Apple Watch’s Camera Control
To the rescue flew the Apple Watch’s Camera app. I’ve probably used this feature a handful of times since the first Apple Watch, and probably not at all since I got my Series 7, and frankly I was blown away with just how much better the experience is than I remembered. A modern Apple Watch is now more than capable of showing a live, full-frame video stream with almost zero lag, and the screen is large enough that you can actually use it to tell if everything’s framed the way you want. You can easily take a shot and quickly check it on the watch to make sure that everybody’s eyes are open.
My experience has been different. The non-configurable 3-second delay makes this feature unusable for me. It simply isn’t enough time, and, frankly, I think it must start shooting before the 3 seconds are even up because I’ve captured photos at the start of the burst with my finger still touching the watch.
So, in practice, I use the 10-second timer initiated from the iPhone. Somehow, after walking back into position I end up without about 5 seconds of time before the photo is taken, whereas after pressing the button on the watch it feels like I have about half a second.
The photo on the watch screen is useful to make sure that everyone is in frame, and that small children are looking at the camera, but I find it too small to see whether eyes are open.
I’d like to see a 10-second option for the watch, and (for watch and phone) a way to schedule a series of 5 shots with a couple seconds in between, so that I don’t have to keep starting the timer manually and having everyone wait 10 seconds each time.
I’ve also used this feature while doing electrical work at home. If you’re the only one home but need to turn off the breaker for a particular circuit, leave your iPhone in a room with the selfie cam pointed at a light (or under an outlet tester with an indicator light), open the Camera Remote app on your watch, then check it after flipping each breaker switch.
Saves you from running up and down the stairs to check every time.
Previously:
I love those secondary effects (for lack of a better phrase) like checking if the light is on.
I often wonder about the secondary effects of everybody having a flashlight in their pocket at all times for example.