Camera Quickstart

Overview

This is a quickstart guide for using the taking a photo or picking an image from the camera roll using the stock camera and camera roll. In both cases, we'll modally present the UIImagePickerController class which has a delegate. The delegate has a method which is called after a user takes/picks a picture.

Permissions

As of iOS 10, the following camera and photo library usage descriptions are required in the Info.plist. The description you enter will be shown to the user when prompted to allow permissions to the camera or photo library.

Step 1: Open Info.plist

Select the Info.plistfile in the documents outline. There are two ways to view permissions set in your Info.plist file, and the names of the permissions vary slightly depending on whether you view the file as Source Code or as a Property List...

• You can view it in XML by right-clicking the file name, going to "Open As" and selecting "Source Code."
• Alternatively, you can right-click the file name, go to "Open As" and select "Property List."

If you've never opened as Source Code before, Xcode will default to opening the Info.plist file in the Property List view.

Step 2: Add Permissions

If you opened Info.plist as Source Code, add the XML lines below inside the <dict>.

<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>               <!-- added this for photo library permission -->
<string>Need library access to upload images</string> <!-- added this for photo library permission -->
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key> <!-- added this for camera permission -->
<string>Need camera access to take pictures</string> <!-- added this for camera permission -->

Alternatively, if you opened Info.plist as a Property List instead of opening it as Source Code, add the following two keys:

• Key 1: Privacy - Photo Library Usage Description with the value Need library access to upload images
• Key 2: Privacy - Camera Usage Description with the value Need camera access to take pictures.

To create these two keys in the Property List view:

1. Hover over the top cell that says Information Property List
2. Click the grey plus button that appears. A new cell will now appear nested under the Information Property List
3. In thew new cell, start typing the key for your new property. E.g. "Privacy - Photo Library Usage Description" (without the quotes). XCode will search for properties starting with the text you have entered and you can select yours when you see it.
4. In the Value cell, type the description you want shown to the user when prompted to allow the permission. E.g. "Need library access to upload images"

Note that for the two permissions we are adding for the camera and library access, the Type value should be left as String. You can drag permissions to any place inside their parent. For example you could drag the camera and photo library permissions to be next to each other.

Taking a Picture

Step 1: Declare that your class implements the required protocols

• Add UIImagePickerControllerDelegate and UINavigationControllerDelegate when defining your class or as an extension of your view controller class.

class PhotoMapViewController: UIViewController, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {
...
}

// PhotoMapViewController.h

// ...

@interface PhotoMapViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate>

Step 2: Instantiate a UIImagePickerController

Add the below code for a button to modally present a UIImagePickerController screen.

let vc = UIImagePickerController()
vc.delegate = self
vc.allowsEditing = true

// The Xcode simulator does not support taking pictures, so let's first check that the camera is indeed supported on the device before trying to present it.
if UIImagePickerController.isSourceTypeAvailable(.camera) {
   print("Camera is available 📸")
   vc.sourceType = .camera
} else {
   print("Camera 🚫 available so we will use photo library instead")
   vc.sourceType = .photoLibrary
}

self.present(vc, animated: true, completion: nil)

UIImagePickerController *imagePickerVC = [UIImagePickerController new];
imagePickerVC.delegate = self;
imagePickerVC.allowsEditing = YES;

// The Xcode simulator does not support taking pictures, so let's first check that the camera is indeed supported on the device before trying to present it.
if ([UIImagePickerController isSourceTypeAvailable:UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera]) {
    imagePickerVC.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera;
}
else {
    NSLog(@"Camera 🚫 available so we will use photo library instead");
    imagePickerVC.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypePhotoLibrary;
}

[self presentViewController:imagePickerVC animated:YES completion:nil];

Step 3: Implement the delegate method

func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
    let originalImage = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.originalImage] as! UIImage
    let editedImage = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.editedImage] as! UIImage
    
    // Do something with the images (based on your use case)
    
    // Dismiss UIImagePickerController to go back to your original view controller
    dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary<NSString *,id> *)info {
    
    // Get the image captured by the UIImagePickerController
    UIImage *originalImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage];
    UIImage *editedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerEditedImage];

    // Do something with the images (based on your use case)
    
    // Dismiss UIImagePickerController to go back to your original view controller
    [self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}

✅ When the user finishes taking the picture, UIImagePickerController returns a dictionary that contains the image and some other meta data. The full set of keys are listed here.

Picking a Picture from the Camera Roll

Step 1: Declare that your class implements the required protocols

• Add UIImagePickerControllerDelegate and UINavigationControllerDelegate when defining your class or as an extension of your view controller class.

class PhotoMapViewController: UIViewController, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {
   ...
}

// PhotoMapViewController.h

// ...

@interface PhotoMapViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate>

Step 2: Instantiate a UIImagePickerController

Add the below code for a button to modally present a UIImagePickerController screen.

let vc = UIImagePickerController()
vc.delegate = self
vc.allowsEditing = true
vc.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.photoLibrary

self.present(vc, animated: true, completion: nil)

UIImagePickerController *imagePickerVC = [UIImagePickerController new];
imagePickerVC.delegate = self;
imagePickerVC.allowsEditing = YES;
imagePickerVC.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypePhotoLibrary;

[self presentViewController:imagePickerVC animated:YES completion:nil];

Step 3: Implement the delegate method

func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, 
didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String : Any]) {
    // Get the image captured by the UIImagePickerController
    let originalImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as! UIImage
    let editedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerEditedImage] as! UIImage

    // Do something with the images (based on your use case)

    // Dismiss UIImagePickerController to go back to your original view controller
    dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary<NSString *,id> *)info {
    
    // Get the image captured by the UIImagePickerController
    UIImage *originalImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage];
    UIImage *editedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerEditedImage];

    // Do something with the images (based on your use case)
    
    // Dismiss UIImagePickerController to go back to your original view controller
    [self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}

✅ When the user finishes selecting a picture from the gallery, UIImagePickerController returns a dictionary that contains the image and some other meta data. The full set of keys are listed here.