Camera Vault

The next version of Camera Vault has started the process of winding its way through the app store.  We hope that it will be available for upgrade within a few days.

In this update are a few major changes.  There are a few bug fixes aimed at fixing the Paste image problem, and there are a few interface tweaks to adjust how quickly processed images appear in the gallery.  Aside from that, there has been a ton of work done on improving image taking performance.  Now, the 3-image burst really is fast!  Users will immediately notice the difference when using the camera thanks to the various notifications that appear on screen.

It is important to note that Camera Vault can not be closed until all images have saved! There is a notification on the camera that indicates how many images are left to be saved, and the thumbnail gallery shows a red exclamation in the activity indicator when images are still being saved.  Do not close until these go away and all images are securely stored.  (Further note: after images are saved, there may still be activity as the application continues to further process these images, but it will be safe to close the application so long as the red exclamation is not showing.)

If the application is closed before saving completes, some images may be lost!  This is the trade-off for increased performance, as our original design guaranteed that each image was saved before letting users take another picture at the cost of several seconds between shots.  Almost all camera applications have this particular trouble; part of boosting the speed of taking pictures requires this trade-off.

If you preferred the old way, let us know!  We are happy to make adjustments to the design.

Look to see the application available soon, and as always, thanks everyone for the support and suggestions so far.

As we work to develop Camera Vault to it’s full potential, and as users report issues to us that we seek to fix, it’s worth us mentioning a bit about how applications are released to users.  When we provide improvements and fixes to the application, we first package it up and ship it on over to Apple for review.  Once we do that, it’s out of our hands and into Apple’s machine, being considered “Waiting for Review.”  There are then some more steps, and if all goes well, Apple will choose to release it to the masses.

What does this mean?  Largely, it means that fixes and updates will be delayed.  We might fix an issue on day one and send the new version to Apple, but it could be anywhere between one and three weeks before the fix is available to our users.  We find that lengthy delay unfortunate, but it’s the nature of the beast, as they say.

Now that I’ve said all of this, we doubly encourage users who find issues to report them to us as soon as possible so that fixes can be released as soon as possible (which may be three weeks after they are fixed).  As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for the support everyone has shown so far!

Actually, the features might not be fast, per se, but they will be faster!

What does that mean?  Well, we know the camera seems slow, and there are reasons for that, but we don’t want to hold people back when the moment is right for that perfect candid picture.  We’re actively working on boosting the speed of the camera while revising its features.  We hope to see a whole new camera soon!  (Ideas anyone?  We’re all ears.)

We’re also looking into exporting to other media sites beyond Twitter and Facebook.  Some ideas we’ve been tossing around are MySpace, WordPress, or Flickr.  Anyone have a preference?

What’s another good feature beyond faster camera speeds, new camera features, and more exporting destinations?  I don’t know, maybe a better import system?  Yeah, one image at a time is kind of annoying.  That’s why we want to build a better way to import your images from the standard Photo Library.  Well, we’re still brainstorming this one, but expect it to be on the way soon!

Camera Vault is an iPhone application designed to help take and manage iPhone photo libraries by adding advanced camera features to a photo gallery supporting export to popular social media sites and advanced security.  Take your pictures when you want, then lock them securely in your Camera Vault!

For more information, read About It.