Apple just approved our 3D Camera 1.2.1 update, and it’s now available in the App Store. This is a minor update that adds a few user-requested features:
We’ve added the ability to touch the screen to remove the navigation bars when viewing a 3D photo. As before, the bars will still disappear on their own after a few seconds, but if you don’t want to wait, just tap the screen (just like Apple’s Photos app).
We’ve added an app setting to enable/disable automatic saving of camera photos. If the setting is disabled, the left and right photos won’t automatically be saved to your album.
There is a new app setting that enables/disables “alignment dots” on stereogram images. These dots can make it easier for some people to view 3D stereogram images.
We fixed the stereogram border sizing so larger images have proportionally larger borders.
We’re also very happy to report that the next update will add the translucent camera overlay feature back to 3D Camera! Apple officially added support for overlays to its recent 3.1 update, and we already have the feature running in our development environment.
Jason Snell of Macworld posted a review of 3D Camera for iPhone today and gave it 4 1/2 mice out of 5 (which ranks it somewhere between “Very Good” and “Superior”). Of course, we’re flattered by his kind words and thrilled that the review will introduce us to a brand new audience of 3D enthusiasts.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes:
If Apple could give Juicy Bits Software just a little bit more of what it wants, 3D Camera would be perfect.
Jason is referring to the translucent overlay feature that used to be included in 3D Camera. While the overlay is included in 3D Camera Lite, Apple required that we remove it from the full version. Fortunately, we believe that we’ll be able to add it back in a future update.
For our 3D Camera Video Tour, we needed to show how to use the iPhone camera to take two photos, but we didn’t want to simply point a video camera at the screen and press record. The reflective iPhone screen makes it very difficult to get a high quality recording.
We decided to use the excellent SimFinger utility along with Snapz Pro X to capture video of the iPhone simulator. Unfortunately, the simulator doesn’t include any camera functionality. So, we searched the ‘net for someone who may have had the same problem, hoping to find an app/animation/resource/whatever that might make our lives a little easier. Sadly, we couldn’t find anything.
As these things go, we spent a bit of time building our own camera animations, and we’ve decided to share them with the community. It’s our hope that these animations will help anyone who finds themselves in the same situation we were in.
The thumbnail images are shown in the order that they should be used with the alpha channel represented as a gray checkerboard pattern. All of the media is at a resolution of 320 x 480, and the video files are 30 fps with 44 kHz audio.
To simulate the scenery, we recorded a short video with our iPhone 3GS. Then, we overlayed the four files on top of the video and paused the frame at the start of the Camera Shutter Animation.mov through to the Preview Toolbar.png.
It took some time to get it right, and while the animations aren’t perfect, they’re close enough…especially at the full playback speed.
We just published a short 4-minute video introduction to 3D Camera for iPhone. While not as comprehensive as the 3D Camera Manual, the video is a quick and convenient way to get up-to-speed with version 1.2 of the app (both the full and lite editions). The first half covers capturing, aligning, viewing, and sharing 3D photos, and the second half briefly describes the customizable settings. We hope you find it to be useful.
After a full month-and-a-half of waiting, we’re happy to announce that 3D Camera 1.2 has been approved and is now available in the App Store. If you own version 1.0 or 1.1, you’ll be able to update to the latest version for free. For those of you who have been using 3D Camera Lite 1.2, we apologize that it took this long for the upgraded functionality to make it into the full version.
As many of you know, Apple required that we remove the camera overlay functionality that was present in earlier versions of 3D Camera. The good news is that it looks like we’ll be able to add it back in the next update. For now, though, you’ll have to be extra careful when positioning the camera for the second/right image, and use the new alignment feature to compensate.
Great news! After a month of waiting, including a rejection from Apple, 3D Camera Lite is now available in the App Store. The Lite version is completely free, and it’s based on the upcoming 1.2 release of 3D Camera (which is still awaiting approval). While the Lite version is limited in its functionality, all of the 3D image types are supported, including color and grey anaglyphs, stereograms, and wigglegrams. There is no limit on the number of photos that can be created, but the only way to “save” the final result is to share it via Twitter/Twitpic.
We’ve added a 3D Photo Gallery that contains some sample images from 3D Camera. Other than reducing their size, the images have not been altered or modified in any way. There are parallel and cross-eyed sterogram photos and some grey and color anaglyph images (that require 3D glasses). If you’re wondering how to view them, be sure to check out our FAQ.
Today, we received notification from Apple that 3D Camera Lite (the free version of 3D Camera based on the upcoming 1.2 update) was rejected:
Thank you for submitting 3D Camera Lite to the App Store. Unfortunately it cannot be added to the App Store because it is modifying or extending an undocumented API, which as outlined in the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.1 is prohibited:
“3.3.1 Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.”
There is no documentation for the custom subclasses or self-contained views of UIImagePickerController – this includes PLCameraView and its custom subclasses (PLImageTile, PLRotationView, PLImageScroller, PLImageView, PLCropOverlay, PLCropLCDLayer, TPBottomDualButtonBar, TPPushButton and TPCameraPushButton) – in the iPhone SDK.
We’re familiar with this particular rejection, because 3D Camera 1.0 was rejected for the very same reason when we initially submitted it to the App Store. The first version of our app did modify the UIImagePickerController views in an undocumented way in order to make it quicker and easier to take two simultaneous photos. When taking left and right photos for 3D images, it’s critical to keep the camera orientation stable for both photos; the more you have to touch the screen and the longer the duration between shots, the lower the quality of the final image.
So, to comply with Apple’s rules, we removed this custom camera functionality. The only functionality we could keep was the overlay that shows “Left Image” and “Right Image” along with a translucent version of the left photo to assist with alignment of the second shot. We did this by adding a a UILabel and UIImage over the top of the UIImagePickerController. We did not do anything that could be considered “modifying or extending an undocumented API,” and none of the functionality depends on anything within the UIImagePickerController itself. We’re long time software guys, and we completely understand how brittle an app can become if it depends on undocumented internals.
From a developer perspective, this diagram illustrates how the 3D Camera overlay is implemented:
This “fix” was approved by Apple, and it’s the same functionality that has been in 3D Camera 1.0 and 1.1 for awhile now.
So, it’s puzzling to us that Apple has rejected version 1.2, when we’ve changed absolutely nothing about the camera functionality. To be honest, we’re not entirely sure that this is the reason that it’s been rejected, because the e-mail (above) is very vague. Follow-up e-mail exchanges have failed to provide any more clarification about the issue that is causing them to reject the app. Responses are along the lines of: “In order for your application to be reconsidered for the App Store, please resolve this issue and upload your new binary to iTunes Connect.” If we knew what “this issue” was, we’d happily and quickly work to resolve it.
The worst part of the process is that we’re in the dark about what to do. Additionally, because the app has now been rejected, we’ll be forced to wait through another lengthy review period, and we may end up right back where we started.
Apple has just informed us that Nature 0 is now available in the App Store. Nature 0 is a free edition that includes 12 images from across the Nature series: 4 from Nature 1, 4 from Nature 2, and 4 that are exclusive to Nature 0. These images were created by a photographer whose work is included in major operating systems and whose photos have been downloaded over 2 million times. They’ve been optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch screens, and we hope you enjoy them.
It’s been a little less than a month since we submitted 3D Camera 1.1 to the App Store, and we’ve been busily working on adding new features and functionality ever since. Yes, we listen to your feedback. As a matter of fact, we depend on it! Many of the 3D Camera 1.2 updates are based on suggestions and criticisms that have been posted to the App Store or that we’ve received via e-mail from you. Here are some of the highlights:
We added the much requested functionality that enables animated wigglegrams to be sent to Twitter (via Twitpic). Take a look at some of our test uploads: shoes, anaglyph glasses, garden sculpture.
We added a new alignment feature that uses touch to reposition images. This means that you can use your finger to align the left and right images after you’ve taken them (or loaded them from your Photo Album). This is another feature that we’ve received numerous requests for, and we can tell you that the resulting 3D images are much higher quality.
We updated the app so that all camera photos are automatically saved to the Camera Roll. This used to be a manual step, but we had many users tell us that they forgot to save some of their best shots. We certainly don’t like to hear that, so we’ve made it automatic. The only thing you now have to remember to save is your final 3D photo.
We added a setting to choose the working image size (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%). This feature comes with a warning, though. The pre-3GS iPhones barely have enough memory to work with three 100% or 75% simultaneous images (left + right + final 3D), which is why larger images may not work. Nothing will be lost, but the app may run out of memory and unexpectedly exit. However, because we had requests for larger image support, we’ve given you the option. Swim at your own risk, and when in doubt, clear memory with a tool or by resetting your phone.
We added a setting to control the size of stereogram borders. They can also be completely eliminated.
We added a setting to limit the maximum Twitpic image dimensions (1024, 800, 640). This way, you have more control over the images that are sent to Twitpic.
We added a setting to select the blending method that is used for color anaglyphs (full color, half color, optimized, and red/blue). For 3D enthusiasts, this should be a welcome option. For everyone else, leaving it set to full color works just fine.
We updated the app to properly rotate stereogram images before saving them to the Photo Album. We had an annoying bug that wouldn’t rotate them before saving. It’s fixed now.
We added a setting to bypass the introduction screen.
We added text to indicate the current stereogram viewing method (parallel and cross-eyed).
There are a few other fit and finish tweaks, and we continued to stabilize the app as much as possible (realizing that we’re dancing on the edge of memory in the iPhone). We hope you like the update.
If our last submission is any indication, it’s our hope that 3D Camera 1.2 is approved by Apple and available within 12 days or so. We look forward to your feedback.
It’s been a little less than a month since we submitted 3D Camera 1.1 to the App Store, and we’ve been busily working on adding new features and functionality ever since. Yes, we listen to your feedback. As a matter of fact, we depend on it! Many of the 3D Camera 1.2 updates are based on suggestions and criticisms that have been posted to the App Store or that we’ve received via e-mail from you. Here are some of the highlights: