Getting Started with Lens
What you'll learn: How to take your first verified photo in under 2 minutes.
Quick Start
- Open Lens and tap Continue on the welcome screen.
- Grant permissions when prompted (camera, location).
- Point and shoot — the data overlay appears automatically.
- Find your photo in Gallery with embedded metadata.
That's it. Your first verified capture is complete.
Core Concepts
What is "Verified Capture"?
Lens embeds real-time data directly onto your photos and videos at the moment of capture:
| Data Embedded | Source |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Device clock |
| GPS Coordinates | Device location services |
| Address | Reverse geocoding |
| Compass Heading | Device magnetometer |
| Weather | Optional (requires enable) |
| C2PA Signature | Cryptographic digital sign (Photo & Video) |
This creates proof of work — visual evidence that a capture occurred at a specific place and time.
Privacy First
- All processing happens on your device. Photos are never uploaded.
- Minimal analytics. We collect anonymous, aggregate usage data to fix bugs and improve the app. You can disable this in Settings → About → Diagnostics.
- You own your data. Export and delete at any time.
The Main Interface
Camera Screen
| Element | Action |
|---|---|
| Shutter Button | Tap to capture photo |
| Video Button | Tap to start/stop recording |
| Gallery Icon | Bottom-left — access captured media |
| Settings Gear | Top-right — adjust preferences |
| Tap on preview | Focus at that point |
| Slide up/down | Adjust exposure |
Overlay Elements
The data overlay displays in real-time on your preview:
- Info Card — Date, time, coordinates, address
- Mini-map — Visual location context (optional)
- Compass — Heading indicator
- Custom Logo — Your branding (optional)
Taking Your First Photo
Step 1: Frame Your Subject
Position your device. The overlay updates live as you move.
Step 2: Tap to Focus (Optional)
Tap anywhere on the preview to set focus point. Slide up/down to adjust exposure.
Step 2: Add a Quick Note (Optional)
Tap the Note area on the overlay to add a site observation. You can type custom text or select from your Quick Note Templates for speed.
Step 3: Capture
Tap the shutter button. The photo saves immediately to your gallery with all metadata embedded.
Step 4: Review
Open Gallery → tap your photo → view the captured data permanently embedded in the image.
Recording Video
- Tap the video icon to switch modes (or swipe on the shutter).
- Tap record to start. The overlay displays live on the recording.
- Tap stop to finish.
- Video saves to gallery with embedded data throughout the clip.
Customizing the Overlay
Access Settings (gear icon) to adjust:
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Project Profile | Switch between saved project presets |
| Project Name | Pre-filled from active profile |
| Client Name | Pre-filled from active profile |
| Font Pairing | Choose typography style |
| Map Style | Satellite, Standard, or None |
| Show/Hide Map | Toggle mini-map visibility |
| Custom Logo | Upload your branding image |
Creating AI Reports
Generate professional PDF reports from your captures:
- Open Gallery.
- Select photos (long-press to multi-select).
- Tap Create Report.
- Add notes, adjust title.
- Generate — AI structures your report.
- Export or Share the PDF.
Next Steps
- Add a custom logo: Settings → Branding → Add Logo
- Set project defaults: Settings → Project Name
- Explore video recording: Swipe to video mode
Content Credentials (C2PA)
Lens supports hardware-backed Content Credentials to help provenance tools evaluate where your photos came from and when they were signed.
[!IMPORTANT] Feature Preview: This feature is currently in Preview. Verification sites will currently show "Lens App" (self-signed) with a trusted timestamp when online (lens-specific phrasing based on RFC 3161 guidance) until our partnership with a public Certificate Authority is finalized.
Enrolling Your Device
- Go to Settings → Lens Labs.
- Toggle Content Credentials to ON.
- Tap Enroll with Hardware Key.
- Wait for the status to change to "Enrolled (Hardware Backed)".
Once enrolled, every photo you take will be digitally signed by your device's secure hardware.
Signing limits & behavior
-
Photos
Photos are signed after processing. If signing fails (for example due to time tampering, certificate issues, or system limits), the photo is still saved to your library. When enabled, Lens shows a short message like "Content Credentials failed – check Settings" so you know what happened. -
Videos
Videos are signed up to a safe size so your device stays responsive. Very long or extremely large videos may be saved without Content Credentials if signing would risk crashes or system instability. In that case you'll see a message such as "Video too large to sign – saved without Content Credentials". -
Signed archive copy
Because some apps strip Content Credentials when importing media, Lens keeps a signed master copy in your configured C2PA archive (iCloud Drive or On My iPhone). If there isn't enough space to store this archive copy, Lens saves the capture but shows a warning like "Not enough storage to archive signed copy – saved without archive backup" so you can free space later (Lens-specific behavior).
Sources & Verification
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Content Credentials as the user-facing name and C2PA as the underlying standard | C2PA UX Recommendations 2.0, terminology | Verified |
| Use of trusted timestamps via TSA when online | C2PA Technical Specification 2.2, RFC 3161 timestamp guidance | Verified |
| Self-signed identity and archive-copy behavior | Lens implementation and product design | Lens-specific |