State of Camo 2024
It’s been quite the year. In the time following our last State of Camo check-in, we saw Camo Studio take on new powers as a streaming control centre on iPad, make its debut on the Microsoft Store, and reach a new level of native performance on the latest operating systems and hardware. From there, it went on to garner the UK’s top honour for innovation, make a big, AI-shaped impression at Microsoft Build and other tech events, and pioneer spatial streaming with a new Camo experience for Apple Vision.
This month's rebranding of the mobile app adds a final flourish, making Camo a fully-fledged ecosystem consisting of two complementary parts: Camo Studio, which runs on PC, Mac, iPad and the Vision Pro, and Camo Camera, which pairs any combination of iOS, Android, iPadOS and visionOS devices with it. It’s never been a busier or more exciting time to be building Camo, but let’s take this moment to look back and appreciate just how far the last twelve months have taken us.
Camo Studio for iPad
It started as an idea inspired by Apple’s first preview of iPadOS 17. Support for connected cameras and microphones meant the iPad could become an essential device for streaming, recording and monitoring video. It could complement or even fully replace a dedicated streaming computer, and operate as a full-scale, portable production hub, similar to OBS but native to iPad.
In the year since we released Camo Studio for iPad as a free app into the wild (on the same day that iPadOS 17 debuted), we’ve taken it to TwitchCon, reached #1 on the App Store in Japan, and never tired of watching creators and streamers create jaw-dropping content. At every step, we’ve taken careful notes on their feedback for improving it.
Today, the updated app boasts a full-scale scene editor packed with tools for creating and arranging text, images, shapes and web layers; a refreshed UI that makes achieving pro results easier than ever; simplified in-iPad recording; and support for mobile devices as both cameras and microphones. We think it’s pretty special, but don’t just take our word for it - download it, design some scenes, and see for yourself.
Microsoft Store
In late September last year, Camo went live on the Microsoft Store, making the discovery and download of video superpowers even more seamless for PC users. This capped a year-long process of working closely with the teams at Microsoft to make Camo Studio for Windows a truly native experience on the platform, complete with a fresh Fluent Design interface and building on the latest Windows APIs and tooling.
It’s fantastic to have Camo winning Editor’s Choice awards and consistently ranking near the top 10 apps on a platform so many creators and professionals turn to for their tools, but it’s not just about increased downloads. At the heart of our decision to publish on the Microsoft Store is our commitment to the integrity of product, experience, presentation and behaviour that Camo’s presence there represents. Thanks to the Microsoft Store’s sandboxing, transparency, curation, and reviews, Windows users can be confident that when they download the app, it will operate securely and reliably.
Camo for Windows on Arm
Not everyone may get excited at the mere mention of neural processing units (NPUs), next-gen chip architectures, and AI-enabled image analysis, but when we deployed our newest native Camo user experience last winter, Arm users discovered first-hand what the cutting edge of processing tech means for the Camo experience. In bringing Camo to Windows on Arm, we unlocked the amazing potential of the platform, delivering the holy grail of improved performance and efficiency combined.
It’s an achievement made possible by the advent of the NPU, which takes on much of the processing burden from the CPU and GPU when Camo goes to work on Windows on Arm. This pays off with smoother running of Camo’s high-quality image processing and effects, readily available processing power for user multi-tasking, better battery life, and machines that run cool and quiet.
Unlocking a whole new component of a user’s computer is more than an optimisation - it’s a leap in capability akin to Moore’s Law. If you already have a Windows on Arm machine and want to see it in action, just download the latest version of Camo from the Microsoft Store to get the full native experience.
King’s Award
In April, as the wet British winter gave way to wet British spring, we learned that our work building Camo had been recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise in the area of innovation. For those who aren’t familiar with the landscape of UK business honours, the King’s Awards are the highest official award a British company can receive. Its recipients - recommended by the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee and awarded by the monarch - are organisations that have made outstanding contributions to innovation, international trade, sustainability and social mobility.
Though this was the third time we’ve received this honour over the years, it’s the first awarded specifically for our work with Camo. In the days that followed, we celebrated as a team, shared the news with our user community, and proudly added the coveted King’s Award badge to the website. Finally, in July, Aidan suited up, brushed up on royal protocol, and attended the official awards ceremony with King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
Microsoft Build 2024
As May rolled around and Microsoft Build approached, we weren’t expecting anything like the exposure Camo garnered at the previous year’s Windows developer conference, when Aidan took to the big screens during the keynote to show off the look and feel of Camo on Windows.
We were wrong, bigly. At this year’s Build, Camo was the Caddyshack gopher of the show, popping up both in the keynote and multiple breakout sessions. Turns out we were among the first developers to create an entirely native app experience for Windows on Arm, and our work on Camo’s unparalleled UX and new, thoughtful applications for AI had not gone unnoticed. It also helped that a number of OEMs had unveiled the next generation of computing hardware - the Copilot+ PC - just before the event. Powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, these computers represented a huge leap forward for any app that could natively take advantage of its dedicated AI capabilities.
As we headed out to SeaTac after the show, we felt energised about the summer ahead. As more and more users begin to move to the new Copilot+ PC hardware, Camo would be there to help them take full advantage of these new systems’ incredible capabilities.
Computex/The Year of the AI PC
In June, we took off for Taipei. Copilot+ PCs had been announced at Build, but it was at Computex that attendees would have the chance to really put the new tech through its paces. Those who dropped by the AMD booth saw exactly what the new chip architecture made possible for Camo, with the a Ryzen AI 3000 series chip breezily powering simultaneous, real-time workloads on its NPU.
As we like to remind each other on our team (often several times a day), 2024 is the Year of the AI PC, and at Computex our chip partners combined with the biggest names in hardware to show off the powerful NPUs coming down the product pipeline. Camo, we’re proud to say, is among the few apps that will run natively on every one. From AMD’s Ryzen AI and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips to Intel’s Meteor Lake and Lunar Lake, we’re committed to working with our partners to keep Camo firmly on the bleeding edge of app development and performance.
Camo Studio for Apple Vision
Instead of slowing down for the summer, we decided to complete the Camo Studio trilogy in July by releasing an entirely new (and free) spatial app. Camo Studio for Apple Vision acts like OBS for VR, giving Vision Pro users the tools to build scenes using any combination of Persona, their Vision view and paired cameras, and then record or stream their experience directly to their favourite platform. As you’d expect, we designed the UI to fit seamlessly into the Vision environment, and built in all of Camo’s signature features, including background modes, framing and Spotlight. It’s a lot of fun to use, and also to watch in action.
As we were building Camo Studio for Apple Vision, it seemed a pity to just stop there. Thus, in the grand tradition of “one more thing,” we expanded the Camo mobile app to visionOS. Now downloadable in TestFlight, the free download gives users the ability to bring their Persona into Camo Studio on their computer, refine and customise it with background modes, overlays, and image adjustments, and then use it on 4K recorded video or in online meetings.
The enthusiastic response that greeted our launch announcement (we appreciate the shoutout, Marques Brownlee) has us excited to see what happens when users start getting Visionary with Camo. Apple has already promoted it as one of the best apps for Vision, and as the platform evolves, Camo will be evolving right along with it.
Camo Camera
While deploying Camo for both the iPad and Vision platforms has been equal parts fun and challenging, the process gave rise to a small point of potential confusion: both platforms now support Camo Studio, our powerful all-in-one streaming and video hub, and also Camo, the companion app that sends video (or your Spatial Persona) from one device to another that’s running Camo Studio. With their dual capability as both hub and source, saying something like “Get Camo for your iPad” becomes a slightly less obvious proposition.
This month, to make the distinction between our apps clear, we’re changing the name of the Camo companion app to Camo Camera. It still works the same magic for iOS, Android, iPadOS and visionOS, and remains the best tool out there for transforming your phone into the best webcam you’ve ever had.
Growing the team
Finally, we’re still hiring for a number of positions, so if you’re interested in working on the cutting edge of values-led app development with a close-knit group of thinkers, engineers, testers and creatives, take a look at the available roles.
Now back to work on Camo, and to another twelve months that promise new features, new platforms and possibilities, and further momentous Camo news to be shared when the time seems right. We want to thank all of those who have joined us on this journey, both on the road we’ve travelled and the path we’ve yet to blaze. Thanks to our community, our partners, and the hard work of our talented team, the state of Camo is strong.
