This clever hack turns the iPad’s camera into a button

iPad apps don’t have access to a single physical button, so an app developer found a

way to hack one on. Astro HQ, the company behind the drawing app Astropad, uses its latest app to turn the iPad’s camera into a button: you tap the camera, and an on-screen panel slides out; tap again, and it’s gone. It’s a really clever idea that allows controls to be taken off the screen, freeing up space. Of course, this approach comes with a major downside: the camera has to be on and analyzing the entire time. That poses some potential battery issues, not to mention privacy concerns. Astro says it’s addressed both. It claims to blur camera imagery “to the point of not being able to see any data coming in,” so that it’s only looking at whether the camera turns dark. As for battery life, Astro says the camera button uses less than 1 percent of the iPad’s CPU at any given time, so it theoretically won’t make a huge dent beyond the app itself. The feature will also be optional.                                                                         https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/18/16497466/ipad-camera-button-astro-hq-luna