Cannot use file input to capture image

[jbennett]

I'm using <input type="file" accepts="image/*" capture /> which works perfectly on web and iOS, and for the photo gallery on Android, but for camera captures on Android it looks like Hotwire is restarting my MainActivity and I'm loosing state, almost like the page is reloading. Additionally, this works fine on an emulator, just not on device.

For debugging purposes I've tried this on a new project, just adding camera and file writing permissions to the manifest with the same results.

Any suggestions?

Edit: Added a minimal sample repo that demonstrates the issue: https://github.com/jbennett/hotwire-native-file-input

[williamkennedy]

I was able to replicate your problem, and I updated the file input field to the following:

<input accept="image/*" capture="environment" type="file" >

Try adding capture="environment" and you should get a dialog like so.

Let me know if that works and here is some handy info about media capture that I was able to find.

https://addpipe.com/html-media-capture-demo/

[jbennett]

Out of curiosity, are you doing this on hardware? In the emulator it is working right.

I've tried the following <input> and I do get the camera option for all of them. The file picker intent is added if you have image/jpg or image/* automatically. It's the relauching of the activity specifically that is causing the issue I think

<input type="file" name="foo" accept="image/*" />
<input type="file" name="foo" accept="image/*" capture />
<input type="file" name="foo" accept="image/*" capture="false" />
<input type="file" name="foo" accept="image/*" capture="user" />
<input type="file" name="foo" accept="image/*" capture="environment" />

[jayohms]

Does adding a launchMode in your manifest change the behavior:

AndroidManifest.xml

 <activity
     android:name=".MainActivity"
     android:exported="true">
+    android:launchMode="singleTask" 
     <intent-filter>
         <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
         <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
     </intent-filter> 
 </activity>

This will ensure that a single instance of MainActivity is (re)used if it's already running when an Intent from an image selection

[jbennett]

Yup, I've tried that too. Are you seeing the same issue if you run the test project on hardware?