Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you Accept
X
WWDC: Everything Apple AnnouncedCNET CouponsSleep With Socks OnBest Solar CompaniesRemote Working in ParadiseBest Satellite Internet ProvidersCurrent Mortgage RatesMeal Subscription vs. Takeout
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Appologic's Videography app turns iPhone into a motion-tracking video camera

With help from Motrr's Galileo 360-robotic spinning platform for iPhone/iPod, the app tracks your movements so you're always on camera.

Joshua_Goldman.jpg
Joshua_Goldman.jpg
Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
See full bio
Joshua Goldman
Joshua Goldman/CNET
Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
This advertising widget is powered by Navi and contains advertisements that Navi may be paid for in different ways. You will not be charged for engaging with this advertisement. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, this advertising widget does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information in the featured advertisements is up to date, each advertiser featured in this widget is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its offer details. It is possible that your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms in this advertising widget and the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser which will be presented to you prior to making a purchase. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

Few iPhone accessories -- if any -- extend the usefulness of the device's camera like Motrr's Galileo. But much of the credit for that belongs to the multiple apps developed for it, such as Appologic's new Videography app.

On its own, the $3.99 app gives you the capability to live stream 1080p video and audio to a browser on another device on the same Wi-Fi network. You can also, among other things, remotely control all camera functions such adjusting focus and exposure, turning on the video light/flash, or using the app's 16x digital zoom. And that's where the Galileo comes in.

Best iPhone camera accessories

Best iPhone camera accessories
moment-lenses-for-iphone-product-photos14.jpg
lensbaby-creative-mobile-kit-14.jpg
+25 more
See all photos

When the app is paired with the compact motorized rotating base, you can remotely control it and the camera, letting you continuously pan, tilt, and rotate them 360 degrees.

Add to that the app's advanced face, motion, and color-tracking capabilities and you have a camera that will follow you or your subject almost anywhere, and keep them centered.

I briefly tested the Videography app with the Motrr Galileo and the performance was on par with what you see in the demo video below.

If you or your subject are close to the camera and moving quickly, the base can't keep up. Slow movement like keeping track of someone giving a presentation is no problem, and the farther you are from the camera, the easier it is for the camera to keep you centered, or at the very least in frame until it can center you.