Daily Selfie reads the dates embedded in your existing photos, sorts them chronologically, aligns the faces, and generates a video immediately. Selfie A Day, Selfie Time Lapse, Dayloop, Lapser, and Lapsey also support importing old photos, with varying degrees of alignment automation.

What's the best free app to take a photo every day?

Daily Selfie's free tier includes the smart camera, alignment, reminders, and video export (ad-supported). Selfie A Day and Close-up are fully free on iOS with manual alignment. On Android, Selfie Time Lapse offers free automatic face alignment, and Lapser is free for two projects with watermarked exports.

How do these apps keep every photo aligned?

Three approaches, in ascending order of effort for you: automatic detection that aligns photos for you (Daily Selfie for faces, Dayloop for faces and full body, Selfie Time Lapse on Android), AI-assisted alignment on monthly credits (Lapser), and manual grids or ghost overlays you line up yourself (everyone else).

Are my daily photos private?

Daily Selfie, Dayli, Dayloop, and Lapsey store photos locally on your device by default. Selfie A Day, Close-up, and Everyday back up to your own Dropbox; Lapser and PhotoChron use your Google Drive. 1 Second Everyday offers its own cloud backup as a paid feature. If privacy is critical, Lapsey and Selfie A Day add Face ID–locked albums, and Dayli and Dayloop collect no data at all.

How long until I have a video worth sharing?

With retroactive import, day one. Starting from scratch, a 30-day timelapse is already fun to watch; transformations (fitness, hair, pregnancy) typically get dramatic between 3 and 12 months. The real challenge is consistency — pick an app whose daily capture takes under ten seconds, and turn the reminder on.

Do I need to edit the video myself?

No. Every app on this list compiles the video automatically. The differences are in transition quality: AI morphing (Daily Selfie) produces the smoothest results, crossfades (Lapser) are second, and hard cuts (everything else) work best when your alignment was perfect every day.

Prices, ratings, and store details verified July 2026 on the US App Store and Google Play. App icons are the property of their respective developers and shown for identification purposes.