CASSETTECAM — iOS
A 5-minute tape
you can never reshoot.
撮り直しできない、5分のテープ。
CassetteCam is a video camera app that records onto cassette tapes. Each tape holds just 5 minutes, and nothing you record can be overwritten or rewound. Mistakes, camera shake and laughter all stay on the tape, just as they happened.
A diagram of how a tape works. Load a tape into the deck and press PUSH, and the tape wraps around the head. Nothing you record can be overwritten or rewound. You can hand a recorded tape to someone nearby.
What it does
Load a tape, press PUSH
Set a tape in the glass-door deck and push it in: the tape is pulled out and wraps around the head. Opening the door and moving the tape come with sound and vibration.
Shoot in 4:3
The picture is 4:3. The DISP button shows or hides the on-screen info and date while you record. You can switch between the front and back cameras.
Scratch the tape with your finger
On the playback screen, you can move the tape pulled out of the cassette with your finger. The picture and sound follow its speed and direction. Play, pause and reverse are there too.
Labels in your own hand
Handwrite or type your labels. Labels can be rewritten at any time; what is on the tape cannot.
Hand tapes over in person
Open CassetteCam on both iPhones and bring them close to hand a tape over. The tape becomes theirs and disappears from your device.
Dub and export
Export a tape's footage as a video to save to the Photos app or share. Dubbing takes as long as the tape, but you can skip it.
About tapes
Your first tape is free. Extra tapes are in-app purchases (sets of 2, 6 or 10). You cannot choose a tape's colour; you find out which one you got when it arrives (15 colours: 0.01% rainbow, 0.1% gold, 1% silver and 8.24% for each of the other 12, also shown on the purchase screen).
Tapes exist only on your device. There are no accounts and no servers. Deleting the app deletes your tapes. To move to a new iPhone, hand the tapes over one by one.
Requirements
Works on iPhone with iOS 17 or later. Handing over a tape needs two iPhones with CassetteCam installed.
Privacy
Your footage stays on your device. We run no server, and there are no accounts, analytics or ads. The only thing that leaves your device is a tape you choose to hand to someone nearby, sent encrypted, directly to their device. Access to Photos is used only to save (add) exported videos. When the app is not in the foreground it blurs its screen, so your footage does not show in the app switcher. See the privacy policy for details.
Get the app
The app is free, and so is your first tape. There are no subscriptions.
Questions? Write to info@virtual-cross.com.