- David Dobrik, a YouTube star with more than 15 million subscribers, recently released a photo app called David's Disposable.
- The app is inspired by Dobrik's secondary Instagram account, where he posts photos he takes with his disposable camera, which thusly have that retro, 90s feel.
- Dobrik's app launched less than a month ago, but has already reached 1 million downloads. More than half of those downloads have come in the past two days, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
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Popular YouTuber David Dobrik has harnessed his passionate and loyal fanbase to get his new smartphone app to hit 1 million downloads in less than a month.
Dobrik recently released an app called David's Disposable, which is designed to mimic the experience of using a disposable camera — all the way from photo-taking to photo-printing. Since its launch on December 23, the Apple iOS-only app has been downloaded more than 1 million times, according to data from app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
The app is inspired by Dobrik's secondary Instagram account, @davidsdisposable, which he uses to share photos of friends taken with a disposable camera. After only six months, the account has nearly 3 million followers.
On its surface, David's Disposable seems incredibly similar to Huji Cam, a massively popular photo-editing app that has developed a cult following among both Instagram influencers and everyday users. Both apps open to a screen that turns your phone into a green Fujifilm-style disposable camera, and apply 90s-appropriate filters.
However, David's Disposable goes further and tries to comprise the entirety of the disposable camera process in a single place. Through the app, users can take photos — which are only viewable at 9 am the following day, after taking the time to "develop." You can also order prints of the photos right from the app, which are developed and sent to you at $1 a photo.
The pull of nostalgia, doubled with Dobrik's massive name recognition and influence, has quickly turned David's Disposable into a wildly popular app. For reasons unknown, its popularity has skyrocketed in the past few days: Nearly 60% of the app's 1 million downloads took place on January 7 and January 8, according to Sensor Tower.
"People are pushing back in this era against trying to be perfect, and you can't be perfect with a disposable camera," said Adam Hadi, a member of the team in charge of marketing Dobrik's app. "It's his app. People love David, and this is just another way to interact with him."
Dobrik, 23, got his start on the now-defunct app Vine, and now has a YouTube channel with more than 15 million subscribers. Dobrik is known for his creative challenges and vlogs that often feature members of a group of YouTubers called the Vlog Squad. Dobrik's net worth stands at an estimated $7 million.
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