Can I use a phone you haven’t tested with the Movi?

Sure you can!

If we haven’t tested your phone and added it to the Compatibility Chart, we just can’t say for sure how well the Movi and the Movi app works with it. Here are some things to consider:

Fit and Balance

Check out this article for specific physical details about the Movi, so you can measure your phone (or phone in case) to see if it fits in the Movi.

Controlling the Movi

When it comes to communicating with the Movi, if you want to control parameters of robot behavior, change modes (Echo, Timelapse, Movilapse, Orbit, Barrel Roll or Smartpod) you will need to be in the Movi app.

If you want to use the physical buttons/triggers to control the Movi behaviors/modes or phone functions, you will need be in the Movi app or FiLMiC Pro app. More information about FiLMiC Pro Movi integration can be found below.

Capturing Video

No specific app is required for general capture, so if you have a favorite phone that doesn’t work very well with our app, or you have a video app you prefer to use, you can!

Any video app

Out of the box, having never connected to any smart phone, you can balance your phone (assuming it fits and balances, of course) and power on the Movi.

• It starts up in Majestic Mode and doesn’t need any special tuning or adjustment to keep your footage smooth and horizon locked as you move around.
• You can capture in any video app you want on your phone, you’ll just have to interact with the app on your phone screen, since the buttons on the Movi can’t communicate with your phone, as noted above, unless you are in one of the two supported apps.

Or you can use the Movi app to adjust Majestic Mode settings (like response Windows) and then switch to your preferred capture app for recording or streaming.

FiLMiC Pro

FiLMiC Pro (with whom we have no official affiliation) have integrated control of the their app (exposure, focus, Movi response/windows/axis locks) with the Movi hardware buttons.

• To see a quick demo of the functionality they added, check out their announcement video.
• While this is a paid app, it’s very feature rich and is very well supported by their development team.
• If you have questions about or issues with FiLMiC Pro (when you are using it with the Movi), we can try to help, but questions will be best directed to their support team: https://www.filmicpro.com/support/

Dual Phone Setup

We have tested a work-around for app/phone compatibility, for wanting to shoot with other modes than Majestic. If you have access to a second device from our Supported Device List, you can use it as a sort of controller for the Movi. This could also be used for complicated shots where you can benefit from having a second person help you control things like starting and stoping robot movements while you handle the physical operation.

Here is a setup we tried:

1. An iPhone XR balanced on the Movi (but not connected to it via Bluetooth), running the native iOS camera (but it could be any phone or camera that you can mount and balance, running any recording/streaming app).
2. An iPhone 8 connected to the Movi via Bluetooth, running the Freefly Movi app (just stay close by, BLE has a 10-15′ useful connection range).
3. With the Movi app open on the iPhone 8, were were able to configure our A and B points with the Movi trigger for Echo mode and start the motion while the operator carried the Movi foward into the room. We just had to tap the record button on the screen of the iPhone XR to start recording before we started the motion. The separation of robot action and recording gives you pre-roll and a smooth transition into motion. Lights, Camera, Action!

If you have any other questions about Movi, click the button below to ask our Support team!