Turn on torch/flash on iPhone

Question

I know that the only way to turn on the flash and keep it on on iPhone 4 is by turning the video camera on. I'm not too sure of the code though. Here is what I am trying:

-(IBAction)turnTorchOn {
    AVCaptureSession *captureSession = [[AVCaptureSession alloc] init];
    AVCaptureDevice *videoCaptureDevice = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
    NSError *error = nil;
    AVCaptureDeviceInput *videoInput = [AVCaptureDeviceInput deviceInputWithDevice:videoCaptureDevice error:&error];

    if (videoInput) {
        [captureSession addInput:videoInput];

        AVCaptureVideoDataOutput* videoOutput = [[AVCaptureVideoDataOutput alloc] init];
        [videoOutput setSampleBufferDelegate:self queue:dispatch_get_current_queue()];

        [captureSession addOutput:videoOutput];

        [captureSession startRunning];

        videoCaptureDevice.torchMode = AVCaptureTorchModeOn;
    }   
}

Does anybody know if this would work or am I missing anything? (I don't have an iPhone 4 yet to test on -just trying out some of the new API's).

Thanks

Answer 1

Here's a shorter version you can now use to turn the light on or off:

AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
if ([device hasTorch]) {
    [device lockForConfiguration:nil];
    [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOn];  // use AVCaptureTorchModeOff to turn off
    [device unlockForConfiguration];
}

UPDATE: (March 2015)

With iOS 6.0 and later, you can control the brightness or level of the torch using the following method:

- (void)setTorchToLevel:(float)torchLevel
{
    AVCaptureDevice *device = [AVCaptureDevice defaultDeviceWithMediaType:AVMediaTypeVideo];
    if ([device hasTorch]) {
        [device lockForConfiguration:nil];
        if (torchLevel <= 0.0) {
            [device setTorchMode:AVCaptureTorchModeOff];
        }
        else {
            if (torchLevel >= 1.0)
                torchLevel = AVCaptureMaxAvailableTorchLevel;
            BOOL success = [device setTorchModeOnWithLevel:torchLevel   error:nil];
        }
        [device unlockForConfiguration];
    }
}

You may also want to monitor the return value (success) from setTorchModeOnWithLevel:. You may get a failure if you try to set the level too high and the torch is overheating. In that case setting the level to AVCaptureMaxAvailableTorchLevel will set the level to the highest level that is allowed given the temperature of the torch.