Thermal Camera: Heat Sensor FX
FAQ & support
Thermal Camera for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. If your question is not here, write to us.
The effects
- Does Thermal Camera measure real temperature?
- No. Real thermal imaging needs a dedicated infrared sensor, which no iPhone or iPad has. Thermal Camera maps the brightness of the ordinary camera picture onto thermal colour palettes, so bright areas read as "hot" and dark ones as "cold". For real temperature readings you need hardware such as a FLIR or Seek accessory.
- What does the HUD show?
- A crosshair, a colour bar for the current palette, and hot and cold markers that follow the brightest and the darkest region of the picture live, the way a thermal imager marks its own extremes. It also brackets the people it finds in the frame.
- Does it work in complete darkness?
- No. Every effect is built from the camera picture, so the camera needs some light to work with. The Night effects brighten and tint a dim scene, which is a real help in a low-light room, but in total darkness there is nothing for the camera to capture.
- What effects are there?
- Twenty, across three modes. THERMAL has eight false-colour palettes (Iron, White, Black, Rainbow, Arctic, Lava, Glow, Amber). NIGHT has five (green and amber night vision, UV blacklight, infrared, ghost). FX has seven (glitch, scanline, pixel, neon, x-ray, comic, crystal). All twenty are part of Pro. Without a subscription you get the standard camera and the gallery.
- What is the detail overlay?
- An MSX-style edge layer that draws contours on top of the colour, so faces, text and objects stay readable instead of dissolving into the gradient. You can also turn any effect up or down with the intensity slider.
Capturing
- Where are my photos and videos saved?
- Into the app's own gallery on your device, and to your photo library if you allow it. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
- Can I record video?
- Yes, with Pro. Switch the shutter to VIDEO and record with sound, exactly as the effect looks on screen.
- Can I apply the effects to a photo I already have?
- Yes, with Pro. Open the gallery and import a photo from your camera roll to run it through any effect.
Apple Watch
- How does the Apple Watch shutter work?
- Apple Watch has no camera, so it works as a remote for your iPhone. Open Thermal Camera on your iPhone and leave the camera screen showing, then open the app on your watch. You get a live preview, a shutter button, a 3 or 10 second timer, a camera flip, and the Digital Crown to change the effect. On models that support it, Double Tap fires the shutter.
- The watch says "iPhone Not Reachable" or "Open Thermal Camera".
- Keep the iPhone nearby and unlocked with Thermal Camera open on the camera screen, and check that Bluetooth is on. The watch app needs watchOS 11 or later.
Subscription
- What does Thermal Camera Pro unlock?
- All 20 thermal, night vision and FX effects, the HUD, the MSX detail overlay, intensity control, video recording and camera roll import. The standard camera and the gallery stay free.
- How do I cancel?
- Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us. Open Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions on your device, choose Thermal Camera and cancel there. Cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends to avoid the next charge. You keep Pro until the end of the period you have already paid for.
- I changed device — where did Pro go?
- Tap Restore Purchases on the paywall or in Settings, signed in with the same Apple Account you bought it with.
Still stuck?
Email us and we answer in English. Please say which device and iOS version you are on.