Photos & Camera

RSS for tag

Explore technical aspects of capturing high-quality photos and videos, including exposure control, focus modes, and RAW capture options.

Posts under Photos & Camera subtopic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Moving photos to a shared library programmatically
Hello everyone, I am looking for a solution to programmatically, e.g. using AppleScript to import photos into the Photos library on MacOS and also push them to the shared library, like it can be done using the standard GUI of the Photos application. Maybe it is not possible using AppleScript, but using a short Swift script and PhotoKit, I do not not know. Any help is appreciated! Thomas
6
0
158
Apr ’25
Unable to Fetch Videos from Recently Deleted Album Using Photos Framework in iOS 18.3.1
Hello everyone, I’m working on an iOS app that fetches videos from the "Recently Deleted" album using the Photos framework in Swift. However, I’m unable to fetch any videos, even though the "Recently Deleted" album contains 233 items (including videos), as seen in the Photos app. Environment: iOS Version: 18.3.1 Xcode Version: 16.2 Swift Version: Swift 5 Device: iPhone (simulator and physical device both tested) Photo Library Permission: "All Photos" access granted Recently Deleted Lock: Face ID/Passcode is disabled for "Recently Deleted"
2
0
116
Mar ’25
When getting the PHPickerResult from user selecting media in the Photos app, how to check file extension?
when I get results from picker: PHPickerViewController, didFinishPicking results: [PHPickerResult]) and I load the image using itemProvider .loadFileRepresentation (the itemProvider is the NSItemProvider provided by the PHPickerResult) will the url that's returned by this method be guaranteed to have the file extension ie, "file://image.jpeg" not "file://image" I want to know if i need to just check the extension to know its file type. (FYI in case this makes a difference, im only interested in user screenshots and screenrecordings)
7
0
135
Apr ’25
Format of 14-bit RAW bayer data from lower bit camera sensor?
I'm working on an application that uses the iPhone camera for scientific purposes - and, as a result would like to receive sensor data in as unprocessed format as possible. I'm using AVCapturePhotoOutput to take Bayer RAW stills and receiving data in kCVPixelFormatType_14Bayer_RGGB format. However, I'm puzzled as to the content of the bits. I simply demosaic the image by taking each 2x2 square: RG GB and use R, (G+G)/2, B to get 16-bit RGB values - and this indeed works. However, I am puzzled as to the values we are getting as they seem to be approximately in the range 2048 - 16383. The top value is understandable - the maximum that you can fit in 14-bits (as implied by the pixel format type). However we don't seem to be able to get lower than ~2048 no matter how black/dark we make the sensor. I'm aware that the sensor is probably not 14-bits (we're using the iPhone 16e camera) and that maybe this is to do with the way the sensor data is packaged. The Advances in iOS Photography video (https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/501/) describes it as "10-bit sensor RAW packaged in 14 bits per pixel instead of eight." Is there any documentation describing what is going on here? It's vital for our use that we get as close to the raw camera sensor light readings as possible, so any pointers as to the mapping (e.g. decompanding?) being used would be extremely useful. Many thanks in advance for your help.
3
0
156
May ’25
Failed to launch Photo Editing Extension from Mac Catalyst app
I have an iOS app that includes a Photo Editing Extension and is optimized for Mac Catalyst so you can edit photos in the Photos app on your Mac. This has worked really well but now I am encountering an error alert trying to open the photo editing extension: RBSLaunchRequest error trying to launch plugin com.company.TestEditor. TestPhotoEditor (B7A616A7-2 5A8-4E02-8B32-5CAB37C8B4B2): ErrorDomain=RBSRequestErrorDomain Code=5 "Launch failed." UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=Launch failed., NSUnderlyingError=0x7f08fafd0 {ErrorDomain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=153 "Unknown error: 153" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Launchd job spawn failed}}} Create a new iOS app project in Xcode Create a new target and choose iOS > Photo Editing Extension For both targets in the project, add Mac Catalyst as a supported destination Run the app on My Mac (Mac Catalyst) Open the Photos app, double click a photo, click Edit, click the more plugins button, and click TestPhotoEditor in the list macOS 15.4.1 + Xcode 16.3
1
0
182
May ’25
Customized IOKit extension not work
Hi guys, How to achieve the following feature on macOS when a USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker) is connected: When a third-party video conferencing app is not in a meeting, ensure the app defaults to using the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker). When a third-party conferencing app is in a meeting, ensure the app automatically switches to the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker). I want to make use of IOKit extension to hidden or ignore build-in camera to realize the requirement. however the extension can't be loaded for Invalid permissions in MacOS 15.4.1, buildVersion:24E263. I also tried to run in in MacOS 14.4.1, which can be loaded but can't auto load when restart laptop as KDK version not match. Could you please give me some suggestion? Is it possible hidden build-in camera in MacOS M-series chip? Is there any other method to realize the feature. Thanks a lot.
7
0
272
Jun ’25
Does CMIO support "hide" build-in camera
Hi guys, Can I use CMIO to achieve the following feature on macOS when a USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker) is connected: When a third-party video conferencing app is not in a meeting, ensure the app defaults to using the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker). When a third-party conferencing app is in a meeting, ensure the app automatically switches to the USB device (Camera/Mic/Speaker).
2
0
160
Jul ’25
WorldCaptureKit
Does the library exists in xCode 16.4? "import WorldCaptureKit" gives error "No such module 'WorldCaptureKit'". And I do not find any information about the library in the apple documentation. But AI keeps suggesting me to use the library
2
0
122
Jun ’25
PHAssetChangeRequest revertAssetContentToOriginal without original asset content
The documentation for PHAssetChangeRequest.revertAssetContentToOriginal says it will fail if the original asset content is not on the current device so you should use PHAssetResourceManager to download it first, but this no longer seems to be the case in the latest iOS versions because an error no longer occurs when I take a photo on my iPhone, edit it, open Photos on my iPad and let it sync, then open my app on iPad and call revertAssetContentToOriginal for that asset. Does the system now take care of downloading the original when needed?
1
0
130
Jun ’25
How to transcode HEIC to JPEG while preserving the ISO 21496-1 gain map
When shooting with an iPhone 15 or later, it’s possible to capture HEIC or JPEG images that include gain map information conforming to the ISO 21496-1 standard. However, during image format transcoding, the HEIC codec is able to preserve the ISO 21496-1 gain map. But when converting from HEIC to JPEG, the gain map is transformed into the Apple Gain Map format instead. Is there any solution to this issue?
3
0
994
Jul ’25
How to reliably detect user-modified photos?
I'm developing a photo backup app. To detect newly added or edited photos since the app launched, I keep a local dictionary in the format [localIdentifier: modification_date]. However, PHAsset.modificationDate is not reliable. It often changes unexpectedly, possibly due to system operations like iCloud metadata updates. Is there a more reliable way to detect whether a photo has been modified by user since the last app launch? I'm thinking about using content hash instead, but I'm not sure how heavy this operation is in terms of performance.
2
0
80
Aug ’25
Is a Locked Capture Extension allowed to just "open the app" when the device is unlocked?
Hey, Quick question. I noticed that Adobe's new app, Project Indigo, allows you to open the app using the Camera Control button. However, when your device is locked it just shows this screen: Would this normally be approved by the Appstore approval process? I ask because I would like to do something similar with my camera app. I know that this is not the best user experience, but my apps UI is not built in Swift and I don't have the resources to build the UI again. At least this way the user experience would be improved from what it is now, where users cannot even launch the app. I get many requests per week about this feature and would love to improve the UX for my users, even if it's not the best possible. Thanks, Alex
1
0
290
Jul ’25
Raycasting VNFaceLandmarkRegion2D
Hello, Does anyone have a recipe on how to raycast VNFaceLandmarkRegion2D points obtained from a frame's capturedImage? More specifically, how to construct the "from" parameter of the frame's raycastQuery from a VNFaceLandmarkRegion2D point? Do the points need to be flipped vertically? Is there any other transformation that needs to be performed on the points prior to passing them to raycastQuery?
4
0
293
Sep ’25
How can I create my own Genlock hardware for the iPhone 17 Pro?
What options do I have if I don't want to use Blackmagic's Camera ProDock as the external Sync Hardware, but instead I want to create my own USB-C hardware accessory which would show up as an AVExternalSyncDevice on the iPhone 17 Pro? Which protocol does my USB-C device have to implement to show up as an eligible clock device in AVExternalSyncDevice.DiscoverySession?
1
0
845
Sep ’25