Using raspberry pi camera module to scan Whatsapp QR code.

roxette

Hello,
MY question is straightforward 🙂
Is the camera module compatible with Whatsapp video calls and can be used to scan Whatsapp QR code as well?
As for now there is No attached camera so when i give Whatsapp permission to access the camera i get the following error
"Can't start camera, please restart your phone."
I'm afraid that even if i purchased the camera module that error won't go away 🙂

IKS

I can test it for you next week. Maybe after finishing the VNC issue, since several QR scan applications are known to stay black, which may be related to the wrong pixel format.

roxette

No problem, i can wait till you fix the VNC issue, thanks a lot Igor.
Although in that case it won't tell you what the QR code is, this method is used for authentication purpose to log in to Whatsapp web hence i think it won't matter if it stays black or not as long as the camera is able to read the QR code.

IKS

So, a small update on this. The VNC support is finished and is under test now. Starting whatsapp camera works, but our camera HAL crashes after transmitting the first picture :blush: We'll address this ASAP.

roxette

That's great news regarding VNC, i hope you achieve success during the test phase.
i'll be waiting for Whatsapp video call fix soon :smile:
What about QR code?
Are you able to use the camera module to complete the authentication process?

IKS

VNC support is released in beta state... video calls are on our list 😉
WhatsApps opens the camera successfully, receives the first (preview) image and then times out... We will have to check it in detail.

Sait

I have the same problem. I'm developing a basic app; it uses camera module(v1.3), receives the camera frames via onPreviewFrame and do some processing on it. It works on my phone but doesn't work on emteria. Just black screen..

Black screen happens when i add camera.setPreviewCallback(this) to the code.

Edit:
After some struggling with the code, it pauses the preview after first frame (as you said).

Hope you can fix it soon.

IKS

We did some testing and found out that the some applications expect the data in a different pixel format. In the latest version bar scanner receives multiple frames, but eventually dies because of the wrong format.

abishekwdaru

@IKS said:
So, a small update on this. The VNC support is finished and is under test now. Starting whatsapp camera works, but our camera HAL crashes after transmitting the first picture :blush: We'll address this ASAP.

Hey! I've been trying to make a whatsapp video call using a raspberry pi camera and the app has been crashing. Looks like whatsapp camera/video stuff still had issues. So is this a known issue that is still on your guys' to do list? Thanks in advance.

smieschek

@abishekwdaru most probably not for the RPi3/Android7 anymore. We are currently working on CSI (RPi Camera) support for RPi4. USB Webcams should work, if you are using a HDMI display on the RPi4. If you can, you should try that setup 🙂