Snag Photos Of Anyone Who Unlocks Your Phone
FrontCam Trap ($0.99) by Alice Dev Team is a great concept in theory, but sadly fails to deliver some key features I thought were no-brainers. It does what it says it will, but there are some hitches that leave users disappointed.
What does FrontCam Trap do? In essence it captures a photo of whomever unlocks your phone. If you suspect someone is snooping around on your phone when you have left it unattended, this app can take a photo of the nosy friend or stranger.
As I tried it out, there were some key elements missing. First off, you must open the app (have it actively running) enable the camera by pushing the main button on the home screen, then put your phone to sleep. Unless the app is actively running (not multitasking), and the main button enabled, it will not do its job. Yes, there are rules the dev must follow, but honestly I wish the only step was to have the app actively running and not making sure the button is properly pushed.
I had hoped the settings would offer more options as far as when and how the FrontCam Trap would be enabled. The only custom settings the app offers are alarm sound, shutter sound, Dropbox Link and password protection. Nothing regarding the arming of the camera like a timer (Apple permitting).
If you do manage to get a photo of someone unlocking your iPhone, then the photo is stored in the app’s photo log. Somehow the photos are never flattering, but that’s not the point.
If you are sure you will remember to open and arm the trap every time your phone goes to sleep, then, sure, the app will be a great asset for you. But, if you’re like most people, you’ll forget most of the time and wish the app could run in the background and do the job without constant babysitting.
I hope to see an update in the future that allows users to enables the photos to be secretly snapped without the tapping command. I know the user is required to offer some sort of permission for their photo to be snapped, but maybe a slider would be a little less conspicuous? Again, a great concept, but I would like to see some more fine-tuning.
