New iOS Camera Features and Updated User Interface
Mapillary for iOS now lets you capture with the phone's internal camera together with external cameras, and use each camera in any of the three capturing modes (distance- or time-based automatic, or manual mode). In addition, we've added support for more GoPro cameras, and freshened up the camera screen to make it really easy to use the new functions.
The camera is the most important part of the mobile app so we always try to make it easier to use, perform better, and add useful features.
Apart for some minor UI changes like adding the number of photos you have taken and how many more you can take, there are a few substantial improvements in this release.
Internal + external camera multicam
You can now use both the internal camera and an external camera (or several) at the same time. You can also set them to capture at different rates if you want.
You can, for instance, put your phone inside your car, facing forward, and at the same time use an external camera on the roof of the car, pointing to the side.
New capture modes for external cameras
Another thing that’s new in this version is that all three capture modes are now also available for external cameras:
- automatic distance based, takes a photo every X meters
- automatic timer based, takes a photo every X seconds
- manual, you manually control the shutter
Official GoPro SDK and support for more GoPro cameras
We have now moved to the official GoPro SDK. Before we used a pre-SDK proprietary API that lacked some features (and documentation) so with this change, GoPro support is more stable now. We have also added support for the GoPro Session 4 and 5 cameras.
Unfortunately, the GoPro Hero3 isn’t supported by the SDK. We will re-add support for Hero3 in a future update with the old API.
External camera setup
It is now easier than ever to connect and configure external cameras. Here's a short guide how to set up external cameras.
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To start the process, simply tap the [+] button.
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As before, you need to connect to the external camera’s WiFi in order to operate it, so we added a handy shortcut to WiFi settings here. Once connected to the WiFi, simply tap the Search button...
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...and any cameras that are found are displayed on the screen.
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When the camera is connected, it looks like this. If you press the [Minimize/Maximize] button in the top left corner...
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...you get this overview where you see the status of all the cameras at the same time. By tapping [Enable] on the internal camera...
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...you can use both cameras at the same time. By tapping [-], you can remove a camera. You can have a maximum of four cameras at the same time.
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If you tap the [Cam1] button on the camera preview screen (slide 3), you come to the direction screen. Since the camera doesn't have a compass, we need to set the direction the camera is pointing.
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Let's imagine we are mounting the camera to point 90 degrees to the right, so let's do the same here in the app so that the camera direction will be correct.
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When you are done, just tap the big red button to start the capture.
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Capture started, time to get moving!
For more detailed instructions and tips, see our help resources for iOS capture with using your phone camera and using external cameras.
What’s next?
We plan on adding support for more cameras, like Sony action cameras, Nikon KeyMission 360, Xiaomi action cameras if possible, and as mentioned above, re-add support for the GoPro Hero3.
We also plan on adding GPX support so you can use the data with other apps more easily.
Feedback is welcome as always! Leave a comment below if you have questions or ideas. If you find a bug, please email us at support@mapillary.zendesk.com or file an issue on GitHub.
/Anders