At NanaGram, I often hear from customers that they’re using our service as a photo book for grandparents. In the last decade or so, companies like Groovebook, Chatbooks, and Shutterfly have essentially replaced photo albums with the “photo book.” These photo books bound your photos together like a softcover book or magazine. While we don’t offer these pre-assembled photo books, our service still achieves the same end result. The big difference is your grandma or grandpa creates the photo book, not you.

We purposely don’t offer a bound photo book product for three reasons.

1. Photos shouldn’t be locked up in a book

A bound photo book only lets your loved one enjoy their photos in one, specific way. The recipient can flip through the photos in a pre-assembled order. Sure, you can tear pages from these photo books. However, these books are typically made from low quality paper and the pages don’t always fit into frames.

Printed photos bring joy in many ways. Our customers often pin their pictures to the fridge, insert them into frames, and build their own photo album.

2. Photo books for grandparents should be interactive

We built NanaGram for my 94-year-old grandparents. When I delivered their first set of photos, I brought them one of these amazing 200-page photo albums on Amazon.

Given my grandmother was in her 90s and my grandfather suffered from arthritis, they needed my help. They still dictated what photos went into he album and the order. This gave them control, a creative outlet, and something for us to do together.

Every time a new shipment came in, I’d visit and we’d put their favorites on the fridge. Last month’s photos went into their photo album.

Not all NanaGram recipients are in their 90s. My aunt adds her new prints to a few acrylic photo frames around her home, rotating older prints into an album.

In the age of constant connectivity, the simple act of adding printed photos to an album brings a sense of calmness. It’s like listening to a vinyl record.

3. Don’t replace grandma’s brag book — help her add to it!

The concept of a brag book is adorable. Whenever someone visits, out comes the “brag book,” filled with pictures of the grandkids! Some grandparents even take their brag books with them. Unlike a photo book, NanaGram doesn’t ask your grandparent to change their ways and put away their brag books.

If you want to give NanaGram a try, our service starts at $6.99 per month for 5 photos. In addition, we offer a 10 photo plan for $9.99. You can get 1 month free on an annual plan.

In closing: A friendly reminder to call your loved ones, visit if you’re able, and cherish every moment.