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I was wondering, is there any way of enhancing the "burst mode" feature of the iOS 7 camera (especially for devices below the 5s)? Any way to make it take faster pictures (more per sec) when the shutter button is held down (without sacrificing resolution)? I know there are some legitimate apps that can do this (like SnappyCam, which is capable of 20 FULL SENSOR 8Mpx pics/sec on the iPhone 5), but it would be cool to have it built into the "stock" camera app.

I don't think so. Back then in August, upon writing my Action Shooting bible, I've talked a lot to the dev of SnappyCam. He uses a custom-written, assembly-language(!) JPEG encoder; hence the huge speed compared to everything else, including Apple's own (speed-wise, inferior) encoder. That is, it's not just flipping some flags - not even Apple has a similar JPEG encoder for iOS. This also means it's fully impossible to enable this mode in the stock Camera app.

Keep up the good work and thanks again!

Thanks :) Will do.
 
Guys,

as I very frequently need to switch between the two video modes (wideangle vs. normal), I've decided to update the tool now.

And I've done so. The iOS7-compliant version is at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/25cameraenh/camenh7.deb . Both the field-of-view and the bitrate setter dials are working just great. NOTE: I haven't tested legacy functionality in it (the two switches at the top & the whole "Advanced" tab). Don't use them for the time being.

As with previous .deb's,

- download and transfer it to your iPhone 5
- navigate to it with iFile (no registration needed), tap on it
- select "Installer" from the menu
- respring.

The app has its own icon on the springboard. In the default tab, you can set the field-of-view (either the default narrow or my oversampled wide mode) and the bitrate. Tap "Go!" after setting these.

Note that you need to kill the stock camera app for the changes to be seen.

For programmers

As I've already hinted on in my previous comment, there is little difference between the plists of iOS7 and iOS6. (The previous version of my tool was iOS6-compliant.) This means I only needed to change one row in the entire project: in SystemPlistContentWrapper.m, self.currentAVCaptureSessionPresetHigh = [[self.arrayOfHardwareCameraItems objectAtIndex:0] objectForKey:mad:"AVCaptureSessionPreset1920x1080"]; instead of self.currentAVCaptureSessionPresetHigh = [[self.arrayOfHardwareCameraItems objectAtIndex:0] objectForKey:mad:"AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh"];

The full source code of my app is, as always, publicly available:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/25cameraenh/iP5VidCamEnhancer-ios7.zip

The postrm and preinst files are unchanged from the iOS6 version.
 
Ios7 and iPhone5?

Yes and yes! Tried multiple times. Followed steps exactly so not sure whats wrong :/. Downloaded through safari. Made sure all apps incl cam was closed. Opened iFile, tapped on deb file, tapped installer, gave me a sucess result: 0, which im asumming means it worked, then repsring, but no app :/
 
Yes and yes! Tried multiple times. Followed steps exactly so not sure whats wrong :/. Downloaded through safari. Made sure all apps incl cam was closed. Opened iFile, tapped on deb file, tapped installer, gave me a sucess result: 0, which im asumming means it worked, then repsring, but no app :/

It's respring that failed. Or, the icon is on a previous page?
 
So this does not seem to work for me.
I installed the .deb file. Then, I re-spring. The app shows up on desktop, however when I switch to wide field of view and hit "Go," the app seems to crash out and nothing changes in my camera.

When I pull up the tasks to close out, the app is running, but has reset to Narrow. I try all again, crashes to springboard again... viscious loop.

iPhone 5, running iOS 7.0.4, ATT service.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide!
 
So this does not seem to work for me.
I installed the .deb file. Then, I re-spring. The app shows up on desktop, however when I switch to wide field of view and hit "Go," the app seems to crash out and nothing changes in my camera.

When I pull up the tasks to close out, the app is running, but has reset to Narrow. I try all again, crashes to springboard again... viscious loop.

iPhone 5, running iOS 7.0.4, ATT service.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide!

Some other people have also had problems with AT&T phones - see the earlier pages. For some reason, my app doesn't work on them (and I can't test it as I don't have an AT&T phone).

There is a workaround at https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/17160871/ but it requires some manual hacking.
 
That workaround seems to have worked.
Thank you for posting the direct link. I backed up the other .plist just in case but so far, so good.
Much obliged for the tweak!
 
That workaround seems to have worked.
Thank you for posting the direct link. I backed up the other .plist just in case but so far, so good.
Much obliged for the tweak!

Great! I'll link to your post as well so that AT&T users know what to do.
 
Will this work on the 5S?

Nope. However, if you aren't afraid of not-guaranteed-to-work apps, I can create an 5s-specific version. After all, I now have the necessary info on its plist structure. As it doesn't depend on the Mobile Substrate, it'll work now, even without a 64-bit Mobile Substrate.

Please respond ASAP so that I know whether I should embark on modding the iPhone5 version to support the 5s. I may need to send you several versions until we reach full compatibility. Basically, I don't think it'll mess up your iP5s but it's still best to save all your info / pics etc. before starting, just to be on the safe side.

I won't steal any info on your iPhone - actually, I can provide you with the full source of each subsequent version I make available, should you want to see the changes and how I progress.
 
Please respond ASAP so that I know whether I should embark on modding the iPhone5 version to support the 5s.

As it's very easy to do, I've modded the tweak. The compiled DEB file is at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/30/ip5scamenhV1.deb .

It assumes you have an N51 directory under /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/. Please check this before installing the app.

The sources are at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/30/iP5sVidCamEnhancer.zip . The only difference between it and the iPhone 5 version linked to from my previous, iPhone5-specific announcement is just the path to the system-level AVCaptureSession.plist file:

NSString* fullSystemPlistPath = @"/System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist";


in iP4VCamEnhancerAppDelegate.m.

It won't harm your device if you do install the DEB file if you have another NXX directory there and not N51. After all, all the "preinst" file (more info on what preinst files are HERE) does is changing the owner to "mobile" from the default "root" of the AVCaptureSession.plist file inside the N51 directory:

chown mobile /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist

and, then, adds write access for Others to the N51 directory:

chmod o+w /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/

As neither of these directories / files exist, preinst will have absolutely no effect.

Neither can the app itself mess up anything, as

- it directly overwrites the now-nonexisting /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist

- it creates its own custom settings backup file under /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus, which is deleted by "postrm", which has the following contents:

if [ -d /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus ]; then
rm -r /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus
fi
 
Could you possibly tell me how to add this to my iPhone 5? Im reading through the pages, but Im a bit confused as to where I put the downloaded file, and what to do next. Thanks!

First, do you have an AT&T phone?
 
Nope. However, if you aren't afraid of not-guaranteed-to-work apps, I can create an 5s-specific version. After all, I now have the necessary info on its plist structure. As it doesn't depend on the Mobile Substrate, it'll work now, even without a 64-bit Mobile Substrate.

Please respond ASAP so that I know whether I should embark on modding the iPhone5 version to support the 5s. I may need to send you several versions until we reach full compatibility. Basically, I don't think it'll mess up your iP5s but it's still best to save all your info / pics etc. before starting, just to be on the safe side.

I won't steal any info on your iPhone - actually, I can provide you with the full source of each subsequent version I make available, should you want to see the changes and how I progress.

I can definitely do some testing for you if your getting at that. My 5S is JB so i can access anything you need.

----------

As it's very easy to do, I've modded the tweak. The compiled DEB file is at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/30/ip5scamenhV1.deb .

It assumes you have an N51 directory under /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/. Please check this before installing the app.

The sources are at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/81986513/122013/30/iP5sVidCamEnhancer.zip . The only difference between it and the iPhone 5 version linked to from my previous, iPhone5-specific announcement is just the path to the system-level AVCaptureSession.plist file:

NSString* fullSystemPlistPath = @"/System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist";


in iP4VCamEnhancerAppDelegate.m.

It won't harm your device if you do install the DEB file if you have another NXX directory there and not N51. After all, all the "preinst" file (more info on what preinst files are HERE) does is changing the owner to "mobile" from the default "root" of the AVCaptureSession.plist file inside the N51 directory:

chown mobile /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist

and, then, adds write access for Others to the N51 directory:

chmod o+w /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/

As neither of these directories / files exist, preinst will have absolutely no effect.

Neither can the app itself mess up anything, as

- it directly overwrites the now-nonexisting /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaToolbox.framework/N51/AVCaptureSession.plist

- it creates its own custom settings backup file under /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus, which is deleted by "postrm", which has the following contents:

if [ -d /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus ]; then
rm -r /var/mobile/Library/ip5-VideoCameraPlus
fi

I have installed the Deb with iFile, I do have the N51 Directory on my 5S AT&T.

Although there is nothing different? What should I be looking for?

EDIT: Rebooted the phone, I see the app. Opened it up, set FOV to Wide, Full Sensor and Data Rate to Full. going to get a test video up for you.

Now are we able to record full sensor 120FPS? Or at least 1080p?
 
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I can definitely do some testing for you if your getting at that. My 5S is JB so i can access anything you need.

----------



I have installed the Deb with iFile, I do have the N51 Directory on my 5S AT&T.

Although there is nothing different? What should I be looking for?

EDIT: Rebooted the phone, I see the app. Opened it up, set FOV to Wide, Full Sensor and Data Rate to Full. going to get a test video up for you.

Thanks! The change in the FoV is visible even on the screen. The new mode being active can very easily be spotted by the created videos being of aspect ratio 4:3 and not 16:9.

I'd be very grateful for a, say, 1-sec video of a preferably well-lit subject (to avoid any kind of decreased fps "night" mode) so that we can see how capable the hardware is, framerate-wise. Feel free to, before shooting, disable Camera in Location settings if you don't want your GPS coordinates to be included in the video.
 
Thanks! The change in the FoV is visible even on the screen. The new mode being active can very easily be spotted by the created videos being of aspect ratio 4:3 and not 16:9.

I'd be very grateful for a, say, 1-sec video of a preferably well-lit subject (to avoid any kind of decreased fps "night" mode) so that we can see how capable the hardware is, framerate-wise. Feel free to, before shooting, disable Camera in Location settings if you don't want your GPS coordinates to be included in the video.

I'll get that. Hold on.

Edit:

Here you go.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xt8mqibf8nk87vz/IMG_0004.MOV
http://youtu.be/HZQUSBlmmQo
 
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How do I do that?

1, Transfer to your iPhone
2, navigate to it with iFile, tap it
3, select "Installer" from the menu
4, Respring

----------

Now are we able to record full sensor 120FPS? Or at least 1080p?

1, No 1080p full sensor encoding is theoretically possible:
a, the sensor is 4:3, while 1080p is 16:9. That is, you'd need to crop the original image to get a 16:9 "window" of an originally much taller (4:3) image. Nevertheless, it'd be still considerably wider than the default 5s hi-res video as it uses the entire sensor width, unlike the default Apple implementation.

b, the H.264 encoder, at least in the iPhone 5, can't encode more than 2 Mpixels, regardless of the aspect ratio. However, I'll create a version of the app that tries to go over the 2 Mpixel limit to see whether the 5s is capable of, say, 1920*1440 or wider-than-1920 videos.

2, I REALLY hope the 5s is capable of at least 30p while downsampling the entire sensor. The 5 is only capable of 19 fps. We'll soon see.
 
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