The Camera+​ 2.1 update was released today. The update adds a few new features, improves performance and some of the filters. It’s alos on sale for a limited time for only $0.99 — that’s half off the normal price of $1.99. This is easily one of the top shooters available in the App Store. This new update improves the app. This sale makes it very hard to resist if you don’t already have it.
You can read my full review of Camera+ 2.0 here. It came very close to getting a rare five-star review from me.
Although the new and improved features of this update are played down by the developers, it’s actually a really good update that improves the overall usability of the app.
One of my favorite of the new features is the ability to save straight to your Camera Roll. This is a feature that iPhoneographers have been asking for in this app since version 1.0. Now, saving to the app’s built-in lightbox is completely optional. While I prefer to use the Camera+ lightbox to help minimize clutter in my already overloaded camera roll, many users will like the convenience of having all of their images in one place. Saving straight to camera roll can improve the speed of your workflow and also provides better syncing and backup options for Mac users, making it much easier to sync your images up with iPhoto as you sync your phone.
Old Pinhole filter, Camera+
The gorgeous new Pinhole filter, Camera+
The Pinhole filter in the “I Heart Analog” filter pack has improved a lot. See the samples above.
The touted “analog-style effects have more of a random feel to them now” update addresses the appearance of the effects themselves and doesn’t generate random instances. Although they may look better, they’re still cookie-cuter effects.
Location services are now only active when you’re in the camera view, saving battery life. This is an excellent feature to help squeeze precious extra minutes out of a charge and one whose value is underappreciated until there’s only 5% battery charge left on your iPhone. This is a feature I’d love to see in ProCamera soon.
Still no VolumeSnap in this update. That’s a feature that’s still off-limits as decreed by Apple.
Both Camera+ and ProCamera are excellent camera replacement apps. For adding more advanced pro features to the iPhone’s camera, both are great choices. For an all-in-one shooting and processing solution, right now, there isn’t any better than Camera+.
From the App Store description, here’s all that’s new and updated in version 2.1, presented in its entirety because much of it is pretty amusing….
Camera+ 2.1: Performance, stability, and robustness, oh my!
For Camera+ 2.0, we added over 50 awesome, new features. For version 2.1, we’ve switched gears and worked hard to make the overall experience of using the app much more pleasurable. We made a whole bunch of speed improvements so everything feels zippier. We fixed many niggling bugs so the app now has a much more solid feel to it. And we added many little features and user interface improvements so that it’s much more intuitive and more of a delight to use.
One thing we didn’t focus on for 2.1 is any revolutionary, new features. But you’ll definitely want to come back soon for version 2.2. That’s all we’ll say about this for now. 😉
What’s new:
1. PERFORMANCE!! Many areas of the app have been significantly optimized, especially effects processing. You’ll see vast improvements when trying out the different effects/borders and when saving/sharing photos that have effects applied.2. MOAR CAMERA BUTTON!! We’ve added several more instances of the camera button so that you can instantly get to shooting from almost anywhere in the app.
3. We’ve changed the icon for multi-select so that it’s at least 473% more understandable. Yes, it’s inconsistent with what Apple does in the Photos app, but it actually makes sense now. You’re welcome.
4. You can now choose the order which your photos will be shared.
5. We’ve added options so that you can have your photos automatically saved to your Camera Roll as you shoot them.
6. The usability of the Info panel has been substantially improved and is now much more consistent with the rest of the Lightbox (ok, ok… we moved a couple of buttons, but we promise that you’ll quickly adjust to the new layout and you’ll like it much better before long).
7. You can now get info on photos from the Lightbox without having to zoom them first.
8. We added a menu option to turn geotagging on and off.
9. You can now tap-and-hold most buttons to display an associated action sheet with additional options.
10. The Copy button has been removed from the zoomed photo toolbar and has been replaced as a tap-and-hold popup.
11. We fixed a bug where photo previews were incorrect when an effect on them was set to a level less than 100%.
12. Location services are now only active when you’re in the camera view, saving precious battery life (thanks, jL Fotography).
13. Geotags and metadata are now retained when emailing photos.
14. The Pinhole effect has been dramatically improved.
15. We’ve improved the quality of several of the effects.
16. Vintage, Offset, Film, and Sprockets borders have been improved.
17. Most of the analog-style effects have more of a random feel to them now.
18. We fixed a bug where some people were having trouble sharing their photos on TheFaceBook.
And there are many, many other minor improvements and bug fixes in this release.
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=M=
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Thanks, Rob, for letting me know that this update was in the App Store today and for sending me the screenshot I used above.
