Capturing photos, video, and audio

This page covers the camera screen: how to open it, what every control does, and how to shoot solid evidence in the field.

Opening the camera

1. Open your assignment.
2. Tap the room you are working in.
3. Tap the big orange Capture button at the bottom.

The camera opens full-screen. You are one tap from a saved shot.

The first time: camera permission

The first time you open the camera, the app explains why it needs access and shows a Continue button. Tap it, then allow camera access when iOS asks. The app never asks at launch, only here, when you actually need the camera.

If access was denied earlier, you see "Camera access is turned off for Contents Capture." Tap Open Settings, turn the Camera switch on, and return to the app. The same goes for the microphone, which the app only asks about when you start recording video or audio.

The control tour

Mode tabs: Photo, Video, Audio

Three pills near the bottom switch modes. The tabs lock while you are recording so you cannot switch by accident.

• Photo: tap the shutter once per shot. The screen flashes and you get a "Photo saved" toast.
• Video: tap the shutter to start (the center turns red), tap again to stop. Video records at up to 2160p quality.
• Audio: the camera turns off and you get a black stage that says "Audio only · camera off." While recording you see a live waveform and a large timer. Tap Rec to start, Stop to finish.

The hint line under the shutter always tells you what a tap will do: "Tap to take a photo", "Tap to record video", "Recording… tap to stop", or "Tap to record audio".

Flash and Torch

Two pills at the top-left:

• Flash cycles through Off, Auto, and On. It applies to photo flash, and it lights the torch while a video records. It resets to Off every time you open the camera.
• Torch is a persistent flashlight, independent of flash. It stays on until you turn it off. It is hidden in Audio mode.

In dark crawlspaces and basements, Torch is usually the better tool: it lights the scene before you shoot, so you can see what you are framing.

Zoom

Pinch anywhere on the preview to zoom from 1× to 8×. A pill at the top-center shows the current zoom while you are zoomed.

The timestamp and GPS overlay

Across the top of the frame you see live evidence text: a timestamp, your name, the room, and the assignment, plus a "GPS on" line when your team has GPS tagging enabled. This overlay is part of the evidence. Your office controls it, and it tells anyone reviewing the shot exactly when and where it happened. See Evidence quality.

Room label

Just above the shutter, a map pin shows the room you are capturing into. Check it before you shoot; it is the fastest way to notice you are filing media into the wrong room.

Done

The orange Done button (top-right) leaves the camera and returns to the room. Once you have shots, it shows a count, like "Done · 3", so you can see at a glance how much you have captured this session.

Recent-capture thumbnail

To the right of the shutter sits a thumbnail of the last thing you captured in this room. Tap it to peek at the shot full-screen, then come straight back. Use it to confirm a shot before moving on.

Quick tag chips

If you set up quick capture tags in Settings, chips appear above the mode tabs. Tap one to arm it (it turns orange), and everything you capture is tagged automatically. Tap it again to disarm. This is the one-handed way to tag. Chips are hidden in Audio mode.

Group

The Group button to the left of the shutter links your captures together as you shoot: every angle of one damaged item in one bundle. See Groups for the full walkthrough.

What happens when you shoot

The instant you tap the shutter:

1. The original file is saved on your phone. Nothing is lost even if the app closes.
2. You get a toast: "Photo saved", "Video saved", or "Audio saved".
3. In the background, the app builds a preview and thumbnail, attaches the timestamp and GPS, and computes the file's fingerprint.
4. When you have a connection, the file uploads on its own. See Offline and sync.

If a save fails

This is rare, but if you do not see the "saved" toast after a shot, take the shot again. Check your phone's free storage if it keeps happening. A shot that never shows a toast never made it to the phone.

Good evidence habits

• Wide, then close. Shoot the whole room first, then each damaged wall, then each item, then serial plates and labels.
• One item per group. Group every angle of one item so the office sees the whole story in one place.
• Narrate audio notes. A 30-second audio clip ("kitchen, supply line burst under sink, cabinet base swollen") saves ten minutes of typing later.
• Check the last shot. Tap the recent-capture thumbnail before moving on. Reshooting now is free; driving back is not.
• Mind the light. Use Torch in dark spaces so you can frame the shot; use flash for close-ups of labels and plates.
• Let it process. A photo can look soft for a moment right after shooting while the preview builds. The original is full quality.

Next steps

Review your media in the room grid, or learn to tag it fast.