Chatbooks: Turn Phone Photos Into Photo Books
Chatbooks connects to your camera roll or social media and automatically creates printed photo books shipped to your door.
4 min read · 6 steps · Checked April 2026
Step 1. Download the Chatbooks app
Open the App Store on iPhone or the Google Play Store on Android. Search for "Chatbooks" and tap the download button. The app is free to install. You only pay when you order a printed book.
Quick Tip
Quick Tip: Chatbooks also works through its website at chatbooks.com if you prefer to work on a computer instead of your phone.
Step 2. Create a free account
Open the app and tap "Sign Up." Enter your email address and choose a password, or sign in with your Apple or Google account for a faster setup. You will receive a short confirmation email — tap the link inside to verify your address.
Step 3. Connect your photo source
After signing in, the app will ask which photos to use. Tap "Camera Roll" to use photos saved on your phone, or choose Instagram or Facebook if you would like to pull photos from social media. When prompted, allow Chatbooks to access your photos. It needs this permission to see your pictures.
Warning
Chatbooks only reads your photos to create books. It does not post to social media or share your photos with anyone.
Step 4. Choose a book style and series
Tap "Create a Series" to set up automatic books, or tap "Create a Book" to build a single one-time book. For the automatic series, select the source (camera roll or social), pick a book size — the standard 6×6 is a popular choice — and confirm the subscription price. Chatbooks will show you a preview of what the first book will look like before you commit.
Quick Tip
Quick Tip: You can pause or cancel your series at any time from the Account section of the app. You are not locked into a long-term contract.
Step 5. Review and approve before printing
Before any book ships, Chatbooks sends you a notification asking you to review it. Open the notification, look through the pages, remove any photos you do not want, and tap "Approve." If you do nothing within a few days, the app will approve and ship automatically — so check your email or notification settings to make sure you get those alerts.
Step 6. Enter your shipping address and place the order
Go to Account > Shipping Address and enter where you want books delivered. Add a payment method under Account > Payment. Once approved, your book usually ships within a few business days and arrives in one to two weeks, depending on the shipping option you choose.
Chatbooks is an app that takes the work out of printing your photos. Instead of downloading photos, uploading them to a website, and designing pages yourself, Chatbooks watches your camera roll and puts photos together into a book for you. When you have enough photos — usually 60 — it creates a new book automatically and asks if you want to print it.
Each book is a small, flat-lay softcover book that costs around $10 to $15 plus shipping. The photos are printed on real paper with real ink. So they hold up much better than photos printed at a drugstore kiosk. Many people use Chatbooks to preserve family memories, holiday moments, and everyday snapshots they would otherwise leave stuck on their phone forever.
You can connect Chatbooks to your iPhone camera roll, Android gallery, Instagram, or Facebook. Once it is connected, the app keeps running in the background and builds books without you having to do anything. You can also review each book before it prints, swap out photos you do not want, or change the order.
Chatbooks offers several book styles. The "Series" plan is the most popular. It automatically sends a new book every time your photo count reaches 60. You can also order one-off books if you prefer not to subscribe. Prices depend on book size, page count, and shipping destination.
Photo books make meaningful gifts for grandparents, parents, or anyone who would rather hold a real photo than look at a screen. You can also use Chatbooks to preserve vacation memories, school years, or milestone moments without spending hours at a computer designing layouts.
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