logo right middleThere is no shortage of choice when it comes to photography apps for the iPhone. One of the most popular, Instagram, just recorded its 150 millionth photo. As a result, developers need to produce something special to differentiate their apps from the competition.

GLMPS (pronounced "glimpse") is a free iPhone photography app, with a twist. Traditional photo apps take a picture when the 'capture' button is pressed. GLMPS is different. When launched, the app continually records video so that when a photo is taken, GLMPS automatically saves the five seconds of video proceeding it.


Co-founder Nick Long told All Things Digital that the original idea was to capture short looped videos, similar to the way photographs work in the Harry Potter universe. Click the thumbnail in the bottom right corner of the above image to see how it works.

Because the app is constantly grabbing video, and gets the final image from that stream, the photographs are not nearly as high quality as using more traditional photography apps. The final snap is added to the users camera roll, but the only way to share the GLMPSes is via the GLMPS.com website. That site is slightly limited too, with no 'private' option, so users should keep that in mind when uploading potentially embarrassing pictures.

The team behind GLMPS notes that it is a work in progress, and there are lots of features they plan on bringing to the app. GLMPS launched today, free on the App store.

Top Rated Comments

mms13 Avatar
173 months ago
^^ nerd alert ^^
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
foobarbaz Avatar
173 months ago
Strong contender for Stupidest Thing of the Week.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlgolson Avatar
173 months ago
Except that anyone who watched the movies or read the books knows that the photos in harry potter resemble real living people, and can in fact think for themselves. This isn't anything like that.
That's true of the paintings, but not of the photographs.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
twixie09 Avatar
173 months ago
So what? It's called a video. It's different when it's in a picture frame or a newspaper, but a phone? Big whup. My phone can do that without this app. Derp.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Surely Avatar
173 months ago
This is lame!! I thought it did something like Cinemagraphs. Now THAT would be something.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1380795/Cinemagraphs-Artists-develop-pictures-movement-stills-level.html

Exactly. I was expecting the app to be able to somehow do that.

This app just takes 5 second video clips. It's the future today!:rolleyes:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BaldiMac Avatar
173 months ago
I'm not sure that requiring Flash on your homepage is the best way to market to iOS users. ;)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

10 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Thursday October 31, 2024 9:42 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well. ...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 Cinema 4D Slack Finder Xcode 1

Apple Announces MacBook Pro Models With M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips, Thunderbolt 5 Support, and More

Wednesday October 30, 2024 8:01 am PDT by
Apple today announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, alongside a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M4 chip. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new M4 Pro and M4 Max machines come with a minimum of 24GB of Unified Memory as standard, up from 18GB in the previous models. Both models feature three...
M4 Pro on Blue

M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

Thursday October 31, 2024 7:06 pm PDT by
The first Geekbench 6 benchmark results for the M4 Pro chip surfaced today. Impressively, the results that are available so far show that the highest-end M4 Pro chip is faster than the highest-end M2 Ultra chip in terms of peak multi-core CPU performance. Here is a comparison of the results: Mac mini with M4 Pro (14-core CPU): 22,094 multi-core score (average of 11 results) Mac Studio...
m3 macbook air blue

Apple Announces MacBook Air Now Starts With Increased 16GB of RAM With No Price Increase

Wednesday October 30, 2024 8:04 am PDT by
Apple today in its new MacBook Pro press release announced that the MacBook Air lineup now starts with 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB previously. This change applies to the 13-inch model with the M2 chip, the 13-inch model with the M3 chip, and the 15-inch model with the M3 chip. In the U.S., the MacBook Air lineup continues to start at $999, so there is no price increase associated with the...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Chips, Two Front USB-C Ports, and More

Tuesday October 29, 2024 8:01 am PDT by
Apple today announced fully redesigned Mac mini models featuring the M4 and M4 Pro chips, a considerably smaller casing, two front-facing USB-C ports, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, and more. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The product refresh marks the first time the Mac mini has been redesigned in over a decade. The enclosure now measures just five by five inches...
Apple iPhone SE 4 5G Modem 1

iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip

Friday November 1, 2024 4:04 am PDT by
The iPhone SE 4 that's set to come out early next year is expected to debut Apple's first in-house 5G modem, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain. In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said Apple is expected to roll out its custom-made 5G modem starting with the next-generation...
M4 M4 Pro vs M4 Max Feature

Apple Announcements Recap: M4 iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro

Wednesday October 30, 2024 9:24 am PDT by
Apple this week made three key Mac product announcements: new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models. These machines bring the M4 chip series to Apple's Mac lineup for the first time, but each in its own way offers several new features and changes that go beyond processors. Below, we've compiled a recap of all the highlights. New iMac Apple on Monday announced its latest 24-inch iMac,...