What You Need To Know About the New Camera Prime 2.0 Update

 

camera prime for iPhoneCamera Prime is solid camera replacement app. In my original review, I said that “Camera Prime is a straightforward shooter. It doesn’t try to reinvent this style of app, but rather it takes what works from several other camera apps and integrates the features well.” It’s not an all-in-one, but a good camera replacement with an emphasis on capturing better photos. While not the most widely used camera app, it has mostly good App Store reviews and has a loyal following.

The Camera Prime 2.0 update has just been released. Among its new changes, Camera Prime has gone the “Freemium” route, much like King Camera has. The basic app is free but to unlock its more advanced features is a $0.99 in-app purchase.

Like King Camera, if you’ve already purchased version 1 of the app, you can get the update and the advanced features for free. Click on to find out how, as well as a few other things you need to know about the update. >>>

Camera Prime 2.0 has some cool new features, including a Camera Button Flash which turns on the iPhone’s flash in torch mode before your release the shutter, handy custom photo and video sizes allowing to to reduce the size of your images if you don’t need full-resolution, and white balance lock and separate focus and exposure control.

The complete list of what’s new in the 2.0 update is at the bottom of this post. Here are a few things you need to know before updating, though.

Free + Premium = Freemium

Here’s the notice from the developer regarding the free upgrade to version 2.0:

IMPORTANT: Make sure you have launched Camera Prime AT LEAST once. This version of Camera Prime is now free, with an option to upgrade to the full version for a small fee. Since you have already downloaded Camera Prime, you WILL get the full version for free. However, if you do not launch Camera Prime at least once before updating, you will have to pay again. So please, just launch Camera Prime now to make sure you’ll get the the full version for free.”

If you’ve previously purchased Camera Prime 1.x but have deleted it from your iPhone, you can restore the old version from iTunes if you haven’t already updated the app in iTunes as well. With your iPhone connected to iTunes, select your iPhone in the iTunes sidebar > Apps tab then check the box next to Camera Prime to reinstall. Sync. Then open the app on your iPhone — maybe take a photo — and you’re good to update.

If you’ve already updated the app on your iPhone and in iTunes, you can still restore the CameraPrime.ipa from a backup. Read our post on “How to Reinstall Older Versions of Apps on your iPhone or iPad”. The old CameraPrime.ipa should be in the Trash on your Mac.

If it all works, you’ll see a confirmation screen like the one above.

The good news is that once you’ve installed and activated the premium version, you shouldn’t have to repurchase it if you need to reinstall Camera Prime.

Camera Prime’s Location Services Can Be a Power Sucker After Updating. Here’s the Fix.

When you install Camera Prime you’ll notice that your iPhone’s Location Services indicator may show up on your home screen and stay on, even after exiting the app. Location Services tells the app where an image was taken. This is also saved as geotags in a photo’s EXIF data. Most camera apps access Location Services only when needed. It looks like Camera Prime accesses them all the time, which can drain your battery fairly quickly. In the iPhone’s Settings app, go to Location Services, scroll down to Camera Prime and switch off the app’s access. This will make the indicator go away and save your iPhone’s charge. Until this is fixed, it also means you won’t be able to geotag your photos.

UPDATE –  HERE’S THE FIX: I just heard from Riley Testut, the developer of Camera Prime, who has responded with a fix for the Location Services bug. If your Location Services arrow stays on after updating Camera Prime, resetting the Location Services warnings should fix the problem.

To do this, Open Apple Settings > General > Reset (you’ll need to scroll to the bottom) > Reset Location Warnings. Then toggle “Location Services” for Camera Prime off then on. This worked for me and Camera Prime now behaves like it’s supposed to. Big thanks to Riley Testut for the fix.

I didn’t like how Camera Prime separates the focus and exposure targets. Tap and Hold to change focus is easy enough, but Double-tap and Hold to change exposure is hit or miss and I really don’t like the triple-tap to change both. This feature is turned off by default and normally focus behaves just like the Apple Camera.

Camera Prime has its fans. If you’re one of them, this new update has a lot of great new features that help bring it up to spec with other high-end camera replacement apps.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch (4th generation), iPad 2 Wi-Fi, and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

Camera Prime - Testut Tech

What’s New in Version 2.0:

NEW FEATURES:

•Date & Time Stamp: The number one most requested feature, you can now overlay the date and time your pictures were taken onto your photos!

•Separate Focus and Exposure: Another highly requested feature, now you can make your photos look more professional by changing the focus and exposure areas separately!

•Front Camera Flash: When taking a photo with the front Camera, simply turn the flash on to illuminate the screen so you can take photos even when it’s pitch black!

•White Balance Control: For the photographers who want more out of their camera, you can switch between automatic and locked white balance.

•Custom Photo/Video Sizes: Wanting to save space on your device? You can now adjust what resolution photos and videos are taken at!

•Camera Button Flash: Hold down the camera button for a second, and the flash will turn on, allowing you to line up your subject before taking the photo!

•Burst Timer: You can set now a customizable delay between bursts so you can have a greater variance between your photos.

•Pinch-to-Zoom: Just like with the default camera, you can now pinch-to-zoom in when taking a photo.

•Facebook and Twitter integration: Share your photos to Facebook and Twitter straight from within the app!

•AntiShake Sensitivity: Sometimes it’s too hard to keep your hands still, or maybe your photos are still turning out blurry. You can now adjust the antishake sensitivity to your liking!

•Sound Delay: When snapping a photo using Sound Capture, there’s now an optional delay so you can rearrange yourself after making a loud noise.

•Photo Count: You now have the option to disable the app icon badge displaying how many photos there are left to be saved in the app.

•Printing: Print your photos on either full-sized printer paper or photo paper if your printer supports it.

•Rotating Photos: Take a picture the wrong way? You can now rotate photos in the Prime Review!

ENHANCEMENTS:

•The Switch Camera and Flash Control buttons both look identical to the ones in the default camera app.

•Timer now respects the mute switch.

•Grid now resizes depending on whether you’re taking a photo or recording video.

•Switching between cameras now has an animation.

•There is now a shutter animation when taking photos.

•A numbered badge now appears on the Prime Review button to show how many photos are in the Prime Review.

•Another numbered badge appears on the camera roll button to show how many photos are being saved.

•Burst mode is faster than before.

•Review All is much faster.

•Misc. other UI enhancements

BUG FIXES:

•Fixed an issue where the app would crash upon launching the camera roll.

•Fixed an issue where the app would crash when using the built in browser.

•Fixed an issue where the camera roll would display an image rotated the wrong way.

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