Turn on torch/flash on iPhone

Question

I know that the only way to turn on the flash and keep it on on iPhone 4 is by turning the video camera on. I'm not too sure of the code though. Here is what I am trying:

-(IBAction)turnTorchOn {
    AVCaptureSession *captureSession = [[AVCaptureSession alloc] init];
    AVCaptureDevice *videoCaptureDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
    NSError *error = nil;
    AVCaptureDeviceInput *videoInput = [AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice:videoCaptureDevice error:&error];

    if (videoInput) {
        [captureSession addInput:videoInput];

        AVCaptureVideoDataOutput* videoOutput = [[AVCaptureVideoDataOutput alloc] init];
        [videoOutput setSampleBufferDelegate:self queue:dispatch_get_current_queue()];

        [captureSession addOutput:videoOutput];

        [captureSession startRunning];

        videoCaptureDevice.torchMode = AVCaptureTorchModeOn;
    }   
}

Does anybody know if this would work or am I missing anything? (I don't have an iPhone 4 yet to test on -just trying out some of the new API's).

Thanks

Answer 1

iWasRobbed's answer is great, except there is an AVCaptureSession running in the background all the time. On my iPhone 4s it takes about 12% CPU power according to Instrument so my app took about 1% battery in a minute. In other words if the device is prepared for AV capture it's not cheap.

Using the code below my app requires 0.187% a minute so the battery life is more than 5x longer.

This code works just fine on any device (tested on both 3GS (no flash) and 4s). Tested on 4.3 in simulator as well.

#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

- (void) turnTorchOn:(BOOL)on {

    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;
            } else {
                [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOff];
                [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOff];
                torchIsOn = NO;            
            }
            [device unlockForConfiguration];
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

the lockforConfiguration is set in your code, where you declare your AVCaptureDevice is a property.

[videoCaptureDevice lockForConfiguration:nil];

Answer 3

See a better answer below: https://stackoverflow.com/a/10054088/308315

---

Old answer:

First, in your AppDelegate .h file:

#import <AVFoundation/AVFoundation.h>

@interface AppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate> {

    AVCaptureSession *torchSession;

}

@property (nonatomic, retain) AVCaptureSession * torchSession;

@end

Then in your AppDelegate .m file:

@implementation AppDelegate

@synthesize torchSession;

- (void)dealloc {
    [torchSession release];

    [super dealloc];
}

- (id) init {
    if ((self = [super init])) {

    // initialize flashlight
    // test if this class even exists to ensure flashlight is turned on ONLY for iOS 4 and above
        Class captureDeviceClass = NSClassFromString(@"AVCaptureDevice");
        if (captureDeviceClass != nil) {

            AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];

            if ([device hasTorch] && [device hasFlash]){

                if (device.torchMode == AVCaptureTorchModeOff) {

                NSLog(@"Setting up flashlight for later use...");

                    AVCaptureDeviceInput *flashInput = [AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice:device error: nil];
                    AVCaptureVideoDataOutput *output = [[AVCaptureVideoDataOutput alloc] init];

                    AVCaptureSession *session = [[AVCaptureSession alloc] init];

                [session beginConfiguration];
                    [device lockForConfiguration:nil];

                    [session addInput:flashInput];
                    [session addOutput:output];

                    [device unlockForConfiguration];

                    [output release];

                [session commitConfiguration];
                [session startRunning];

                [self setTorchSession:session];
                [session release];
                    }

            }

        }
    } 
    return self;
}

Then anytime you want to turn it on, just do something like this:

// test if this class even exists to ensure flashlight is turned on ONLY for iOS 4 and above
Class captureDeviceClass = NSClassFromString(@"AVCaptureDevice");
if (captureDeviceClass != nil) {

    AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];

    [device lockForConfiguration:nil];

    [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOn];
    [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOn];

    [device unlockForConfiguration];

}

And similar for turning it off:

// test if this class even exists to ensure flashlight is turned on ONLY for iOS 4 and above
Class captureDeviceClass = NSClassFromString(@"AVCaptureDevice");
if (captureDeviceClass != nil) {

    AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];

    [device lockForConfiguration:nil];

    [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOff];
    [device setFlashMode:AVCaptureFlashModeOff];

    [device unlockForConfiguration];
}