Spark Camera Review

The App Store is loaded with a plethora of video apps, and Spark Camera is one of the newest ones to arrive. Its elegant interface combined with its easy-to-use features makes it worth exploring, but the app still has room to grow.

When Spark Camera is opened, it launches users straight to the main recording screen. From there, the app guides users along with short instruction memos on the screen. Simply tap and hold anywhere to begin recording and let go to stop the clip. Users can then hold down the screen again to start a new recording or tap on the save button to see a live preview.

On the preview screen it’s possible to swipe right or left to see a current total of ten filters. Unfortunately the filters cannot be viewed while recording, and it appears that users can only apply one filter to each clip. Additionally, users can also add music from their iPhone to their videos. However, the music must be DRM free in order for users to add songs to their video clips.

Videos can then be saved to the camera roll, where users can string up to 30 seconds of footage to a project or share their videos via Twitter, Instagram, iMessage, Facebook, and email. The app features a gallery where users can view all their videos in one location.

While Spark Camera is all about simplicity, it needs more creative control to make it stand out from other apps like it. For instance, a song always starts from the beginning and there is no way to select a part of the song. The app also doesn’t show users what music they can or cannot use so it’s mostly just trial and error trying to find a song that isn’t protected. Furthermore, there’s no option to mute the microphone audio completely and replace it with a song. However, the biggest disappointment is that users cannot import clips from their camera roll into the app.

Spark Camera has potential but it’s not quite ready for prime time. Adding more features could make it stand out more, but for now users will more than likely find better free options in the App Store.