Pola is a photo-based social application inspired by the immediacy and singular character of analog photography: an image is born as a single, unrepeatable moment. The goal of the app is to preserve this sense of uniqueness in the world of digital photography.
Pola believes that a good photograph deserves attention, conversation and support. The app’s social features help talented creators avoid being lost in the digital noise: through follows, likes, comments and shares, their images can reach new people.
When someone purchases a Pola photo, they are not only collecting a unique 1/1 digital artwork, but also supporting the work of its creator. In this way, the platform creates space for discovery, community recommendation and direct artistic recognition.
In Pola, a photo is not selected from the phone’s photo library. It is created directly with the camera inside the application. The image remains within a protected system. After capture and review, it is uploaded to IPFS and can then be minted as an NFT on the Arbitrum One network. This means that every Pola photo created through the app can be treated as a unique, 1/1 digital original.
It is important to understand that content recorded on the blockchain and uploaded to IPFS functions as a lasting, publicly referenceable digital object. For this reason, it is especially important to check before minting that this is truly the image you want to create and register. Uploaded and minted photos remain the exclusive property of their creator until the creator decides to offer them for sale.
The app is a social platform, a photographic tool and an NFT-based collecting platform at the same time. Users can browse other creators’ images, follow each other, share photos on the timeline, like, comment, send messages, create their own photos, sell and buy works, and build their own collections.
1. Creating a Pola account
To use Pola, you first need to create an account or sign in to an existing one. During registration, the user provides basic profile information that may later appear on the social interface and next to their photos.
Registration also includes accepting the age and blockchain-related terms. This is necessary because the application handles NFTs, digital ownership and wallet-based transactions.
When creating an account, the user:
- enters a valid email address;
- chooses a display name;
- chooses a username;
- provides a country and city for public discoverability;
- creates a password;
- accepts the age and blockchain usage terms.
After creating an account, the user can browse the app’s content, follow creators, like photos, comment and take part in the social features.
2. Browsing photos and using the social features
Pola is not only for NFT minting. The application can also be used as a social photography platform.
Users can download the app for free, register, browse public photos, follow creators, like images, comment, share content and send private messages to each other.
A MetaMask wallet is only needed when the user wants to perform a blockchain-related action, such as:
- minting their own Pola photo;
- listing a photo for sale;
- approving a marketplace transaction;
- purchasing another user’s NFT photo;
- building a collection.
This means that the social side of the app can be explored without a wallet, while the functions related to unique digital ownership require a MetaMask connection.
3. Connecting MetaMask
Pola’s blockchain operations are carried out through a MetaMask wallet. The user can connect their wallet by tapping the MetaMask icon in the app header.
Pola is built on the Arbitrum One network. This means that minting, buying and marketplace actions require ETH available on Arbitrum One in the user’s MetaMask wallet. This does not mean using Ethereum Mainnet ETH, but ETH on the Arbitrum One network.
The steps are:
- the user installs the MetaMask app on their iPhone;
- creates or sets up a wallet;
- makes sure there is a small amount of ETH in the wallet on the Arbitrum One network;
- opens the Pola app;
- taps the MetaMask icon in the app header;
- approves the connection request in MetaMask;
- the app checks whether the correct network, Arbitrum One, is active.
Before minting or purchasing, Pola checks the wallet connection and the active network. This is important to prevent transactions from starting on the wrong network.
4. Creating a unique Pola photo
One of the most important features of Pola is that the photo is born inside the application. The user does not select an image from the phone’s photo library, but creates a new capture directly with the app’s camera.
This approach is designed to preserve uniqueness. According to the philosophy of Pola, the image is not a digital file chosen afterwards, but an original photograph created inside the app at a specific moment. This makes Pola a clean, artistic platform free from AI-based or other visual manipulation.
The photography process works as follows:
- the user taps the central red camera button in the app;
- takes a photo with the Pola camera;
- after capture, a frozen preview appears;
- the user checks whether the image is suitable;
- if it is not, they can go back and take a new photo;
- if it is suitable, they can continue to the IPFS upload and then to minting.
To preserve the uniqueness of the image, photos created in Pola are not saved to the phone’s photo library. The goal is for the created photo to continue as a single, protected, 1/1 digital original.
5. IPFS upload and minting
After the user approves the captured image, Pola uploads the photo and its metadata to IPFS. IPFS is a decentralized file storage system that allows the image and its data to remain permanently referenceable.
After the upload, the user starts the minting process by pressing the MINT button and then approves the mint transaction in MetaMask. Minting takes place on the Arbitrum One network.
The process is:
- the user enters or reviews the title of the photo;
- the app uploads the image to IPFS;
- the app uploads the metadata to IPFS as well;
- the user waits for the upload to complete;
- by pressing the MINT button, the app prepares the mint transaction;
- MetaMask opens for approval;
- the user approves the transaction;
- the NFT is created on the Arbitrum One network;
- the completed photo appears on the timeline and in the user’s Created album.
After minting, the photo no longer exists merely as a simple image file, but as a unique NFT with a contract address, token ID and blockchain transaction.
6. Viewing NFT information
When opening a photo in Pola, the user sees not only the image itself, but also the important information connected to the NFT.
These details help verify the origin of the photo, the circumstances of its creation and its blockchain-based ownership.
The NFT information view may show:
- the title of the photo;
- the creator’s name and username;
- the owner’s information;
- the token ID;
- the smart contract address;
- the transaction hash;
- the Arbiscan link;
- information related to IPFS;
- the time of capture;
- the capture location on a map, based on GPS data.
If location data was available when the photo was taken, Pola can also display the capture location on a map. This strengthens the documentary character of the photo, especially when the image records a location-based event, an artistic moment or a personal situation.
7. Selling or purchasing a photo
The marketplace features of Pola allow users not only to create unique photos, but also to collect and sell them.
If a user wants to sell their own NFT photo, they can open the photo and set a sale price. In Pola, prices are displayed in USD, but transactions take place in ETH on the Arbitrum One network.
Before a purchase or marketplace action, the app retrieves the current ETH/USD exchange rate, calculates the required ETH amount on the Arbitrum One network, and prepares the MetaMask transaction with that value. This allows users to see and understand the price in USD, while the actual blockchain transaction is carried out in ETH on the correct network.
The selling process works as follows:
- the owner opens their own photo;
- sets the sale price in USD;
- approves the required marketplace action in MetaMask;
- the photo appears as listed for sale with a visible price;
- other users can purchase it or make an offer.
If a photo is not listed at a fixed price, other users can still make an offer. The owner receives a notification about the offer in the Activity section.
When purchasing, the buyer approves the transaction in MetaMask. After a successful purchase, ownership of the NFT is transferred to the buyer, and the photo moves from the creator’s Created album to the buyer’s Collection album.
If the new owner later receives an offer, or decides to price and sell one of the photos in their collection, they can also list it for sale again. In this way, a Pola photo can become not only a one-time purchase, but also a transferable piece of a collection.
8. Activity, messages and notifications
The Activity section is the notification center of Pola. This is where events related to the user’s profile, photos, social connections and marketplace actions appear.
The Activity section collects:
- private messages;
- comments;
- likes;
- follows;
- shares;
- offers;
- purchase events.
From here, the user can quickly open related conversations, photos, offers or profiles. The app can also show a badge count when new activity arrives.
This section helps the user keep track of what is happening around their photos: who reacted to them, who sent a message, who made an offer, or who purchased a photo.
9. Created, Collection and Liked albums
Photos appear in several views on the user profile.
The Created album shows the photos that the user personally created and minted in the Pola app. This is the creator side of the profile.
The Collection album contains NFT photos that the user has acquired or purchased from others. This is the collector side of the profile.
The Liked album is a collection of photos the user has liked and may want to find again later. This is visible only in the user’s private profile, so other people cannot see which photos a user has saved for themselves by liking them on the timeline.
These three views help separate creation, collecting and personal interest.
10. Discover and map-based exploration
The Discover section allows users to search for and discover other creators. Users can search by name or username, and can also browse by country or city.
The map view in Pola can display photos with GPS data on a map. The red markers do not represent the user’s profile location, but the capture location of the photos.
This feature is especially exciting because anyone can search for photos based on geography. If you know which area you would like to explore or collect artistic photos from, you do not need to already know the creators who live there. It is enough to look on the map and see whether someone has created photos in that area. By tapping the red markers, the photo taken at that location opens together with all of its related information.
Summary
The essence of Pola is to make the digital photograph unique and unrepeatable again. The image is born inside the app’s camera, uploaded to IPFS and then recorded as an NFT on the Arbitrum One network.
The user can be a creator, a collector and a community participant at the same time. They can browse, follow others, comment, message, take photos, mint, sell and buy.
The goal of Pola is not to collect massively copyable images, but to make sure that every created photo has its own origin, its own story and verifiable digital ownership.
Pola does not try to extract attention from people. It tries to give value to what people pay attention to.