One of the challenges with taking great iPhone photos is trying to take clear photos with minimal camera shake. Using the on-screen shutter button was challenging and extremely frustrating, especially in low light or whilst eating chicken wings. To solve this problem, especially the “greasy fingers on screen issue”, Camera+ added the ability to take a photo using the volume controls on your iPhone. After a few initial “hiccups”, we are thrilled to have VolumeSnap back in Camera+!

VolumeSnap allows you to hold your iPhone like a real camera steady your shots with both hands and quickly snap shots avoiding camera shake. The great part about VolumeSnap is that it also works with the volume up control on your headphones. Just plug in your headphones and snap photos with the volume up “+” button.

While we’ve seen some huge improvements on the low light capability of the iPhone 4S, sometimes it’s necessary to use a tripod to avoid getting blurry photos when there isn’t enough ambient light like in a dimly lit room, outside at night, or shooting macros. For these shots, you can use your headphones as a cable shutter release to snap the photo without touching your iPhone creating camera shake.

Ahh, the iPhone self-taken shot. I think we all tired of our seeing giant out-of-focus arms in self-taken iPhone shots of us and our bf/gf/bff/frenemy. Just pop in your headphone and trigger the shot from a distance that’s flattering your your arm as well as your face. Remember you can also tap to get a better exposure if your shot is blowing out.

Snapping photos with your headphones is an excellent way to get incredibly candid street shots or in places where some mean security will yell at you for taking photos which happens to me almost every day. No need for full ninja gear anymore, you can listen to music while surreptitiously snapping shots with your headphones. Works like a charm!

Do you have any useful tips for using VolumeSnap to get great shots? Let us know in the comments below!

Check out Camera+ if you don’t already have it!

Apple has just put out their “Rewind 2011” feature in iTunes and Camera+ is the top selling app of the year (as Apple did with some of their lists, I’ve taken the liberty of separating games from non-games). With well over 5 million copies sold to date, this undoubtedly makes Camera+ the top selling non-game app of all time.

I’d like to send out a big thanks to all the members of our Camera+ team here who’ve worked their asses off for the past 2.5 years on the app to make it what it is today. And I’d also like to send a big thanks out to all of you who’ve supported us by purchasing Camera+ and providing us with feedback on it, which has greatly helped us set the direction of the app over time.

We have many, many great things planned for the future of the app. I know that there are several things that many of you really want in the app and I, as the producer of the app, assure you that we’re working extremely hard on bringing many of them to you. We’d rather give you something truly great than something half-assed so sometimes things take a lot longer than anyone likes, but we strongly feel that this is the right way to do things. All we ask is that you have some patience and I promise that we’ll continue to deliver to you the best photography app ever.

http://campl.us

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In my last post about Camera+ 2.3.2 being available, I somehow managed to offend most Satanists (along with a Britney Spears fan or two). So I’d like to start this post off with me expressing my deepest, most sincere apology to all the sensitive Satanists of the world (screw the Britney fans). To make-up for the gaffe, I sacrificed a virgin the other day.

And now, onto the update news. Yet another bug fix release. Here’s the list…

Since we’ve lost about a week’s worth of I ♥ Analog FX Pack sales over the bug mentioned above, I figure that now’s a great time to throw-in a shameless plug for it. That’s right, you can make your photos look this cool for just 99¢…

As mentioned in my previous post, this version of Camera+ is the last version that will support iOS 3. This doesn’t mean that iOS 3 users won’t be able to use Camera+ any longer… this current version should serve them well until the end of time… it just means that they won’t be able to use any future updates. This is great for the 99.999% of our users who are using iOS 4 and iOS 5 since this means that we’re now able to make faster progress on the app and will help reduce the chance of bugs creeping in the app (the first two bugs in the list were a result of us still supporting iOS 3 in the app).

So on that note, I’ll leave you with this to prepare you for the upcoming Camera+ 2.4…

http://campl.us

Camera+ 2.3.2 just made its way into the App Store. I’d love to be announcing a big, new version loaded with hella-features, but this bug-fix version will have to suffice for now until the upcoming version 2.4 is out. The great thing is that this version addresses a bunch of issues that have been plaguing many of you and, until now, have been very elusive to us.

Grab it now at http://campl.us

Here’s are the release notes…

BREAKING NEWS: A new bug ☹

Shortly after releasing 2.3.2, we found out that there’s an issue when attempting to purchase the I ♥ Analog FX Pack. We’ve already submitted a 2.3.3 update and hopefully it’ll get approved quickly (2.3.2 got approved blazingly fast compared to the past, so it looks like Apple may have recently streamlined their app review process).

iOS 3: die, die, die!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that version 2.3.3 is the very last Camera+ version that will work on iOS 3.x. To put it bluntly, supporting iOS 3 a huge pain in the ass for us. It takes resources away from actually moving the app forward because we often need to special-case the code so that the app will work with the mostly obsolete OS. And this causes us to have to test many code paths. It’s simply not a good use of available resources, especially since there are so few people still using iOS 3.

In fact, the aforementioned I ♥ Analog FX Pack bug was caused by us having to deal with legacy code issues. It’ll be really nice to see iOS 3 support go away so that we can focus on adding cool things to the app and not supporting ancient history.

Some made-up statistics about iOS 3 users…

• 76% of iOS 3 users are Satanists
• 59% of iOS 3 users own at least 3 Britney Spears albums
• 82% of iOS 3 users hate puppies, kitties, and bunnies
• 67% of iOS 3 users secretly want to get an Android phone
• a whopping 94% of iOS 3 users believe in Creationism

I’m sure there are scads more. And that’s exactly why we have comments…

I’m very happy to announce another major Camera+ milestone today with it hitting the 4 million sales mark. To put it lightly, Camera+ has sold far beyond our wildest imaginations and there appears to be no end in sight.

Here’s how it all breaks down, week-by-week…

iPhone sales downward slide?

What’s interesting to note about the graph is the slight downward trend for the last several months, even though we’ve managed to hold approximately the same place in the charts over that time period. I would’ve expected an overall upward trend, but I suspect that all things iPhone have been on somewhat of a downward trend with all the anticipation for the iPhone 5… I mean 4S. And the fact that it’s being released about 3 months after Apple typically releases a new iPhone model surely hasn’t helped things in this regard.

This all being said, with today being iPhone 4S launch day, I’m pretty confident that we’re literally just moments away from the next explosive trend that should last a very long time.

The future of Camera+

With iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S out now with a much improved camera, we have a ton of awesome things upcoming in the app. And beyond utilizing what Apple gives to us in the OS and the hardware, we have some incredibly cool things that are being developed and are planned for the future. I don’t want to show our hand just yet, but you’re going to be very excited about what’s coming down the road.

Camera+ and VolumeSnap

[THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

…for now…

The real legacy of Steve Jobs

With the passing of Steve Jobs last week, much has been said and written about his legacy. It’s impossible to talk about this in any form without mentioning his many contributions to the tech world like the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, etc, etc, etc. But, in my opinion, his real legacy is about the values he imparted onto his company.

The thing that will last infinitely long is that he drove and inspired people, both within Apple and outside Apple with companies like ours at tap tap tap and countless other peers, to strive for excellence in what they do. That’s what will live on from Steve Jobs far, far beyond any particular piece of hardware or software that he helped create. That’s the real legacy of Steve Jobs and that’s how he contributed to putting a lasting dent in this universe.

We try our hardest to build teams here that possess these values and qualities and we do everything we can to try to create incredible products for you, especially with an app like Camera+. It’s how we got to this milestone and how we’ll continue onto the next ones.

The Camera+ video mosaic

Lisa made a video mosaic to commemorate our 4 millionth sale which is made up of thousands and thousands of photos that were taken and shared by you with Camera+. Be sure to check it out because it’s pretty damn cool…

Thanks to all of you for helping us reach this huge milestone!

http://campl.us

Congrats to Alex Ferdean for winning this week’s Photo Contest showcasing our new captions feature with this breathtaking wedding shot. Big thanks to everyone for entering this week! As always, there were so many amazing shots to choose from!

Here are my honourable mentions:

Stay tuned for our next Camera+ photo contest!

There are so many incredible artists creating such moving images with Camera+. We wanted to start showcasing some of our favourite photographers who have inspired us with their creative and breathtaking photos.

Our first featured artist is Scott Wise. Scott is a multi-disciplinary designer from Toronto, Canada. He and his wife, Elizabeth, visited Iceland in June of 2011 during the summer solstice, here are the spectacular results of this journey:

http://campl.us/iceland

We’ve just released Camera+ 2.3.1. What’s new this time around? Honestly, not much.

The bulk of this release revolves around us fixing a bunch of elusive crashes… well, more like crashes that were previously elusive to us since we either didn’t know of their existence or we didn’t have enough info on them to be able to fix them.

But ever since adding HockeyApp, AKA “The Crashinator” to Camera+ 2.3, we’ve been able to gather far more data on crashes than we’ve ever been able to in the past. This, in turn, has helped us to identify and squash a ton of crashes that have been affecting some of you.

Is 2.3.1 a totally crash-free version? It’s doubtful… Camera+ is a fairly complicated app, and it’s close to impossible to guarantee that nothing will go wrong with it. But we’re confident (and very hopeful) that this version is the most stable one that we’ve ever released. And because of this new crash reporting system, future releases will likely become even more solid.

In addition to Operation Crashy Fixie, we’ve made some tweaks and fixes to the newly added captions feature. Here are the full release notes for 2.3.1…

Go grab the Camera+ 2.3.1 update now in the App Store. And if you’re one of the few who don’t yet have it, here’s your chance to own it while it’s still on sale for a paltry 99¢!

• Square
• Cross Process
• Vignette

In our most recent version, we released a new, fun feature, captions! Sometimes you want to add a little note to photo about where the photo was taken or a funny saying. For this contest, I want you to take this one step further and tell a story with your photo using a creative caption.

This week’s contest theme: Photo Story

Photos must be taken with the iPhone using the Camera+ app using a border with captions (in the Borders panel) and shared on the Campl.us site using the Share button in the Lightbox.

To add a caption to one of your photos, it’s very simple:Edit your photo, choose a border, and tap the Captions button…

• 70s
• Thin Black

Here are the contest details:

1. Follow @mostlylisa on Twitter.
2. Share your photos from Camera+ by selecting the picture and tapping “Share” below your image, then selecting “Share on Twitter”. Make sure to include the hashtag #photostory in your tweet so I can contact you if you win!
3. The contest ends Sunday August 28nd, 2011 at midnight PST.

There is no restriction to the number of entries, so feel free to enter as many pictures as you like.

• Square
• So Emo
• Dark Grit

This week’s winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card!

I look forward to seeing your shots!

http://campl.us/so-angry

Congrats to 3amJosh. for winning this week’s Photo Contest showcasing our Magic Hour FX with this creative shot using a glass sphere! Thank you everyone for entering and sharing their photos. There were so many great shots this week!

Here are my honourable mentions:

Stay tuned for our next photo contest! In the mean time, head outside and capture some fun summertime pics with Camera+.

Hello, this is Ortwin Gentz from FutureTap. I recently had a chat with John and – among other things – we discussed how things were going with Where To?, the app we acquired from tap tap tap 2.5 years ago. He invited me to write a guest post about how the acquisition worked for us and how the app evolved since then. Instead of writing a lengthy text, Wolfgang and I created this infographic showing our great ride so far…

A big thank you to all our users! With your support you helped to continuously improve Where To? over all these years! Here’s to another 3 awesome years!

To celebrate the first three years on the App Store, Where To? is on sale for 99¢ (66% off its regular price) until Sunday! Make sure to grab a copy today!

I am constantly amazed by the photos people create with Camera+. It’s truly inspiring that everyone from a professional photographer to a hobbyist to someone who has never picked up a camera before can create extraordinarily beautiful photos with their iPhone.

I am ecstatic that so many people are exploring their creative side, sharing their photos online, and becoming bonafide iPhoneographers. Over the past year, I’ve seen some breathtaking images taken with Camera+ especially since we added our biggest processing breakthrough and instant “make better” button, Clarity.

I’ve hand-picked some of my favourite images to share with you today. Take a look through these inspirational photos and leave a comment to let us know what you think!

For hints on how to take great shots like these, look at the recipes below each image showing the scene mode, crop, effect, and border used to edit the photo.

http://campl.us/amazing25

Sometimes a picture’s worth a bit more than 1,000 words. For those times, we present to you Camera+ 2.3 with captions.

Over the weekend, we released the latest version of Camera+ and the big, new feature in it is captions. Now you’re able to add fun little text blurbs to your photos that have borders on them.

One of the nicest things about captions is that we worked very hard to make them look great with each border that they go along with. So instead of having a tacky ransom-note look, you’re just about guaranteed to have a stylish combination of border and font when you add a caption to any of your photos.

Wolfgang helped us design a slick UI for captions and the portion of our team collectively and affectionately known as Jope… Jorge and Pedro… programmed a wonderful implementation of the design.

To add a caption to one of your photos, it’s very simple:

Edit your photo, choose a border, and tap the Captions button…

…and then type away!

There are even several handy shortcuts for things like inserting date & time, the location where the photo was taken, and even a list of recently added captions, which can save you a lot of repetitive typing.

Here are several of Lisa’s photos to demonstrate many of the caption styles…

And here are the full release notes to go along with version 2.3…

Bugs bugs bugs

One thing that I’d like to assure you is that we try very hard to release our apps as bug-free as possible. But if you look at the three bug-fix releases between version 2.2 and 2.3, you might think otherwise. It’s easy to make excuses, but the reality is that we have a lot of Camera+ users now… far more than we ever expected to have at this stage. And as much as we try, it’s simply not possible to preemptively eliminate every single potential issue that can come-up in real-world use of the app.

But we have some good news… one thing that we can do is to try to eliminate bugs as quickly as we find out about them. Along those lines, we’ve just added a very nice crash reporting system to Camera+ called HockeyApp. If you’re an iPhone developer, you’ll be doing yourself and your customers a big favor by adding it to your apps.

Oh, and I guess now’s the perfect time to mention that a bug that we should’ve caught during our final testing of 2.3 that slipped past us… captions added to the Offset border sometimes lose characters when they’re saved or shared. We’ll have a 2.3.1 bug-fix update out shortly to fix this and any other bugs that we become aware of.

99¢ sale

A big, new version deserves a big sale. The best value in the App Store is now twice as good as Camera+ is on sale for a limited time for 50% off its regular price. 99¢ is all it takes to join the several million Camera+ users on photo shooting and editing bliss!

http://campl.us

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