There are a number of third party apps that allow you to take panoramic photos on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Now it looks like Apple is adding a similar feature to the native camera app in iOS. The folks over at 9 to 5 Mac have spotted some portions of the iOS 5 source code related to panoramic photos.
Adding this feature is a logical evolution for the camera app, which Apple previously updated with HDR (high dynamic range), red eye correction, and crop and rotate.
Apple is also already in possession of its own panorama software technology that it developed in the 1990s for Mac OS 9, called the “Quicktime VR Authoring Studio.”
As a result of making this native to iOS 5, Apple could potentially hurt many third-party panoramic photo apps that have crowded a good portion of the App Store’s photography category — or at least force them to step up their game with new features.
By the final iOS 5 release, users should be able to virtually stitch photos together or possibly even make videos with this new feature.
