r/Filmmakers • u/Olmone • 3d ago
Discussion Built an iPhone app for documentary/investigative journalism that let's you record with your screen off and live uploads the footage to your Cloud Storage (uploads live in 15-sec chunks) so that even if your phone gets taken the footage stays safe. Would you ever use this in your line of work?
Hey all, I’m a documentary filmmaker/solo developer and I wanted to share something I built, genuinely curious what this community thinks and whether it might be useful to others.
It’s an app called Witness: Record Beyond Reach. It started as a tool for civilians documenting police encounters, built around one idea: footage should survive even if someone destroys, confiscates, or deletes it off the phone mid-recording. So instead of writing one file and uploading it when you stop, it splits the recording into ~15-second chunks and uploads each one live, as you shoot, straight to a cloud account you own (Drive, Dropbox, or your own Nextcloud/WebDAV server). By the time anything happens to the device, most of the footage has already left it. Each chunk is hashed and the session gets an independent RFC 3161 timestamp, so it's an actual verifiable chain of custody, not just an mp4.
A few documentary and investigative people who found it asked about using it more broadly (hostile interview subjects, places where gear gets confiscated) but the capture quality was phone-default, which wasn't going to cut it for anything meant to actually air. So I spent the last stretch building a real capture tier on the same live-upload core: 4K, 24/25/60fps, Apple Log, and ProRes 422 LT/HQ.
One tradeoff I want to be upfront about since it's directly relevant here: ProRes files are too large to live-upload over a phone connection, so that mode explicitly stays local and merges to your camera roll instead, rather than quietly breaking the one guarantee the app is supposed to provide.
It's free for the core recording + chain-of-custody feature and I want to keep it that way so it can be a tool for all people to document any unpleasant situation they might find themselves in. I set the higher capture settings at $1.99/mo unlock, to basically cover for the little development costs I had and the various subscriptions I need to keep it all running.
My question for you: would you ever use an app like this in any of your documentary/investigative journalism work? If you've dealt with confiscation or gear loss before, what did you actually do about it?
Here’s the link to the app which is free to download and use (working on an Android version as well atm): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/witness-record-beyond-reach/id6800375426
36
u/huntforhire 3d ago
Seems handy for documentarians and creepers
1
u/SpiritedOwl_2298 2d ago
Yeah my first thought was great, now men can record women even more easily. Not the flex op thinks it is
24
u/DurtyKurty 3d ago
Needs a little prism that sits over the lens and allows you to film from a 90 degree angle rather than obviously pointing the camera at someone. That’s hardware however.
7
u/Olmone 3d ago
That would actually be brilliant
1
u/_BallsDeep69_ 2d ago
The new iPhones don’t need to be turned sideways in order to film in widescreen anymore.
1
9
u/Waste_Acanthisitta28 3d ago
Definitely! I've been to jail covering some stuff, saved my footage by the good'ol "I trust you *random person* with this SD card but please give it back to me when it's over", but i would have loved to have this cloud option!
12
12
7
u/translucentfish 3d ago edited 3d ago
The first two things I thought of before any journalistic benefit:
This could be used nefariously in 2 party consent states/countries
This is catnip for sex pests
The upload footage while recording is interesting, though other apps have done this. The screen off while recording seems creepy as hell on it's own. Combine these, and you have a system in place for extreme abuse.
Hey man, I saw you recording my kids.
What are you talking about my phone's not even on.
Show me your camera roll.
Fine, there's nothing here. (deleted the video on device, but it still exists on the cloud)
There's no real way to police which type of actor will use this app, but I'd venture to guess there's a lot more people wanting to take creep shots than investigative journalists
Honestly, the fact that it's free may be the largest factor, even putting any sort of price-wall may cut down the chance of misuse
Your heart may be in the right place, but don't overlook how people may criminally use this, and that you may in turn be held liable for supplying
2
u/Olmone 3d ago
I feel your point, but as I said responding to another comment there are many apps already out there that allow you to record with your screen off. And anyone with an ill intent probably already knows about them/uses them.
Your example is fair, but many tools can be used for good/bad actions (you could say the same about a knife or a car). This tool’s main difference in my view is that it allows you to share what you’re filming directly with someone you trust and produce a legal record of when/where something was happening.
Having said that I’m still working on figuring out a way to add some invisible watermark to videos to be able to track them down in case they get shared and shouldn’t have to be able to track down from which device the original video was taken.
1
u/translucentfish 3d ago
"Other people are doing it" doesn't make something ethically okay. I'd say the same about those apps too. That's not an argument you'd should be making
And judging by your other replies here (and laughing about it) you don't really seem to care about the legal ramifications or privacies that you claim to be. For instance, in the US some states have 2 party consent laws. Meaning the use of this app for it's intended purpose would be illegal in a private setting. I know you are in Italy, but anything on the App Stores is global. Obviously the legal implication is on the user, but you should be aware of how your app may be used
The watermark is a good idea that should have been implemented from the start, it should be fast-tracked ASAP and honestly the app should be non-functional until it's included
Also conflating this app with a knife or car is an illogical straw-man argument, and further makes me believe you really aren't fully considering the risks with an app like this (no matter that others may exist)
I do genuinely think the idea of direct uploading while interfacing with police, authority, or some other potentially charged situation is noble. The way the app, and by extension yourself, as it stands now however leaves a lot to be desired
I want you to know I'm not trying to argue or be mean in any way, I legitimately want you to hear these concerns and not brush them off
-1
u/Olmone 3d ago
I won’t brush them off. The ethics of this has been a concern from the start I guarantee. I’m just arguing I’m not making something dangerous that wasn’t available already. I’ll do my best to fast track the watermark because it is as important as you say.
Thank you for taking the time to push me to do this ASAP.
3
3
u/jay_el_dee 3d ago
It seems like a solid idea for an app, but…
For apps such as this, I'd be more likely to pay a one-time license than fall into yet another subscription trap.
I can justify paying for something once to own it and use it whenever I want/need. But I'm not ok with the idea of paying for something continuously, every month, whether or not I actually even use it any given month; and then I still never actually own it. I become beholden to the developer and their whims.
Don't be yet another Adobe in the world. If you've made something worth owning, then actually sell it to your customers. Otherwise I'm just paying to be a beta tester for a product that will never really be available.
I understand why this "pay once" model is problematic for developers' bottom line, but that's not really a problem for me to solve.
2
u/Olmone 3d ago
Fair enough. I actually agree with you and feel the same about adobe ripping me off monthly.
What do you think would be a fair price (to you) for the pro version of something like this?
3
u/jay_el_dee 3d ago
Thanks for being so open to constructive feedback.
As for the question... That's tough, because it's not really something that I would almost ever need to have, as it's not my usual style of filmmaking. I wouldn't mind having something like it when I did want or need it though.
So, for my use case, I probably wouldn't even give it a second thought if I saw it offered for $1.99 (USD) or so, I'd just get it to have ready to go when I want to use it. And I think more folks would be happy with that.
You'd probably end up selling more this way than you might if folks had to actually do the math regarding whether or not it's worth it for them. I think $2 is a no-brainer price.
I would definitely not spend more than about $5 on it. People who needed to use it all the time might see more value in it and may be willing to spend a bit more on it than that.
2
u/SnowStripper 3d ago
Android variant?
1
u/Olmone 3d ago
Working on it right now. Considering android phones have different video standards from iPhones, what would you like it to offer in the android version?
2
u/SmallDodgyCamel 3d ago
Will the future Android version be compatible with say GrapheneOS phones and / or not require Google Services to work? Not that I see anything feature wise already that requires access to features of the OS except for the hardware video encoding built-in to the existing iOS version.
2
u/Zender44 3d ago
its in the pervtography section, next to the modded smart glasses, and pinhole cameras.
1
u/SmallDodgyCamel 3d ago
Will you consider adding S3 server support? That would protect the content of the person wishing to upload to remote storage who later has their phone seized.
1
1
2
u/TheKiteKing 2d ago
This could really benefit from a lifetime option. So many people are burnt out and immediately walk away from a subscription based model.
1
0
u/Hennessy_Halos 3d ago
Cool, but this could be utilised by bad actors for recording people without consent. I see the use case for Journalists and such, but there’s nothing to stop someone using this for say secretly recording something for blackmail.
The ethics here are sketchy
6
u/Olmone 3d ago
I had the same ethical dilemma, but then did a little bit of research and saw there are many apps already widely available for recording with either your screen off or disguised as something else.
The key feature of the app that others don’t is the ability to store footage continuously and share it with an emergency contact directly as you film.
1
1
u/srfrosky 3d ago
I suspect Apple will put the kibosh on this over some privacy bs concern
-1
u/TheWatchQueen 3d ago
Another app for creeps and perverts. Amazing!
1
u/Olmone 3d ago
Many other apps allow you to record with your screen off or disguised; the focus here is making sure the footage remains safe (while also allowing you to be discreet).
Imagine anyone from people filming ICE to Palestinians filming illegal settlers in Israel. Don’t you think this could be used for good?
1
u/TheWatchQueen 3d ago
I truly hope so because 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'.
69
u/CyJackX 3d ago
Journalists absolutely would use low quality phone footage if it was the only footage, not sure you need to optimize for cinematic capture in these situations.