Camera

The Camera API allows a user to pick a photo from their photo album or take a picture. On iOS, this uses UIImagePickerController, and on Android this API sends an intent which will be handled by the core Camera app by default.

• getPhoto(...)
• Interfaces
• Enums

iOS Notes

iOS requires the following usage description be added and filled out for your app in Info.plist:

Name: Privacy - Camera Usage Description Key: NSCameraUsageDescription

Name: Privacy - Photo Library Additions Usage Description Key: NSPhotoLibraryAddUsageDescription

Name: Privacy - Photo Library Usage Description Key: NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription

Read about Setting iOS Permissions in the iOS Guide for more information on setting iOS permissions in Xcode

Android Notes

This API requires the following permissions be added to your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

The storage permissions are for reading/saving photo files.

Read about Setting Android Permissions in the Android Guide for more information on setting Android permissions.

Additionally, because the Camera API launches a separate Activity to handle taking the photo, you should listen for appRestoredResult in the App plugin to handle any camera data that was sent in the case your app was terminated by the operating system while the Activity was running.

PWA Notes

PWA Elements are required for Camera plugin to work.

Example

import { Plugins, CameraResultType } from '@capacitor/core';

const { Camera } = Plugins;

async takePicture() {
  const image = await Camera.getPhoto({
    quality: 90,
    allowEditing: true,
    resultType: CameraResultType.Uri
  });
  // image.webPath will contain a path that can be set as an image src.
  // You can access the original file using image.path, which can be
  // passed to the Filesystem API to read the raw data of the image,
  // if desired (or pass resultType: CameraResultType.Base64 to getPhoto)
  var imageUrl = image.webPath;
  // Can be set to the src of an image now
  imageElement.src = imageUrl;
}

Example Guides

Building an Ionic Framework Camera App

API

getPhoto(...)

getPhoto(options: CameraOptions) => Promise<CameraPhoto>

Prompt the user to pick a photo from an album, or take a new photo with the camera.

Param	Type
options	CameraOptions

Returns: Promise<CameraPhoto>

---

Interfaces

CameraPhoto

Prop	Type	Description
base64String	string	The base64 encoded string representation of the image, if using CameraResultType.Base64.
dataUrl	string	The url starting with 'data:image/jpeg;base64,' and the base64 encoded string representation of the image, if using CameraResultType.DataUrl.
path	string	If using CameraResultType.Uri, the path will contain a full, platform-specific file URL that can be read later using the Filsystem API.
webPath	string	webPath returns a path that can be used to set the src attribute of an image for efficient loading and rendering.
exif	any	Exif data, if any, retrieved from the image
format	string	The format of the image, ex: jpeg, png, gif. iOS and Android only support jpeg. Web supports jpeg and png. gif is only supported if using file input.

CameraOptions

Prop	Type	Description
quality	number	The quality of image to return as JPEG, from 0-100
allowEditing	boolean	Whether to allow the user to crop or make small edits (platform specific)
resultType	CameraResultType	How the data should be returned. Currently, only 'Base64', 'DataUrl' or 'Uri' is supported
saveToGallery	boolean	Whether to save the photo to the gallery. If the photo was picked from the gallery, it will only be saved if edited. Default: false
width	number	The width of the saved image
height	number	The height of the saved image
preserveAspectRatio	boolean	Whether to preserve the aspect ratio of the image. If this flag is true, the width and height will be used as max values and the aspect ratio will be preserved. This is only relevant when both a width and height are passed. When only width or height is provided the aspect ratio is always preserved (and this option is a no-op). A future major version will change this behavior to be default, and may also remove this option altogether. Default: false
correctOrientation	boolean	Whether to automatically rotate the image "up" to correct for orientation in portrait mode Default: true
source	CameraSource	The source to get the photo from. By default this prompts the user to select either the photo album or take a photo. Default: CameraSource.Prompt
direction	CameraDirection	iOS and Web only: The camera direction. Default: CameraDirection.Rear
presentationStyle	"fullscreen" | "popover"	iOS only: The presentation style of the Camera. Defaults to fullscreen.
webUseInput	boolean	Web only: Whether to use the PWA Element experience or file input. The default is to use PWA Elements if installed and fall back to file input. To always use file input, set this to true. Learn more about PWA Elements: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/pwa-elements
promptLabelHeader	string	If use CameraSource.Prompt only, can change Prompt label. default: promptLabelHeader : 'Photo' // iOS only promptLabelCancel : 'Cancel' // iOS only promptLabelPhoto : 'From Photos' promptLabelPicture : 'Take Picture'
promptLabelCancel	string
promptLabelPhoto	string
promptLabelPicture	string

Enums

CameraResultType

Members	Value
Uri	"uri"
Base64	"base64"
DataUrl	"dataUrl"

CameraSource

Members	Value
Prompt	"PROMPT"
Camera	"CAMERA"
Photos	"PHOTOS"

CameraDirection

Members	Value
Rear	"REAR"
Front	"FRONT"