Camera picker

Take a photo with the device camera and get it back as a PlatformFile on Android and iOS

Open the system camera to take a photo. FileKit writes the photo to a file and returns it as a PlatformFile. Call it from a source set that only includes Android and iOS, such as mobileMain (see shared source sets).

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Usage

Compose

val launcher = rememberCameraPickerLauncher(
    onError = { failure -> showError(failure.message) },
) { photo ->
    // photo is a PlatformFile, or null if the user cancelled
}

Button(onClick = { launcher.launch() }) {
    Text("Take a photo")
}

The result is null when the user cancels. Failures go to onError in Compose, or are thrown as a FileKitDialogException by the suspend API. See Results and errors.

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Options

type · FileKitCameraType · default: "Photo" · launch()

What to capture. Only Photo is available: video capture is not supported yet.

cameraFacing · FileKitCameraFacing · default: "System" · launch()

System lets the camera app choose, or force Front or Back. Best effort on Android: see Platform notes.

destinationFile · PlatformFile · default: "FileKit.cacheDir / \"<random UUID>.jpg\"" · launch()

Where the photo is written. Files in filesDir and cacheDir need no Android setup.

openCameraSettings · FileKitOpenCameraSettings · default: "createDefault()" · rememberCameraPickerLauncher

Platform-specific settings. In the suspend API, pass it to openCameraPicker().

Show properties

authority · String? · default: "null" · Android

FileProvider authority, only needed for a destinationFile outside filesDir and cacheDir. When null, FileKit uses its bundled ${applicationId}.FileKitFileProvider. See Android setup.

presenter · UIViewController? · default: "null" · iOS

View controller that presents the camera. When null, the suspend API presents from its own window above your app, and the Compose launcher uses the current LocalUIViewController.

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Keep the photo

The default destination is in the cache directory, which the system can clear. To keep the photo, write it to FileKit.filesDir directly:

val photo = FileKit.openCameraPicker(
    destinationFile = FileKit.filesDir / "profile.jpg",
)

Files in FileKit.filesDir and FileKit.cacheDir need no Android setup. For any other directory, see Android setup.

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Platform notes

Platform	Behavior
Android	Launches the device camera app with ACTION_IMAGE_CAPTURE. If your manifest declares android.permission.CAMERA, FileKit requests it before opening the camera, and a denial returns null. If you don’t declare it, no permission is needed.
Android	Front and Back are best effort. Android has no standard extra to choose the camera, so FileKit sends the extras that common camera apps read. Some devices ignore them.
iOS	Add NSCameraUsageDescription to your Info.plist: iOS terminates apps that open the camera without it.
iOS	The photo is saved as a full-quality JPEG. A missing camera (such as the Simulator) or an unavailable Front or Back camera fails with a FileKitDialogException.

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Android setup

Only needed for files outside FileKit.filesDir and FileKit.cacheDir. filekit-dialogs already ships a FileProvider (${applicationId}.FileKitFileProvider) that covers those two directories, and content:// files returned by the pickers need no provider at all. For any other location, such as getExternalFilesDir(), FileProvider throws an IllegalArgumentException until you declare your own provider.

1. Declare a provider in your manifest

   AndroidManifest.xml

   <provider
       android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider"
       android:authorities="${applicationId}.fileprovider"
       android:exported="false"
       android:grantUriPermissions="true">
       <meta-data
           android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
           android:resource="@xml/file_paths" />
   </provider>
   
2. List the directories it may expose

   Add one entry per location you use, for example app-specific external storage:

   res/xml/file_paths.xml

   <paths>
       <external-files-path name="external_files" path="." />
   </paths>
   

   See FileProvider for every path type.

3. Pass the authority to FileKit

   The authority parameter exists only on Android, so build these settings in androidMain:

   androidMain

   val authority = "${FileKit.context.packageName}.fileprovider"
   
   FileKitOpenCameraSettings(authority = authority) // camera picker
   FileKitShareSettings(authority = authority) // share file
   FileKitOpenFileSettings(authority = authority) // open with default app
   

For example, to save to app-specific external storage:

androidMain

val externalDir = PlatformFile(FileKit.context.getExternalFilesDir(null)!!)

val photo = FileKit.openCameraPicker(
    destinationFile = externalDir / "photo.jpg",
    openCameraSettings = FileKitOpenCameraSettings(
        authority = "${FileKit.context.packageName}.fileprovider",
    ),
)

With Compose, pass the same openCameraSettings to rememberCameraPickerLauncher and the file to launch(destinationFile = ...).

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Related

• Gallery picker to pick existing photos.
• Share file to send the photo to another app.
• Results and errors for cancellation and failure handling.