A Simple Capture Monitor for USB-C External Cameras on iPad

PortShot is an app that turns your iPad into a simple capture monitor for USB-C external cameras. You can take photos and record videos while viewing the live feed from an external camera. Captured media is saved, reviewed, and deleted inside the app, without mixing it into Photos or your camera roll.

Who It Is For

• People who want to capture while checking USB-C external UVC camera footage on an iPad
• People who want to capture what is at hand, objects, documents, or a desktop scene on the spot
• People who want to use an iPad for product shots, document checks, or top-down viewing
• People who want to manage captured data separately by use case, without mixing it into the camera roll

Turn Your iPad Into a Capture Monitor for an External Webcam

Sometimes, even when all you want is to view an external camera feed on an iPad, the flow for checking, capturing, saving, and reviewing can feel scattered.

PortShot narrows that use case down.

What you do is simple.

1. Connect a USB-C external UVC camera to your iPad
2. Open PortShot
3. Take a photo or record a video while viewing the live feed
4. Review saved media inside the app

It is not a feature-rich editing app. It is a capture monitor for external cameras, focused on live preview, capture, saving, review, and deletion.

Keep It Out of the Camera Roll

Photos and videos captured with PortShot are saved inside the app, not to the standard Photos app or camera roll.

For example, you may want to keep product-shot check images, temporary document records, or desktop work scenes separate from everyday photos. In PortShot, you can review captured items inside the app and delete anything unnecessary on the spot.

The app focuses on keeping “quickly captured reference data” out of your camera roll.

What Matters in the First Version

The first version of PortShot focuses on the capture experience using one external UVC camera.

The main features are as follows.

• Detection of one external UVC camera
• Live preview display
• Photo capture
• Start and stop video recording
• In-app saving
• List display of saved media
• Full-screen photo display
• Video playback
• Deletion
• Display of camera connection and disconnection status
• Mirror ON / OFF toggle

At the same time, the following features are outside the scope of the first version.

• Two-camera simultaneous connection, multi-angle
• Camera roll saving
• Publishing to the Files app
• Sharing, export
• Filters, cropping, editing
• Albums, tags, search
• iCloud sync
• Live streaming
• HDMI capture support

View the external camera feed, capture on the spot, and review inside the app. The priority for now is making that full flow easy to use without confusion.

How to Use It in 3 Steps

The flow to try with PortShot is the following three steps.

1. Connect a USB-C camera to your iPad
2. Open PortShot
3. Capture while viewing the live feed

In situations that use an external camera, such as product shots, document checks, recording hand work, or top-down desktop checks, being able to “capture while viewing” is important. PortShot aims to let you check on the spot, save on the spot, and review as-is.

Compatibility

PortShot is an iPad-only app. A USB-C external UVC camera is required for use.

Compatibility with external cameras is an important point to verify. Operation is not guaranteed with every USB camera, so announcements and explanations will avoid making broad claims about supported coverage and will clearly communicate the requirements.

What PortShot Aims To Be

PortShot is not an app that turns the iPad into an all-purpose capture environment.

Connect a USB-C external camera, check the live feed, and take photos or videos. Review what you captured inside the app. Delete it if you do not need it.

It is an app for completing that small task without extra steps.