How to create Flashlight application in android.

How to create Flashlight application in android.

In this tutorial we will learn how to use android built in camera led as flashlight/torchlight.

by using camera object and by adding flash mode to camera object parameters using setFlashMode(Parameters.FLASH_MODE_TORCH) we can use camera flash as torch.

(only device which has camera LED Hardware)

first create a new android project.

open main layout file and add a ToggleButton to your main layout file(eg.:activity_main.xml)

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" >
    <ToggleButton
        android:id="@+id/on_off_button"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:textOff="Flash Light Off"
        android:textOn="Flash Light On" />
</RelativeLayout>

and now open main Activity file and made these changes(eg.:MainActivity.java)

package com.example.torchlight;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.hardware.Camera;
import android.hardware.Camera.Parameters;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Window;
import android.widget.CompoundButton;
import android.widget.Toast;
import android.widget.ToggleButton;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
    Camera camera = null;
    Parameters parameters;
    Context context = null;
    ToggleButton tbOnOff = null;
    
    
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        context = this;
        requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        tbOnOff = (ToggleButton) findViewById(R.id.on_off_button);
        tbOnOff.setOnCheckedChangeListener(new CompoundButton.OnCheckedChangeListener() {
            public void onCheckedChanged(CompoundButton buttonView,
                    boolean isChecked) {
                if (isChecked) {
                    if (camera == null) {
                        // get camera parameters and set flash mode to  FLASH_MODE_TORCH
                        camera = Camera.open();
                        parameters = camera.getParameters();
                        parameters.setFlashMode(Parameters.FLASH_MODE_TORCH);
                        camera.setParameters(parameters);
                    }
                } else {
                    if (camera != null) {
                        parameters.setFlashMode(Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF);
                        camera.setParameters(parameters);
                        camera.release();
                        camera = null;
                    }
                }
            }
        });
        //check that device has flash or not
        
        boolean checkFlash = context.getPackageManager().hasSystemFeature(
                PackageManager.FEATURE_CAMERA_FLASH);
        if (!checkFlash) {
            tbOnOff.setEnabled(false);
            Toast.makeText(context, "LED Not Available!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
                    .show();
        }
    }
    // release camera when onPause called
    
    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        super.onPause();
        if (camera != null) {
            parameters.setFlashMode(Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF);
            camera.setParameters(parameters);
            camera.release();
            camera = null;
        }
    }
}

don’t forget to add camera permission in Manifest file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.torchlight"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >
    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="8"
        android:targetSdkVersion="17" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="com.example.torchlight.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
</manifest>

by running this application on actual android device you can use your android device camera LED as flash light/torch light.