Capture picture automatically in IOS - ios

Question

My requirement is to write a sample IOS app that would automatically capture a camera picture. Using the various S.O links provided I did implement the below code -
My CameraViewController.h class is defined as follows :
#interface CameraViewController : UIViewController <UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate>
#property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIImageView *ImageView;
#end
And CameraViewController.m has the below code :
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
NSLog(#"Setting the background now");
UIImagePickerController *picker = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init];picker.delegate = self;
picker.allowsEditing = YES;
picker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera;
picker.cameraCaptureMode = UIImagePickerControllerCameraCaptureModePhoto;
picker.cameraDevice = UIImagePickerControllerCameraDeviceRear;
picker.showsCameraControls = NO;
picker.navigationBarHidden = NO;
picker.toolbarHidden = NO;
[self presentViewController:picker animated:YES completion:NULL];
NSLog(#"Taking the picture now");
[picker takePicture];
}
-(void) imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info
{
NSLog(#"Entered the case of finishing pictures");
}
- (void) imagePickerControllerDidCancel: (UIImagePickerController *) picker
{
NSLog(#"Entered the case of cancel");
}
What the above code does is successfully launch the camera app , however I am not sure if the takePicture API is able to successfully click a picture . I do not see any saved pictures in the Photos app inside my Ipad so I assume that the picture has not been clicked .
Can someone please tell me if my code above is correct or what do I need to do to automate the part of clicking the capture button once the Camera controls are displayed

Answer 1

[Please go to 'Using UIImagePickerController to Select Pictures and Take Photos' in the Apple documentation for the property cameraOverlayView of class UIImagePickerController for a complete example application that does what you need, and more.]
You specified your CameraViewController as adopting the UIImagePickerControllerDelegate protocol and thus you must implement two messages:
- (void) imagePickerController: (UIImagePickerController *) picker
didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo: (NSDictionary *) info;
and
- (void) imagePickerControllerDidCancel: (UIImagePickerController *) picker;
As the iOS documentation describes, the NSDictionary* info has a key UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage which will return the UIImage. Access it as something like:
UIImage *snapshot = (UIImage *) [info objectForKey: UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage];
Since your plan is to take a picture automatically (w/o user interaction) using takePicture then be sure to specify
picker.showsCameraControls = NO;

Answer 2

You need to implement the UIImagePIckerControllerDelegate's imagePickerController:didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo: method.
After that, look inside the mediaInfo dictionary and there's a UIImage inside it you can use.

Answer 3

I know this is old, but a better alternative to using a timer (see the comments from the accepted answer) would be to implement the completion handler instead of passing in NULL.
[self presentViewController:picker animated:YES completion:^{
NSLog(#"Taking the picture now");
[picker takePicture];
}];
That way, the picture is taken consistently every time, and you don't waste time adding an unnecessary delay.

Answer 4

**You can auto capturing both camera image and video recording by use this code.**
import UIKit
import AVFoundation
import MobileCoreServices
class ViewController: UIViewController, UIGestureRecognizerDelegate {
let captureSession = AVCaptureSession()
var captureDevice : AVCaptureDevice?
var imagePicker = UIImagePickerController()
var flagVideoRecording = false
var arrImages = [UIImage]()
var countVideoRecording = 0
var labelTime = UILabel()
var timer: Timer?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(actionRepeatCapturing), name: .AVCaptureSessionDidStartRunning, object: nil)
}
#objc func actionRepeatCapturing() {
flagVideoRecording = false
startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
}
//MARK:- UIButton's Action
#IBAction func actionCaptureImage(_ sender: UIButton) {
flagVideoRecording = false
if AVCaptureDevice.authorizationStatus(for: AVMediaType.video) == AVAuthorizationStatus.authorized {
startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
} else {
AVCaptureDevice.requestAccess(for: AVMediaType.video, completionHandler: { (granted: Bool) -> Void in
if granted == true {
self.startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
} else {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Camera access required for capturing photos!", actionTitle: "Allow Camera")
}
}
})
}
}
#IBAction func actionCaptureVideo(_ sender: UIButton) {
flagVideoRecording = true
if AVCaptureDevice.authorizationStatus(for: AVMediaType.video) == AVAuthorizationStatus.authorized {
switch AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().recordPermission {
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.granted:
self.startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.denied:
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Microphone access required for record your voice!", actionTitle: "Allow Microphone")
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.undetermined:
AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().requestRecordPermission({ (granted) in
if granted {
self.startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
} else {
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Microphone access required for record your voice!", actionTitle: "Allow Microphone")
}
})
default:
break
}
} else {
AVCaptureDevice.requestAccess(for: AVMediaType.video, completionHandler: { (granted: Bool) -> Void in
if granted == true {
switch AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().recordPermission {
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.granted:
self.startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.denied:
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Microphone access required for record your voice!", actionTitle: "Allow Microphone")
case AVAudioSession.RecordPermission.undetermined:
AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().requestRecordPermission({ (granted) in
if granted {
self.startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView()
} else {
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Microphone access required for record your voice!", actionTitle: "Allow Microphone")
}
})
default:
break
}
} else {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.alertToEncourageAccessInitially("Camera access required for record video", actionTitle: "Allow Camera")
}
}
})
}
}
}
extension ViewController: UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {
func startCapturingBothImageAndRecordView() {
if UIImagePickerController.isSourceTypeAvailable(UIImagePickerController.SourceType.camera) {
debugPrint("captureVideoPressed and camera available.")
imagePicker = UIImagePickerController()
imagePicker.delegate = self
imagePicker.sourceType = .camera
if flagVideoRecording {
imagePicker.mediaTypes = [kUTTypeMovie as String]
imagePicker.allowsEditing = false
imagePicker.showsCameraControls = false
let viewTime = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: self.view.frame.width, height: 40))
viewTime.backgroundColor = .black
viewTime.alpha = 0.1
labelTime = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.width/2-50, y: 10, width: 100, height: 25))
labelTime.font = UIFont.boldSystemFont(ofSize: 17)
labelTime.text = "00.00:00"
labelTime.textColor = .white
labelTime.textAlignment = .center
labelTime.backgroundColor = .red
imagePicker.view.addSubview(viewTime)
imagePicker.view.addSubview(labelTime)
self.timer = Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 1,
target: self,
selector: #selector(self.actionStopVideoRecording),
userInfo: nil,
repeats: true)
} else {
imagePicker.allowsEditing = false
imagePicker.showsCameraControls = false
}
} else {
debugPrint("Camera not available.")
}
self.present(self.imagePicker, animated: true, completion: {
if self.flagVideoRecording {
self.imagePicker.startVideoCapture()
} else {
self.imagePicker.takePicture()
}
})
}
func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
if flagVideoRecording {
if let videoFileURL = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.mediaURL] as? URL {
debugPrint(videoFileURL)
// let data = try Data(contentsOf: videoFileURL, options: .mappedIfSafe)
// debugPrint(data)
}
self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
} else {
if let pickedImage = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.originalImage] as? UIImage{
arrImages.append(pickedImage)
}
sleep(1)
if arrImages.count >= 5 {
self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
} else {
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: .AVCaptureSessionDidStartRunning, object: nil, userInfo: nil)
}
}
}
#objc func actionStopVideoRecording() {
countVideoRecording += 1
labelTime.text = countVideoRecording == 10 ? "00:00:\(countVideoRecording)":"00:00:0\(countVideoRecording)"
if countVideoRecording == 10 {
imagePicker.stopVideoCapture()
timer?.invalidate()
timer = nil
}
}
}
extension ViewController {
func alertToEncourageAccessInitially(_ msgString: String, actionTitle: String) {
let alert = UIAlertController(
title: "IMPORTANT",
message: msgString,
preferredStyle: UIAlertController.Style.alert
)
alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .default, handler: nil))
alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: actionTitle, style: .destructive, handler: { (alert) -> Void in
let myUrl = URL(string: UIApplication.openSettingsURLString)!
if let url = URL(string: "\(myUrl)"), !url.absoluteString.isEmpty {
UIApplication.shared.open(url, options: [:], completionHandler: nil)
}
// or outside scope use this
guard let url = URL(string: "\(myUrl)"), !url.absoluteString.isEmpty else {
return
}
UIApplication.shared.open(url, options: [:], completionHandler: nil)
}))
present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}