Camera

‘TransparentCameraBar’ adds “more” real estate to the stock Camera app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

TransparentCameraBar is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to make the UI featured in the stock Camera app transparent. The jailbreak tweak, free on Cydia's BigBoss repo, is a way to trick yourself into having "more" real estate for the view finder.

I should mention that this is more like a WinterBoard theme, than a tweak that impacts the photo's end result. If you take a photo either with, or without this tweak, the end result will be the same. It's simply a visual tweak that zooms in the camera UI to give the appearance of a bigger viewfinder.

Take a look inside for more info...

Apple researching high-res iPhone camera with optical zoom

Ed Sutherland ∙ March 14, 2013

Cameras with optical lenses frequently produce images superior to all-digital alternatives most often required in mobile phones. Now Apple appears to have found a hybrid approach permitting future iPhones and iPads to offer a high-resolution camera with an optical zoom lens, but not disrupt the devices' slim lines.

While many patented Apple inventions never see the light of day, iPhone photography buffs in particular will welcome Apple's camera advancements, especially should the company decide to implement them on future iPhones and iPads.

Additionally, the patented technology could even save money for the consumer electronics giant. In 2011, the company filed for a patent entitled "Digital camera with light splitter." The iPhone or iPad camera includes a zoom lens with a moveable lens made possible by a cube which splits light into its component red, green and blue colors...

‘Instahancer’ brings a bunch of new options to Instagram

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Instahancer is a new jailbreak tweak that enhances the usability of the iPhone’s Instagram app. It does so in a vein similar to another recently released jailbreak tweak called InstaSave, a tweak primarily focused on saving photos from the service.

While this tweak, too, focuses on saving Instagram photos, it attempts to justify the price premium with the addition of extra features like zooming, caption drafts, and the ability to copy direct URLs. Does Instahancer succeed in its endeavors? Take a look inside for the full scoop…

Tumblr updates iOS app with new camera and Photosets

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Users of the popular blogging site Tumblr will be happy to hear that a fairly significant update for the iOS app has just posted. The update includes an all new camera interface and a handful of new features.

Perhaps the most notable addition is the ability to create Photosets from within the app. Tumblr released a standalone app for Photosets last fall, and it's finally decided to roll the feature into its official client...

How to use the iPhone’s camera without exiting the current app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 11, 2013

InstantCamera is a $0.99 jailbreak tweak available on the BigBoss repo, and it lets you access the camera from within any app using a simple Activator gesture. The fact that the developer charges $0.99 for this tweak, when another tweak just like it — a tweak called CamFast — is already available on Cydia free, baffles me.

In fact, both tweaks work exactly the same. Both use Activator gestures to invoke the Camera app API from anywhere, including your Lock screen. So why would you pay $0.99 for this tweak, when it's already been available for free since last year?

Flashorama lets you use the iPhone’s LED flash during panorama mode

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Flashorama is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to enable the iPhone's LED flash when using panorama mode. Normally, when switching over to panorama mode, the LED flash is completely unavailable for use. This tweak "fixes" that issue.

Although in most cases you'll likely be shooting panorama pictures in well lit public areas, it's nice to have the option to enable the flash if necessary. Take a look inside for a few more details...

Upcoming ‘LastPic’ tweak allows you to easily share your last taken photo

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Filippo Bigarella has come up with another doozy, and this time it involves your photos. More aptly, this time it involves the last photo you snapped with your iDevice. LastPic, is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that will allow you to easily share the last photo you took when sharing a photo via the Messages app. It works a lot like Tweetbot, which features similar functionality when posting photos to your Twitter stream.

The tweak is currently still being worked on, but you can be rest assured that we will see it available on Cydia in the near future. Stay tuned for more updates.

Apple’s camera supplier sees sharp production drop ahead of the next iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Here’s another indication that Apple is on the verge of ramping up iPhone 5S manufacturing. According to a new report by a Korean newspaper, Apple’s camera supplier LG Innotek is said to have put on hold as much as 80 percent of its camera module output.

The paper claims the change is a result of “weak iPhone 5 sales”, but that's an incorrect assumption because the iPhone 5's back and front camera is made by Sony and Omnivision, respectively.

LG Innotek is still listed as the official Apple supplier as it makes the iPhone 4 camera, but its name doesn't come up in teardown analysis of any of Apple's latest mobile products...

LG teaches Apple how panorama should be done

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh-2_Nt8Wac#!

So LG is advertising the expanded panoramic and camera capabilities of its Optimus G Pro smartphone. At first blush, the commercial looks like a blatant ripoff of Apple's iPhone 5 ad titled "Cheese", down to the kids on the white background and the elongated "Cheeeeese".

On closer inspection, it has a nice twist to it, watch what happens after mark 0:30. Their VR Panorama obviously out-innovates Apple in how amazingly it stitches the photos together to produce a nearly 360-degree image. Apple better come up with some expanded panorama features in iOS 7...

How to enable HDR Camera mode on iPad, and iPod touch 4G

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated January 28, 2017

HDR is a photography mode that stitches together several pictures along a range of exposure settings. Using various algorithms, the effect creates pictures that can have fewer dark or washed out spots than a conventional digital still, which is great if you intend to capture textures and detail instead of glare or shadow.

Apple introduced HDR photography to iOS 4.1, but the feature wasn't rolled out to every device. The devices that currently lack the option to enable HDR in the stock camera app include the iPod touch 4G, iPad mini, and the iPad 2 to the iPad 4. Lucky for us, this disabled feature is fairly easy to manually reintroduce on a jailbroken device...

Hands-on with Kamera

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIyfdVTepVU

Last week we brought you some information on Kamera — a recently released jailbreak tweak available for free on Cydia's ModMyi repo. Well, we just got a chance to try it out on...ahem, camera, so we thought we'd bring you a video walkthrough.

As you probably remember, Kamera is a Notification Center widget that enables you to go directly to the front-facing or rear-facing mode via the Camera app. Recently an option was added to Kamera to allow you to use a long tap and hold to go straight to video mode. I've found it to be a decent tweak, although many other options exist out there to quickly invoke the Camera.

If you're browsing from an iDevice, you can download Kamera from Cydia using this direct link. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

How to enable still captures while shooting video on the iPod touch 5th generation

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

If you own both an iPhone 5 and an iPod touch 5th generation, you might find it strange that you can capture still photos while shooting video on the iPhone 5, but not on the iPod touch. Regardless as to why Apple made such a decision, it doesn't really matter if you're jailbroken. That's because a new jailbreak tweak recently appeared on Cydia enabling the function.

Still Capture Enabler is the tweak that allows your iPod touch 5th generation the ability to take still capture photos in the midst of a video shoot. Does it work as you would expect? Have a look at our video walkthrough inside for all of the pertinent details.