How to turn the iPhone camera flash on/off?

Question

How can I turn the iPhone's LED camera flash on/off programatically?

Array

Dont forget to add AVFoundation.framework also... – Pentahedron

Answer 1

#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

...

- (void) turnTorchOn: (bool) on {

    // check if flashlight available
    Class captureDeviceClass = NSClassFromString(@"AVCaptureDevice");
    if (captureDeviceClass != nil) {
        AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
        if ([device hasTorch] && [device hasFlash]){

            [device lockForConfiguration:nil];
            if (on) {
                [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOn];
                [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOn];
                //torchIsOn = YES; //define as a variable/property if you need to know status 
            } else {
                [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOff];
                [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOff];
                //torchIsOn = NO;            
            }
            [device unlockForConfiguration];
        }
    } }

Brighten

Where do you declare torchIsOn ? – Fermanagh

@YassineHoussni you can define it either as an iVar in the class name or a property if you need getter and setters – Isomeric

@Odelya yeah I already found the solution, I have defined it as a property, thanks though! – Fermanagh

You could replace the iVar with device.torchActive. – Volding

I better way to check for a class is: if ([AVCaptureDevice class]) { ... } // if you can the SDK that has a class but you're not sure the class exists on the device. – Cleocleobulus

for me this just turns the flashlight on my phone on, it doesn't just turn the flash on at the moment a photo is taken in my AVCaptureSession. – Montez

I' using these solution for my C++ call and it works pretty fine! Thanks! – Girondist

Answer 2

I combined the timer with the above code.it worked for me...

 - (void)viewDidLoad
        {
         [super viewDidLoad];

         myTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:0.5 target:self                    selector:@selector(toggleFlashlight) userInfo:nil repeats:YES];
        // Do any additional setup after loading the view from its nib.
        }
       - (void) toggleFlashlight
       {

    // check if flashlight available
    Class captureDeviceClass = NSClassFromString(@"AVCaptureDevice");
    if (captureDeviceClass != nil) {
        AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
        if ([device hasTorch] && [device hasFlash]){

            [device lockForConfiguration:nil];
            if (device.torchMode == AVCaptureTorchModeOff) 
            {
                [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOn];
                [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOn];
                //torchIsOn = YES;
            }
            else 
            {
                [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOff];
                [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOff];
               // torchIsOn = NO;            
            }
            [device unlockForConfiguration];
        }
    } }

Select

Easier to just put it in viewDidAppear. – Balalaika