BitCam

Name: BitCam
Rating: 4.7 (92 reviews)
Author: Héliographe, Inc

vintage one-bit photography

Free · In‑App Purchases

92 Ratings
Age Rating

4+
Years
Category

Photo & Video
Developer

Héliographe, Inc
Language

EN
English
Size

9
MB

A blast from the past! Capture your photos with a unique 1-bit camera: only pure black and pure white pixels, no grayscale! BitCam's interface is delightfully old school, featuring chunky buttons and mechanical sounds the likes of which haven't graced your screen in over 40 years. In Camera mode, three different pixel resolutions let you experiment, and an 8-color mode brings you a little closer to the current day while preserving the distinct aesthetic. Or jump over to the editor to dither any photo from your library and experiment with resolutely modern colors & gradients. Clean, high resolution PNG output means you can print those files, use them in digital collages, or other art projects. You can also now run BitCam natively on your iPad, and your Mac! And on Mac, you can install a system extension to use BitCam in any app that uses the camera: Zoom, FaceTime, Google Meet, WebEx, Photo Booth, etc. The camera mode is entirely free and unlimited. The editor mode offers a 3 day trial, after which it requires a one-time in-app purchase for full access, on all of your account's devices.

Ratings & Reviews

4.7

out of 5

92 Ratings

It's limited on purpose — enjoy it for what it is
03/08/2017
ZipTurtle
Like the developer says, they built it in an old-fashioned way to celebrate how far things have come in the 20 years they've been in business. The app works exactly as advertised, providing that little rush of nostalgia by immersing you in a 1996-style interface and taking low-resolution pictures.The controls produce clicks or other sounds when used — and the volume level is tied to that of your device's RINGER, not its audio volume. Maybe the devs did that intentionally as part of their retro project or maybe not, I don't know. Anyway, you've been warned.

Developer Response
ZipTurtle, Appreciate your review and your support of our little fun project. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave it and for using BitCam, enjoy!
It's limited on purpose — enjoy it for what it is
03/08/2017
ZipTurtle

Like the developer says, they built it in an old-fashioned way to celebrate how far things have come in the 20 years they've been in business. The app works exactly as advertised, providing that little rush of nostalgia by immersing you in a 1996-style interface and taking low-resolution pictures.The controls produce clicks or other sounds when used — and the volume level is tied to that of your device's RINGER, not its audio volume. Maybe the devs did that intentionally as part of their retro project or maybe not, I don't know. Anyway, you've been warned.
Developer Response 04/16/2017
ZipTurtle, Appreciate your review and your support of our little fun project. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave it and for using BitCam, enjoy!
Fun retro camera
06/03/2023
Agnes Nutter, Witch
If you enjoy dithering and one-bit graphics, this is a great app for it! Characteristic of any Iconfactory app it is well-designed and well-executed. The theming is really fun.The only thing it’s missing which I’d like to see is the ability to adjust the brightness threshold (or the pre-dithering exposure level). Sometimes it would be nice to tweak the process a bit to make the image look better.p.s. I was tickled to see this app finally updated after six years, so here, have a review! :)
Fun retro camera
06/03/2023
Agnes Nutter, Witch

If you enjoy dithering and one-bit graphics, this is a great app for it! Characteristic of any Iconfactory app it is well-designed and well-executed. The theming is really fun.The only thing it’s missing which I’d like to see is the ability to adjust the brightness threshold (or the pre-dithering exposure level). Sometimes it would be nice to tweak the process a bit to make the image look better.p.s. I was tickled to see this app finally updated after six years, so here, have a review! :)
*LOVE* this app, but it needs an update!
12/04/2018
Johnny-o-doc
The folks at Iconfactory are the best (if you’re a Mac-using artist or designer, you *must* check out XScope!). This is such a great app, but it hasn’t been updated in 2 years+!! Can you please update it for the iPhone X & Xs screens, at least? Pretty please??Please note: I haven’t even marked down your rating in an attempt to force you to do my bidding! 🤪[Seriously though, keep up all your awesome work. I just downloaded Linea Sketch for my new 11-inch iPad Pro, too.]
*LOVE* this app, but it needs an update!
12/04/2018
Johnny-o-doc

The folks at Iconfactory are the best (if you’re a Mac-using artist or designer, you *must* check out XScope!). This is such a great app, but it hasn’t been updated in 2 years+!! Can you please update it for the iPhone X & Xs screens, at least? Pretty please??Please note: I haven’t even marked down your rating in an attempt to force you to do my bidding! 🤪[Seriously though, keep up all your awesome work. I just downloaded Linea Sketch for my new 11-inch iPad Pro, too.]
Neat idea...
12/01/2017
clin0048
Fun little app indeed! Bumped rating up now that I know about the editing existing pictures is an option. App is simple to use and accomplishes it’s intended goal with aplomb. Far too few apps these day reach each of those goals. I don’t necessarily NEED an app like this but it sure is fun to play around with and I could actually see some technical uses for it in the future!

Developer Response
You can apply the effect in Photos, but you'll need to enable the Edit extension. Tap "Edit", then the ... tool, then "More" to enable BitCam. After that, you can tap on the BitCam icon and get your pixels! Enjoy!
Neat idea...
12/01/2017
clin0048

Fun little app indeed! Bumped rating up now that I know about the editing existing pictures is an option. App is simple to use and accomplishes it’s intended goal with aplomb. Far too few apps these day reach each of those goals. I don’t necessarily NEED an app like this but it sure is fun to play around with and I could actually see some technical uses for it in the future!
Developer Response 11/30/2017
You can apply the effect in Photos, but you'll need to enable the Edit extension. Tap "Edit", then the ... tool, then "More" to enable BitCam. After that, you can tap on the BitCam icon and get your pixels! Enjoy!

BitCam 2.1 adds a BitCam system extension for macOS, enabling you to use BitCam in any app that lets you pick the video camera (Zoom, FaceTime, etc). 2.1.1 fixes a crash that could happen on macOS when virtual cameras are installed on the system.

Version 2.1.1 Sep 18

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Accessibility

Information

Seller: Heliographe, Inc
Size: 9 MB
Category: Photo & Video
Compatibility: Requires iOS 15.0 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.

iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.

Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later.
Languages: English
Age Rating: 4+

4+

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In-App Purchases: Yes

Full BitCam $9.99

Full BitCam $9.99

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