GLMPS Brings Harry Potter-esque Moving Photos to the iPhone

There 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

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mms13

109 months ago

^^ nerd alert ^^

Rating: 6 Votes

foobarbaz

109 months ago

Strong contender for Stupidest Thing of the Week.

Rating: 5 Votes

jlgolson

109 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.

Rating: 4 Votes

twixie09

109 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.

Rating: 3 Votes

Surely

109 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:

Rating: 2 Votes

BaldiMac

109 months ago

I'm not sure that requiring Flash on your homepage is the best way to market to iOS users. ;)

Rating: 2 Votes

TheOrioles33

109 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.

Rating: 2 Votes

Anonymous Freak

109 months ago

I had a digital still camera that could do this a few years ago. You could set it up so that when you took a still photo, it would also record a short video that consisted of 5 seconds of video on either side of when you clicked the shutter release.

Rating: 1 Votes

res1233

109 months ago

I'm not sure that requiring Flash on your homepage is the best way to market to iOS users. ;)

It doesn't require flash when viewed on an iOS device.

Rating: 1 Votes

res1233

109 months ago

I recall that persons on paintings could move to another painting, as long as it was within the same building. Photos contain real people (at least, that's what the first novel says), therefore, if a person isn't posing, then the canvas is supposed to be empty. Doesn't explain at all why dead people still appear, or why sirius black decides to pose for the Daily Profit :rolleyes:.

He didn't pose, he was being arrested (if i remember the photo correctly anyway).

Rating: 1 Votes

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