The iPhone Mom

I didn’t upgrade my iPhone 3G when the 3GS version rolled out. I’m holding out hope for an upgrade this year but so far we’ve been just fine with our older models. One thing that I do envy on the 3GS is the ability to record videos. There are times when I don’t have my video camera with me and things worthy of video taping happen. I know that I’ve said it before but my iPhone is with me constantly. It would be nice to add yet another thing to what I abuse it for.

A few days ago I received an email asking me to look at the Video Genius app. It claims to give your 1st Generation or 3G iPhone the ability to record videos. Honestly, my first thought was one of skepticism. Then I tried out the app and by golly, it actually works. It’s not HD video but it’s video, with sound to boot! (That doesn’t look as good typed out as it does when I say it.) Video Genius lets you record in one of two modes. Regular mode only lets you record 40-60 seconds of video but it’s at a rate of 10 frames per second. I thought the quality was pretty decent. I was surprised how good it looked. The longer mode records videos at a rate of 4 frames per second. You’ll capture more video but you’ll notice a difference in quality.

There’s really nothing to using the app. Open up the app and point the iPhone at what you want to record. (Recording can be done in landscape mode too.) Now to record you’ll tap a small green dot in the bottom center of the screen. To stop recording tap it again. Once you’ve stopped recording the video file is immediately transferred to your camera roll. When the transfer is over you can tap the camera roll button on the bottom right to view the video. On the bottom left is a button that looks like a light switch. Tap here and you can switch from the regular recording to the longer version. You can see the videos in the iPhone’s Photo Library, even when the app is closed.  I wanted to see how the videos looked on my PC so I hooked up the USB cable and dragged the files over. It worked smoothly and they play just fine, although they’re very small on my computer screen. I also emailed myself a file and it wasn’t so large that it got stuck, either coming or going.

Video Genius is currently free and I think I’m going to keep it on my phone. Would it be a good way to record the 5th grade orchestra recital? No. But for capturing quick moments it’s great.

*3/28/10 – Just received word that the new Video Genius update improves the quality of recorded video and the app is still free.

Price when Reviewed: Free (App store says for a limited time)

Seller: CodeGoo