iris_camera #

📸 iOS + Android camera toolkit for Flutter, powered by AVFoundation and CameraX. Render the native preview, switch lenses, stream frames, capture photos, record video, tune exposure/white balance/torch/zoom, and listen to lifecycle + orientation + AF/AE state – all from Dart.

Platform coverage: iOS + Android. Web backend planned for v2. Other platforms no-op safely.

Highlights #

• 🔍 Lens discovery & switching – list every lens (front included by default; exclude with includeFrontCameras: false) and reconfigure with switchLens.
• 🖼️ Native preview widget – IrisCameraPreview wraps AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer with tap-to-focus + overlay hooks.
• 📸 Still capture – capturePhoto with flash/ISO/exposure overrides.
• 🎛️ Pro controls – focus mode/point, exposure mode/point/EV, white balance, frame rate range, torch, zoom, resolution presets.
• 📡 Streams – live BGRA image stream, orientation stream, lifecycle state stream, AF/AE state stream.
• 🔧 Lifecycle – explicit initialize/pause/resume/dispose and structured errors via IrisCameraException.
• 🎥 Video – start/stop file-based recording (iOS/Android), optional audio.

Install #

flutter pub add iris_camera

import 'package:iris_camera/iris_camera.dart';

final camera = IrisCamera();
final lenses = await camera.listAvailableLenses(); // includeFrontCameras defaults to true
await camera.switchLens(lenses.first.category);
final photo = await camera.capturePhoto(
  options: const PhotoCaptureOptions(flashMode: PhotoFlashMode.auto),
);

Live preview:

final focusController = FocusIndicatorController();

IrisCameraPreview(
  aspectRatio: 3 / 2,
  enableTapToFocus: true,
  showFocusIndicator: true,
  onTapFocus: (point) => camera.setFocus(point: point),
  focusIndicatorController: focusController,
);

iOS setup #

Add to ios/Runner/Info.plist (both are required or the app will crash when accessing camera/mic):

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs the camera to capture photos.</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs the microphone for recording video with audio.</string>

That’s it. Permissions are requested automatically on first use.

Exclude front cameras by calling listAvailableLenses(includeFrontCameras: false).

Android setup #

Add the camera permission to your app manifest (the plugin also declares it for you):

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<!-- Needed for video with audio -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />

iris_camera will prompt for runtime permission automatically before accessing the camera. The preview is rendered via a native PreviewView, and tap-to-focus works the same as iOS.

API quick reference #

Key methods:

• listAvailableLenses({includeFrontCameras}) → List<CameraLensDescriptor>
• switchLens(CameraLensCategory category) → CameraLensDescriptor
• capturePhoto({PhotoCaptureOptions options}) → Uint8List
• startVideoRecording({filePath, enableAudio}) → String path
• stopVideoRecording() → String path
• Focus: setFocus(point/lensPosition), setFocusMode, focusExposureStateStream
• Exposure: setExposureMode, setExposurePoint, setExposureOffset, getMin/MaxExposureOffset, getExposureOffsetStepSize
• Zoom/torch/WB: setZoom, setTorch, setWhiteBalance
• Frame/format: setFrameRateRange, setResolutionPreset
• Streams: imageStream, orientationStream, stateStream
• Lifecycle: initialize, pauseSession, resumeSession, disposeSession
• Errors: IrisCameraException(code, message, details)

Data classes:

• CameraLensDescriptor (id, name, position, category, supportsFocus, optional focalLength, fieldOfView)
• PhotoCaptureOptions (flashMode, exposureDuration, iso)
• OrientationEvent, CameraStateEvent, FocusExposureStateEvent, IrisImageFrame

Widget:

• IrisCameraPreview with tap-to-focus + focus indicator styling/control.

iris_camera vs camera (iOS/Android) #

Example flow #

final lenses = await camera.listAvailableLenses();
final tele = lenses.firstWhere(
  (lens) => lens.category == CameraLensCategory.telephoto,
  orElse: () => lenses.first,
);

await camera.switchLens(tele.category);
await camera.initialize();
camera.stateStream.listen((event) => debugPrint('state=${event.state}'));
camera.focusExposureStateStream.listen((event) => debugPrint('af/ae=${event.state}'));

await camera.setExposureMode(ExposureMode.locked);
await camera.setFocusMode(FocusMode.locked);
final photo = await camera.capturePhoto();

License #

MIT — see LICENSE.