The iPhone ‘s very best camera app “ which up to now was only available for jailbroken iPhones “ is going to be available in the App Store tomorrow.
Snapture was always one of those jailbreak apps that was held up as one of the many reasons for jailbreaking the iPhone. It was a camera app that was miles better than the iPhone ‘s built-in camera app. It was also one of my very favorite jailbreak apps, and one I had lost hope of seeing in the App Store.
Until today. Today I received an email from the folks at Snapture Labs “ to let me know that this superb old favorite of mine will be hitting the App Store tomorrow, September 21st!
My first reaction to that email was HURRAH! My next thought was oh boy, I bet the app will have all its best features stripped away, the ones that make it so much better than the built-in camera app. No, no, no. Here are just some of the slick features the folks at Snapture Labs highlighted for me:
- Patent-pending Picture-in-Picture Technology (allows users to view and delete recent photos directly on the viewfinder)
- Multi-Touch Pinch and Pan Zoom (5X max)
- High Speed Multishot: 3 rapid-fire snaps to capture every moment of action.
- Easy Snap: Tap anywhere on screen to take a photo.
The last one is perhaps the one the app originally became best known for “ the ability to tap anywhere on the screen to take a picture. No more hunting round blind for the right place to press “ such a simple improvement, but such a joy to have as well.
I ‘ve been messing around with a pre-release copy of Snapture for just a little while this evening. Here is my initial impression: Wowza!
As I ‘ve said, this is an old favorite of mine “ but I honestly thought if it ever made it to the App Store it would likely be so transformed by Apple ‘s restrictions as to lose all its magic. Not at all. It is even better than it was back in its jailbreak incarnation “ with an even slicker UI and controls, and even more features than before.
I am a terrible photographer, so I apologize to you all, and to Snapture Labs, that I ‘m not going to come close to doing the app justice here “ but I ‘m going to give you a few glimpses of what this app has to offer anyway. It ‘s got a nicer, more effective zoom than I ‘ve seen on any iPhone app
Two quick pics of a tree and birdhouse out back from the same distance away
The app ‘s finer controls are hidden by default, so as not to detract from your view, but popup nicely via an elegant little button. These three, from left to right, are to set the size of the touch zone, toggle on/off the Level Aid, and to set the Image Size (and resolution) to small, medium, or large.
Others let you set the Quick View location, toggle off and on the burst mode (to just one pic, or three rapid-fire pics in a row), and turn Zoom on and off (once it ‘s on, just pinch in and out to set the level). You can see these in the pic at the top of this post.
If you ‘ve taken a few shots in a row, the app displays a handy save button (along with the number of images to save) “ which you can tap at any time and carry on in the app.
When it displays thumbnails for you, you can just swipe to get a popup on screen to Delete or Email that image “ the mail is sent via in-app email, so when you choose either action, once again you ‘re staying right within the app and still able to fire away on a next picture.
Now I can get closeup shots of my stunningly handsome brute of a dog, even without being up close to him 🙂
Back in its jailbreak days, I used to think of this app as being like the built-in camera app on Steroids. This newest App Store incarnation of it is much better than that. It ‘s like the built-in camera app on some of those undetectable, don ‘t get caught in testing, next generation performance-enhancing drugs that we always hear about. That ‘s an analogy I don ‘t love making, because as a sports fan I hate that so many sports are plagued by cheaters, but it ‘s an appropriate one in this case.
For a more positive approach, I ‘ll go with this: Snapture is the Usain Bolt of iPhone camera apps “ it leaves the built-in app, and all others, lagging way behind.
Snapture should hit the App Store tomorrow. I don ‘t what it ‘s going to cost as yet, but unless it ‘s priced above $20, I ‘d say grab it up immediately “ before Apple decides it ‘s far too good, and kicks the ass of a built-in app by too big a margin, for it to stay around long. In fact, if you do a lot of photography on your iPhone, I ‘d recommend this app at almost any price. It will be an instant, and long term, favorite app.
UPDATE “ Good News on Pricing: I ‘ve spoken a little further this evening to the publishers of Snapture, asking about planned pricing for the app. They are planning to launch it at a very attractive $1.99 price point “ which is a full 75% discount from the jailbreak app ‘s price point “ at least for a limited introductory period.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: iphone apps, iPhone camera apps, Snapture iPhone camera app
