Accessing the Device's Cameras with Flutter Package: camera

Flutter, the cross-platform mobile application development framework, provides a vast collection of packages that enable developers to build powerful and feature-rich applications. One such package is camera, which grants access to the device's cameras and facilitates capturing photos and videos within your Flutter app.

The camera package is a popular choice among Flutter developers due to its simplicity and versatility. It simplifies the process of integrating camera functionality into your app, allowing users to utilize their device's cameras seamlessly. In this blog post, we will explore the capabilities of the camera package and guide you through its implementation in your Flutter projects.

Installation

To begin, we need to add the camera package as a dependency in our Flutter project. Open your project's pubspec.yaml file and include the following line under the dependencies section:

dependencies:
  camera: ^x.x.x

Replace x.x.x with the latest version of the camera package available at the time of development. After making the change, run flutter pub get in your terminal or click on Packages Get in your IDE to fetch the package.

Permissions

Before accessing the device's cameras, we need to request the necessary permissions from the user. Flutter provides the permission_handler package to simplify the process of managing permissions. Add the following lines to your pubspec.yaml file to include permission_handler as a dependency:

dependencies:
  permission_handler: ^y.y.y

Replace y.y.y with the latest version of the permission_handler package. After adding the dependency, run flutter pub get to fetch it.

Next, let's request camera permissions from the user. Add the following code to your app's entry point, such as the main.dart file:

import 'package:permission_handler/permission_handler.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  await Permission.camera.request();
  runApp(MyApp());
}

In the code snippet above, we import the permission_handler package and use the request() method of Permission.camera to request camera permissions. By placing this code in the main() function, we ensure that the permission is requested before the app runs.

Using the camera Package

With the camera package installed and the necessary permissions granted, we can now start accessing the device's cameras. Let's dive into the implementation details.

The camera package provides a simple and intuitive API for camera management. To begin, import the package into your Dart file:

import 'package:camera/camera.dart';

Next, initialize the camera by adding the following code:

List cameras;

Future main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();


  cameras = await availableCameras();
  runApp(MyApp());
}

The code snippet above initializes a list of CameraDescription objects by calling the availableCameras() method. This method returns a list of all available cameras on the device.

Now that we have access to the cameras, let's display the camera preview on the screen. In your app's main widget, add a container to hold the camera preview:

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    final camera = cameras.first;
    return MaterialApp(
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: Text('Camera Preview'),
        ),
        body: Container(
          child: CameraPreview(camera),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

In the code snippet above, we retrieve the first camera from the cameras list and pass it to the CameraPreview widget, which displays the live camera feed on the screen.

Taking Photos and Recording Videos

Now that we have the camera preview set up, let's implement the functionality to capture photos and record videos.

To capture a photo, we can add a button to trigger the capture process:

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  // ...
  void takePhoto() async {
    if (camera != null) {
      final path = join(
        (await getTemporaryDirectory()).path,
        '${DateTime.now()}.png',
      );
      await camera.takePicture(path);
    }
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    // ...
    body: Column(
      children: [
        Expanded(
          child: Container(
            child: CameraPreview(camera),
          ),
        ),
        ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: takePhoto,
          child: Text('Take Photo'),
        ),
      ],
    ),
    // ...
  }
}

In the code snippet above, we define the takePhoto() method, which is triggered when the button is pressed. Inside this method, we use the takePicture() method of the camera object to capture a photo and save it to a specified path.

Similarly, we can implement video recording functionality using the startVideoRecording() and stopVideoRecording() methods:

class MyApp extends StatelessWidget {
  // ...
  void startRecording() async {
    if (camera != null && !camera.value.isRecordingVideo) {
      final path = join(
        (await getTemporaryDirectory()).path,
        '${DateTime.now()}.mp4',
      );
      await camera.startVideoRecording(path);
    }
  }

  void stopRecording() async {
    if (camera != null && camera.value.isRecordingVideo) {
      await camera.stopVideoRecording();
    }
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    // ...
    body: Column(
      children: [
        Expanded(
          child: Container(
            child: CameraPreview(camera),
          ),
        ),
        ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: startRecording,
          child: Text('Start Recording'),
        ),
        ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: stopRecording,
          child: Text('Stop Recording'),
        ),
      ],
    ),
    // ...
  }
}

By integrating these methods into your Flutter app, you can provide a seamless camera experience to your users.

Conclusion

The camera package in Flutter allows developers to easily incorporate camera functionality into their apps. With just a few lines of code, you can access the device's cameras, display the camera preview, and capture photos or record videos.

By following the installation steps, requesting permissions, and utilizing the provided API, you can enhance your app with camera features that provide an engaging user experience.