Show HN: React Web Camera – Fix <input type=file> single-photo limit

4 comments

·August 27, 2025

What we built

React Web Camera is a lightweight, reusable React component that allows users to capture multiple photos in one camera session, in-browser. It works across standard web apps, responsive UIs, and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)—unlocking a smoother experience than the default <input type="file" capture> element.

The problem

On mobile (and increasingly on desktops), using: <input type="file" accept="image/*" capture="environment"> only allows taking one picture before the camera closes. Want to add more? You have to reopen it each time.

How React Web Camera solves it

Opens the camera inline in-browser, Lets the user capture multiple photos in one go, Allows previewing captured photos, removing unwanted ones, and submitting everything in a batch, Fully client-side, respects user privacy, Supported across web, responsive UIs, and installable PWAs.

Visit

spankalee

This would be great as a web component for non-React developers. It could even work in plain HTML by generating a series of inputs for the form.

lima

Last time I tried this approach, the problem was that the native camera input had much better quality, while ImageCapture was essentially a still frame from a video (worse exposure/processing).

Is this better now?

mfkp

Looks nice, and good demo. Maybe add a section to the site or the github showing browser support? I have some custom webcam capture stuff on my app but I need to make sure it works everywhere. Lastly, does it work with react native?

curtisszmania

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