InspectCam™

Coming in version 1.2

A phone level that keeps the flashlight on

Coming in InspectCam™ 1.2: a level drawn on the live camera, so turning it on never turns your light off.

Get InspectCam™ freeFree on Android. The level comes in version 1.2.
Illustration: a phone standing on its long side on the rim joist of a shed's new floor frame, InspectCam open on it, with blocking, offcuts and tools on the frame behind. An enlarged inset of its screen shows the 1.2 level: an amber bar across the picture with a glass vial in the middle, its white bubble left of centre against a tick, 1.4° under it beside a Measure button, and the tool rail with Level lit.
IllustrationOn its long side on a rim joist, the phone reads the joist: 1.4°, amber, not level yet. Inset: the screen, enlarged. Photo: “PowerShed build (DSC06521 raw-denoise)” by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, with a phone showing InspectCam™ placed on it. Phone frame: Android Studio device art, Apache 2.0.

By Andre Gaz, developer of InspectCam™ · Published · Last updated

Version 1.2 of InspectCam™ adds a free level that reads only the phone's motion sensor, so the camera keeps running and the level never turns the light off. Held up, it shows a spirit level with the angle; laid down, a bubble. Measure locks a roof's pitch and can photograph it. Until 1.2 reaches Google Play, the free app there is the camera with the light on.

The light went off on a foundation job

I was working on a foundation and opened the level in my iPhone's Measure app. Measure takes the camera, and my flashlight went off.

InspectCam™'s level, coming in version 1.2, is built around that. It reads only the phone's motion sensor and never touches the camera or the light, so the picture stays live and turning the level on never turns the light off.

Held up, a spirit level. Laid down, a bubble.

In version 1.2, tap Level on the camera's tool rail. Held up, you get a spirit level across the picture: a long bar that stays with the horizon as the phone tilts, a glass vial in its middle with two ticks, and a white bubble that slides to the high side, with the angle under it, like "1.4°". It's amber off level and turns green at level, the bubble between the ticks, with a short buzz (not while you're recording). Stand the phone on its long side and it reads that side, so along a rafter or a joist it reads the rafter or the joist.

Lay the phone down and it switches by itself to a bubble in a ring, in the same amber and green. Near level you get two angles, front to back and side to side ("0.3° / 1.1°"). On a slope it gives the surface's slope, whichever way the phone is turned on it.

Illustration: a phone lying face up on weathered gray deck boards with InspectCam open. An enlarged inset of its screen shows the level lying down: an amber ring with a see-through amber fill, a solid amber bubble just right of the centre mark, and 0.3° / 1.1° under it beside a Measure button.
IllustrationLaid on a deck board: the ring, its bubble and two angles, front to back and side to side. Inset: the screen, enlarged. The camera faces the board, so the picture behind the ring is only a blur. Photo: “Wooden boards” by nywriter21, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped, with a phone showing InspectCam™ placed on it (the boards, blurred, are also its camera view). Phone frame: Android Studio device art, Apache 2.0.

Degrees, percent, roof pitch or inches per foot

In version 1.2, tap the number to change the unit: degrees, percent, roof pitch the way roofers say it ("6/12", to the half: "6½/12"), or inches per foot to the nearest 1/16. It remembers your pick.

Measure: lock a roof's pitch

Beside the number, version 1.2 adds Measure. Tap it and a big card says: "Stand the phone on its long side, along the slope." Stand it on the roof with the buttons up. Once it has rested about 2 seconds, the reading locks, the phone buzzes twice, and a white card shows the pitch, like 6/12, marked Measured.

Illustration: a phone standing on its long side on an asphalt shingle roof, along the slope, beside a rusty roof vent, with the roof's edge and a lawn below in the far corner and the phone's shadow on the shingles. An enlarged inset of its screen shows a white card reading ROOF PITCH, 6/12, 26.6° and Measured with a green check, the rough-check line “About. A rough check. Not for code or safety.” and a lit Measure button.
IllustrationOn its long side along the slope, buttons up: in version 1.2, Measure locks the pitch on a white card. Inset: the screen, enlarged. Shown in video mode, where Measure only measures, at the moment it locks, with the tool rail still folded away. It reads roofs up to 12/12; on a rough surface it suggests a straight board under the phone. Photo: “Measuring” by Brian Robinson (DolfinDans), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr, cropped, the tape measure and the hand holding it removed, with a phone showing InspectCam™ placed on the roof. Phone frame: Android Studio device art, Apache 2.0.

Lying flat or held in your hand, it won't lock.

In photo mode, it takes the pitch photo

In photo mode, Measure takes one photo the moment it locks, with the pitch on a white label in the middle: ROOF PITCH, 6/12, 26.6°, Measured. Before you keep it you can drag the label, pinch it bigger or smaller, or turn it. Then Keep, or Delete with a few seconds to undo. After Keep it asks you to step back and frame the spot for a second photo, or Skip; then Measure is done. In video mode, Measure only measures. All of this comes in version 1.2.

A rough check, not a level

The level and Measure are rough checks. Under every Measure result, the app says so in its own words: “About. A rough check. Not for code or safety.” A phone is not a level or a survey tool. A green level, a check mark, or the words "Level" or "Measured" only tell you what the phone read. Don't rely on a reading alone for engineering, safety, building code, inspection, insurance or structural decisions. Check with the right tool before you decide.

With Pro, the reading goes on the photo's stamp

Pro is coming soon. Its stamp prints the date and time, and the place where location is allowed, along the bottom of each photo. With the level on, it adds the tilt, like "Tilt 1.4°" (not in roof pitch), and Measure's photos carry the measured pitch: "Pitch 6/12 (26.6°, measured)". The level itself stays free.

The bottom of a photo Measure took on a shingle roof, with the Pro stamp along it: 10/09/2026 · 9:12 AM · 1200 Sample St · 39.78170, -89.65010 ±8 m · Pitch 6/12 (26.6°, measured).
IllustrationPro, coming soon: the stamp along the bottom of Measure’s photo, taken from the phone on its long side on the roof. It reads 10/09/2026 · 9:12 AM · 1200 Sample St · 39.78170, -89.65010 ±8 m · Pitch 6/12 (26.6°, measured); the address and position are samples. On a phone this picture shows the stamp’s end, enlarged. Photo: “Measuring” by Brian Robinson (DolfinDans), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr, cropped and turned as the phone on the roof sees it; the stamp drawn on it as the app draws it.

Questions people ask

Does the light stay on while the level is up?

Yes, by design: the level reads only the phone's motion sensor and never touches the camera or the light. It comes in version 1.2; the camera with the light on is free on Google Play now.

Can I check a roof's pitch with my phone?

With Measure, in version 1.2: stand the phone on its long side along the roof for about 2 seconds and it locks the pitch, like 6/12, on roofs up to 12/12. Treat it as a rough check, not a pitch gauge.

Doesn't my phone's camera already have a level?

Many do. Pixel Camera's Framing hints show a line with the angle, and Samsung's camera has a Composition guide with a level, to help you frame a picture. InspectCam™'s level is made for work: two angles when the phone lies flat, roof pitch and Measure, on a camera that opens with the light on. It comes in version 1.2.

How accurate is it?

I don't give a figure: it hasn't been checked against a real level or a pitch gauge yet, so read every number as "about". The level and Measure are rough checks. A phone is not a level or a survey tool.

Is the level free, and when does it arrive?

Yes, for everyone, with nothing to unlock. It arrives in version 1.2, and there's no date to give yet. It needs a gravity sensor or an accelerometer; a phone with neither shows no Level button.

This page describes version 1.2 before release. If the app does something different when it arrives, tell us.