Horizon SDK for iOS

Horizon SDK is a real-time video recording and photo capture library for iOS.

Features:

• Horizon real-time leveling algorithm (more at https://horizon.camera)
• Recording up to 4K, at the frame rates each camera supports, in HEVC or H.264
• Every built-in camera: wide, ultra wide, telephoto and front
• Leveled photos, in HEIF or JPEG
• Custom filters using Core Image
• Multiple previews
• A ready-made view controller for quick integration
• Access to the video buffer for further processing or live streaming

To use Horizon SDK in your app you need an API key: contact us. The example apps contain their own API keys.

Horizon SDK supports iOS 15 and later.

Installation

Swift Package Manager

In Xcode, choose File › Add Package Dependencies, enter https://github.com/HorizonCamera/HorizonSDK-iOS and add the HorizonSDK library to your app target.

CocoaPods

pod 'HorizonSDK', '~> 3.0'

CocoaPods trunk stops accepting new versions on December 2, 2026. Releases after that date ship through Swift Package Manager only.

Manually

Drag HorizonSDK/HorizonSDK.xcframework into your project and set it to Embed & Sign. The framework carries its own resources.

Then add NSCameraUsageDescription, NSMicrophoneUsageDescription (to record sound) and, if you save to Photos, NSPhotoLibraryAddUsageDescription to your Info.plist.

Documentation

The documentation covers Installation, a Quick Start and the full API reference.

Upgrading from 2.x

3.0 needs iOS 15. Objective-C code written for 2.x keeps building: the replaced APIs are deprecated, not removed, and still work in 3.x. Swift code needs the changes below.

Swift: update these delegate signatures, or they are never called. Their dictionaries are now typed. With the 2.x signature Swift only warns that the method "nearly matches" the protocol, and the SDK never calls it:

// HVTCameraDelegate
func hvtCamera(_ hvtCamera: HVTCamera, didStopRecordingWithMetadata metadata: [String : Any])
func hvtCamera(_ hvtCamera: HVTCamera, didCapturePhotoData photo: Data, metadata: [String : Any])
func hvtCamera(_ hvtCamera: HVTCamera, didCapturePhotoImageRef photo: CGImage, metadata: [String : Any])

// HVTCameraControllerDelegate
func cameraController(_ cameraController: HVTCameraController, didFinishCapturingMediaWithInfo info: [String : Any])

The other delegate methods now take non-optional parameters (HVTCamera instead of HVTCamera!). Their 2.x signatures still work, with a warning about optionality.

Swift: activation throws. activate(withAPIKey:) reports failures as a Swift error instead of an Objective-C exception:

do {
    try HVTSDK.sharedInstance().activate(withAPIKey: "YOUR_API_KEY")
} catch {
    print("Horizon SDK activation failed: \(error)")
}

Replacements for deprecated APIs:

2.x	3.0
activateWithAPIKey:, activateWithAPIKey:settings:	activateWithAPIKey:error:, activateWithAPIKey:settings:error:
startRunning	startRunningWithCompletion: (does not block; reports why it could not start)
stopRunning	stopRunningWithCompletion:
startRecordingWithMovieURL: and its variants	startRecordingWithConfiguration:error: with HVTRecordingConfiguration
captureFullResolutionPhoto, captureFullResolutionPhotoUsingHDR:	capturePhotoWithSettings: with HVTPhotoSettings
hvtCamera:didCapturePhotoData:metadata:, hvtCamera:didCapturePhotoImageRef:metadata:	hvtCamera:didCapturePhoto: with HVTPhoto
setCameraPosition:…, setCameraResolution:…, setCaptureDevice:resolution:…	setCaptureDevice:format:frameRate:error:, with the format from formatForDevice:resolution:frameRate:
isCameraPositionSupported:	availableDevices
HVTCameraController.mediaTypes	allowedContentTypes (UTType)

Also new in 3.0: camera interruption reporting (hvtCamera:wasInterrupted:, hvtCameraInterruptionEnded:), ultra wide and telephoto cameras, HEVC and HEIF, 4K in HVTCameraController, and a Metal preview.

Examples

The Examples directory has three Xcode projects. All need iOS 15 or later; to run one on a device, choose your team under Signing & Capabilities.

• HorizonSDKDemo: the basics. A preview, a camera and a record button.
• AdvancedHorizonSDKDemo: two previews, one plain and one leveled, with camera switching, crop modes, a Core Image filter and aspect fill or fit on double tap.
• SwiftHorizonSDKDemo: the basics in Swift.