GLMPS Brings Harry Potter-esque Moving Photos to the iPhone - MacRumors
Skip to Content

GLMPS Brings Harry Potter-esque Moving Photos to the iPhone

by

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

193 months ago
^^ nerd alert ^^
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
193 months ago
Strong contender for Stupidest Thing of the Week.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlgolson Avatar
193 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)
193 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
193 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
193 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

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

watchOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your Apple Watch

Sunday May 24, 2026 11:53 am PDT by
Apple will unveil watchOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on Monday, June 8, and a handful of new features have been rumored already. The first developer beta of watchOS 27 should be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. The update should be released to all users with a compatible Apple Watch model in September. Below, we recap watchOS...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Tuesday May 26, 2026 6:32 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
iPhone 15 General Feature Green

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Friday May 22, 2026 1:36 pm PDT by
Apple reportedly plans to unveil its first foldable iPhone in September this year — it may be named "iPhone Ultra" — and expectations are high. In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said....