Why I built it
Ideas written on a phone and takes filmed on it usually live in different apps, so the words that were read on camera get lost.
What exists
On 16 September 2026 FocalaneCapture replaced the earlier iPhone capture app in place, with the existing data byte-identical, and it is accepted as the owner-operated production app. It is not an App Store or TestFlight release.
How it works
A native SwiftUI app with a local note store that records where each block of writing came from. A saved note or an accepted Focalane script becomes the teleprompter prompt, and the camera keeps immutable takes on the phone. Notes can be delivered to VoiceOfTheTexts' Mac relay over the local network, and FocalaneSpatialLab may propose filming setups that FocalaneCapture accepts or ignores.
- Notes with per-block provenance and folders
- Saved notes or accepted scripts as teleprompter prompts
- Camera with a level guide and immutable takes
- Rear and front camera analysis checks
- Note delivery to a Mac relay
My role
Designed the writing-first flow, provenance rules, camera and take boundaries, and the in-place succession; directed and reviewed the implementation and ran the attended acceptance on a real iPhone.
What I checked
- candidateProduction-candidate delivery accepted
- successionReplaced the earlier capture app in place with existing data byte-identical
- attendedCamera, takes, and teleprompter accepted on a real iPhone
- attendedSigned single-note delivery to the Mac relay accepted
- attendedFront camera analysis accepted
What stays bounded
- Not an App Store or TestFlight release
- Camera and microphone access is requested only when filming starts
- Relay delivery is not backup, and VOTT import stays separate
- FocalaneSpatialLab only proposes; FocalaneCapture decides
What is missing
- Hosted script sync is proven as a package but not linked into the app.
- Automatic adoption of takes into Focalane and the first production edit remain open.
Next
Link hosted sync of accepted scripts into the app after its own acceptance.
Later ideas, not current features
- Link hosted sync of accepted scripts, keeping the file fallback
- A shared filming-readiness check before FocalaneRecorder and FocalaneCapture takes combine