App developer Jeremy Provost found that Apple had allowed zoom access to the iPad’s own camera API. With the exception of Apple’s FaceTime app, this is the only meeting app that can multitask cameras in the iPad’s partition view.

While this feature is only available in the Zoom app, it provides app functionality, among others, in which the user can use the split view feature to use Twitter, the Notes app, and more.

As the university president states in his book blog post When they first found out that Zoom could take advantage of the split view feature, they started looking into the process for other developers who could do so.

“We asked Zoom and to our surprise, he gave us the answer, and in the process, he revealed a particularly special process, available only to those Apple Gods who qualified.“

To gain access to certain APIs, Apple must grant a “right”, which is a right or privilege that provides some enforceable capabilities. Apple explains:

For example, the application needs HomeKit Entitlement – To access the user’s home automation network – with the explicit consent of the user. The application stores its rights as key-value pairs included in the executable’s binary code signature.“

Although Apple provides general and practical documentation for requesting rights, for example, the Provost has found that there is no general procedure for requesting this specific API.

As we learned, and it is called com.apple.developer.avfoundation.multitasking-camera-access. Unfortunately, unlike CarPlay, there is no general procedure for claiming this benefit. In fact, its existence has not been publicly documented by Apple. Go ahead and Google, you will only participate in the Zoom Developer Forum.

While it’s unclear why Apple offered this special feature only for the Zoom app – the company says it treats every developer the same, the App Store on Thursday saw VP in the beta version of Epic. The email revealed exclusive API access for Hulu and other developers:

“An email suggests that there was an internal question as to why Hulu was able to switch between App Store Billing and Hulu Billing. It turns out that Hulu is part of a “whitelisted developer group” with access to an API to unsubscribe / use. The company originally provided access to this API to support upgrades and downgrade plan changes prior to its initial integration into the Appu store.“

On the other hand, at a spring loaded event in April, Apple announced a feature called Center Stage, which is exclusively available on the M1 iPad Pro, and would allow all video conferencing apps to take advantage of it if its developers So much desire.

With the center stage, the ultra-wide front camera will be able to follow a user to a conference and place them in the middle of the frame. For now, if you’re using your iPad in landscape mode, you probably won’t look good in front of the camera.

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