Apple patent suggests Photo Booth for iOS

Patently Apple uncovered a new patent that describes an iOS variant of the Photo Booth app that may be under development for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The patent describes an image capture and effects system that can be triggered by external cues such as shaking your phone.

A new setting for "Image Effects" is presented under the Wallpaper option that lets you turn on special effects for select camera applications. In addition to toggles for iPod video, the camera and the photo app, there are control options for audio, motion, location and camera data. There are several familiar Photo Booth settings, such as X-Ray, Glow and Thermal Effects, in these various sub-menus.

The patent also describes a variety of audio, video and imaging effects that range from the complex waves and reflections down to the simple brush stroke and rotation. Taken as a whole, the patent seems to describe an image capturing application that automatically applies a variety of effects to your photos similar to the desktop Photo Booth application.

Earlier this year, several circulating rumors suggested Photo Booth was coming to iOS. An unknown source of BGR claimed to have knowledge of a Photo Booth application for the iPad as well as an iPad version of the iLife suite. Adding some credibility to this rumor was the discovery of several references to PhotoBooth and PhotoBoothEffects within the codebase of iOS 4.3.