We started shipping our dongles last week, and the first ones have started arriving at their destinations, and we’ve even seen some people have started posting the results of projects taken with their Triggertraps on-line.
As soon as they did, we started getting feedback from people that not all dongles worked properly with their iOS device, even when they did pass all the tests in our troubleshooting guide.
The problem, once we figured out what it was, turned out to be pretty obscure, and is related to European Union legislation: It turns out that there is a legal limit to how loud media players can be. Because our signal processor relies on what is essentially a coded audio signal, we need a certain signal level – and when the volume from the headphone socket is lower than a certain threshold level, the camera connected to your Triggertrap Dongle does not trigger. This is why the app automatically turns the volume up to maximum when it opens.
Which iOS devices are affected?
Update! We’ve made a tool that can check your device’s model number to see if it’s likely to be affected. Check your device now.
Shouldn’t you guys have tested the dongles?
We did.
In fact, we had what we thought was a pretty extensive testing programme, which involved a dozen testers. However, we made a mistake in how we selected our testers:
Instead of basing our tester selection on geographic location, we selected on other criteria – ones that seemed more relevant to our product. We covered a wide variety of devices (we covered iPod Touch, iPad 1, iPad 2 and iPad 3 – ‘New iPad‘ as Apple likes to call it – iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S), and a load of different cameras; 5 different manufacturers and 10 different camera models.
What’s even worse; we were aware of the iPhone volume limitation thing on EU devices, but we tested with 6 different devices that were purchased in the EU. However; they were all purchased in the UK, which, despite being part of the EU, somehow seems to not be covered by this legislation (or, as the UK is wont to do with EU laws, was simply ignored).
So: we thought we had tested on devices with EU limitations, but it turned out we hadn’t.
So, to answer the question: Yes, we could and should should have tested more, and tested more devices from more countries – our fault entirely, and it looks like it might turn into an expensive mistake – but nonetheless, we want to make things right. How? Keep reading…
How are you going to make it right?
If you are affected by this issue, we will do everything we can to make things right. If you are affected by this and you bought your dongle before the date of this post, you can choose between:
- We give you a refund on the price of your dongle(s).
- We send you new dongle(s), free of charge, when we have them ready.
- We give you a refund and new dongle(s), free of charge.
How? Please fill in this form, and we’ll put things right as soon as we can!
How quickly can this be fixed?
We have a solution that will probably work, and the components needed to test this have been ordered, and should be with us in the next couple of days. For obvious reasons, we want to test things thoroughly, with EU devices that we know aren’t currently working. So; we’re going to get our mitts on a iPod Touch from somewhere in the EU so we can test things properly ourselves. Then, we need to get a prototype built by our manufacturer, and get it shipped to us in the UK for testing. When that is done, we need to run the production run, which will take about 4-5 weeks.
So; we expect to have the new dongles ready to ship in 6-8 weeks. Yes, that is a long time, and yes, we’re doing everything we can to make it go faster; but at the same time, we don’t want any more mistakes (we’ve had quite enough embarrassment for one week…)
And finally; an apology
There is no two ways about it: This whole thing is incredibly embarrassing, and entirely, 100% our fault. We thought we had tested for all possible variables, but then the EU leapt out, shouting ‘surprise’! before delivering a swift kick to the our sensitive parts.
We’re so, so sorry. Please rest assured that we’re doing everything we can to get it fixed as quickly as we can.
Sorry.
Haje & Matt
Directors, Triggertrap Ltd.
I know a lot of people are mad because of the delays and problems you are having, but I have a totally different view on this. I’m sure even the big players experience similar problems that you have, but you never hear about them. They keep very quiet right up until the launch of a new product, but with the TriggerTrap we have been able to get a peek into what really goes on! I understand that many people find it frustrating, but the alternative is that the exact same thing is happening but you don’t know about it!
Thanks to all the guys at TriggerTrap for being so open!
I don’t know what the big deal is, I bought my iPhone in Germany. When I received my Dongle, I discovered it didn’t work, so I jailbreaked my phone and followed these instructions: http://www.ijailbreak.com/cydia/how-to-significantly-change-the-volume-limit-on-iphone-ipod-touch-ipad-all-firmware-versions
It took me about 15 minutes. Much better than having to wait for a few weeks for the Triggertrappers to create replacment dongles.
Thank you for being so open, Triggertrappers! It’s a breath of fresh air.
C
Hi Carlos,
Thanks for your kind words.
We have heard that jailbreaking might be a solution, but it’s not something we are comfortable recommending to our customers: I’ve not jailbroken my phone myself, and I am worried about what it will do to my warranty; so I don’t think I will either.
Triggertrap doesn’t officially condone or encourage jailbreaking, but obviously, what you do with your own phone is up to you!
~ Haje
Well within the “unforeseen issues” boundaries, and you’re dealing with it marvelously. Thumbs up and kudos for being people!
Now if only my dang thingamajig would arrive so I can inundate the web with experimental shots of my three-year old eating dirt…
Hi,
I hope you will find a fix, do you know if French iPhone 4 are affected by this ?
And couldn’t you use a lower sound to trigger the camera ?
Thanks for being open :)
Teo
Hi,
We don’t have any info about French phones yet, but I suspect they are affected. We are currently sourcing new components so that new dongles can be triggered with lower sound levels.
Hi fine folks @ triggertrap,
I am very eager to order my dongle – what do you think? when is a good time for german based ppl to order???
Regards
Dennis
It looks like German devices are affected, so it depends if you are willing to use Carlos’s warranty-voiding solution above. If not, you should wait until we announce new, more sensitive, EU-friendly dongles.
Thx for the reply! I def will wait. Even if it shouldn’t be a hassle to jailbreak the device, I dislike the idea :)
Heads up – when you guys are done – you can add one more customer!
cheers
D.
Just wanted to throw this out there, not sure if it is relevant in EU but since Apple is a US company… the US supreme court had ruled that jail breaking your phone is completly legal and Apple has to honour warranty if the unit had been jailbroken if the issue if a hardware issue, it is preferd to recover the device back to a stock software, which is very easy to do, even if your device doesnt boot.
i have a ipod touch 4g and have jailbroken it many times and restored it back to stock (currently running ios 6 beta 3)
Just a little bit of info. and jailbreaking ios 5.1.1 is as simple as downloading a program, plugging it in, running the program and pressing the jail break button and waiting…..
Hi,
I have an iPhone 3GS and iPad 1st gen, both purchased in Belgium and both are affected (if that helps your stats). Like everyone else so far, I would like to thank you for your openness and responsiveness.
Best regards,
Fred
Hi guys, first of all congratulations for the really good job you’ve done so far, I imagine that such a project is not easy to manage.
It’s really nice to have feedback on your problems compare to be left alone in the dark.
Unfortunatelly, I have to say that I have exactly the same problem (troubleshoutting guide worked well with the computer).
I have done my tests with
- iPhone 3gs (Belgian)
- iPad 3 (Belgian)
- canon 5d mk2 (UK, but I suppose it has nothing to do with the pb)
I am not in a hurry to receice a new dongle and I’m ready to do some more tests if required.
I’m also not completely stupid with a soldering iron, so if there’s some resistor (or some other adjustment) that could be done in the dongle then I could try it.
Regards,
Philippe
That’s a great idea, if their is any home modifications we can do to the dongle, I’ll be happy to try when I get my dongle hehe
Have you considered using an amplifier, I know some headphones have amplifiers…
You could also contact Apple, maybe they could allow a workaround for your app ?
Keep up the good work,
Teo
Hello!!
I bought my idevice in Sweden:
iphone 3gs
iphone 4s
ipad 1
all have the same problem …
Do you know if any Danish devices are affected ?
We haven’t had any reports from Denmark either way yet.
Hi.
Are you shore that the problem is in the dongle?
I’ve just download the app for testing (havent bought the dongle yet) and when i closed the program the volyme symbol on my iPhone shows max volyme.
iPhone 4 in Sweden.
Best reg Christian
Honestly, we aren’t completely sure – but we think it’s a combination of the dongle not being sensitive enough, and the EU iPhones being volume limited.
yea, when closing the app, their is the volume box showing up displaying high volume…
Is this the 1.0.1 fix ?
Cheers,
Teo
When the app loads, it switches the phone to maximum volume. The 1.0.1 fix is that when it closes it switches back to whatever the volume was before, so you don’t get deafened next time you listen to music!
hey trigger trap peeps,
I can confirm the dongle does NOT work on an iPhone 4 purchased in the Netherlands, T-mobile.
I will follow the form for a refund, but will let you know i am a believer in the trigger trap project! As soon as there is fix I will repurchase!
Kay kayzer/photo
Hey! Thanks for the info. We’re hard at work on new prototypes.
T-mob iPhone 4 NL doesn’t work (as expected). But strangely enough my USA iPad doesn’t work either.
The testing procedure turns out the dongle works fine on de headphone jack on the Mac
Don’t you think a software update can fix the problem? Since sending the dongle back will be a costly operation for everybody (especially you). For me it’s OK to wait for a solution before taking any action like asking for a refund.
Did you experiment with a dock-connected dongle, which seems to be a more appropriate port to manage external hardware…?
That’s very strange about the iPad. We’ve not had any reports of problems there. Have you done software updates on it from NL? Maybe it switched the restriction on if you did.
At the moment, it looks like it will have to be a hardware fix. We’ve managed to increase the output in software, but still not enough to trigger the limited devices. Our hardware guys are working flat-out on a fix at the moment, and it looks like we should have the first working prototypes by tomorrow. If we do need to recall all of the EU dongles, we’ll probably just have to take the hit for the whole cost, rather than having you send the dongles back, then testing and repackaging every one.
We’d love to be able to use the dock connector, but Apple lock access to it down hard. You need approval from them, and a chip, bought from them, in every device. This was going to be prohibitively slow and expensive for us. We can’t just use the line-out, as that’s even lower power than the headphone. FInally, it stops people plugging it into a power supply, which is useful for very long exposures and timelapses.
Oops.
Due to a misunderstanding I ordered two triggertraps. The first is just not functioning: DOA. The second one works well on my Mac and on the iPad – not on the iPhone. So nothing unusual after all apart from the known EU limitations.
Drop us an email at sales@triggertrap.com and we’ll sort out a refund on the DOA one. If you fill in the form here for the EU problem, we can sort that too. Sorry for the complication, but as I’m sure you understand, it’s quite something keeping on top of all of this! Form: http://j.mp/we-heart-the-EU
Hey, I’m from Germany and i like an support your project.
So of cause i want to use the trigger trap app. but with out the dongle it is pointless.
So I decided to build my own dongle.
I measured the output of my iPhone. It was only ~0.5V^ so i get curious how you guys solved this.
Of cause 0.5V is not enough to power an optocoupler
But i relay want to have optocoupler cause of the galvanic isolation.
I could use an small opamp to boost the signal and then power an optocoupler.
But i relay dont want to have extra batterys.
So i came up with this solution:
http://instagr.am/p/KlG603gv-c/
A simple small (still way to big) ferit transformer 1:5 provides enough voltage to drive the optocoupler directly.
Its not perfect but it works with German iPhones (even if volume is not max.) and it has an indicator LED.
Great solution. Some of the solutions we’ve been investigating are not a million miles from your approach, but obviously need to be a lot smaller.
Hi folks @ Trigger Trap!
Like all the other guys here, I really appreciate your project and I will keep supporting it.
Unfortunately, I can confirm the dongle doesn’t work for iPhones purchased in Luxembourg either.
Keep up the good work and let us know about the progress asap, I’m patiently waiting! :)
HI
FYI I got the dongle and cable today and it works fine with my iPhone 4 and Sony a77. The phone is bought in Denmark.
Peter
Awesome news! Hopefully Denmark is another winner then. Anyone else confirm?
Hi Guys
Some less positive feedback from Denmark..
I just recieved my dongle today (ordered May 5′th) and cannot seem to get it to trigger my 7D. I have tried one these iOS devices: 4S, iPad (1′st gen), iPod Touch (1′st gen)
Could be a DOA and not the issue you describe..perhaps!
I’m sad as my holiday is coming up but will wait with patience for a solution :)
Wr. Lars
Recall recall! :) Works now and all I did was update from iOS 5.1 to 5.1.1 – anyone with same experiences?
Seriously? So updating from 5.1 to 5.1.1 fixed your dongle problem? That would be very fine news instead!
FYI
I got my dongle today and have it running on a Danish iPhone 4 together with a Sony a77 without any problems so far – I think I have testet all modes in the paid version
Dongle & CL-N3 cable arrived this morning here in Australia! Will report back after having a play!
Hey guys, just received and tested mine on iPhone 4S, 3GS and the iPad 2 with the free trigger app (for the moment) 1.0.1 with a Canon 7D. Didn’t get it to trigger at all.
Thank you very much though for your openness and I hope you will find the solution soon. If I can be of help, contact me.
Best
Patrick
Please do let us know if it works in Australia – am looking to buy one for a birthday present but I want to make sure it works first.
Yes, it should work fine in Australia. This is a EU-only issue, as far as we can see.
Hi there I have purchased thwe dongle but it doesn’t work on my canon 5d?
I tested my Iphone 4s but the model says it is not affected. Now I have the software and a dongle that I cant use :’-( Any suggestion?
Hi Petra,
Could you go through our troubleshooting guide: http://on.tri.gg/troubleshoot and email me on support@triggertrap.com?
A very classy post and apology. Those are the kind of things that ensure customer loyalty and retention. I just received mine yesterday and haven’t had the chance to play with it – probably over the memorial weekend.
Keep on doing awesome stuff and stay classy.
An already-loyal customer,
Chad
Hi there,
the product seems like a great hit – once it works reliably. So don’t worry. Once you have fixed it, I will certainly buy the equipment for two of the cameras I own. Until then, I will keep following information on this page. I am glad I read this before I ordered.
many thanks for the transparent policy on this, it makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE!
Tobias W.
I have followed all of youe delay issues with interest. Right from the start Iunderstood that you were starting out in business and tryinbg to do something new, a bit experimental and at a great price. There were bound to be delays and of course problems and you have had your fair share on every front.
I placed my order, months ago, knowing what the issues were. You have kept me up to date and although I want my Triggertrap I will wait because that was deal.
The latest issue with the dongle is just another new issue. I am sure that you are learning new things everyday.
Just keep up the good work!
Hello there,
just received 4 dongles and respective cables for me and my friends cameras.
with my iphone 4 bought in portugal connected to my canon 5dmkII everything works as expected. if i turn “shutter” channel on, on different modes, it fires the camera…still haven’t tried the “focus” channel on with auto-focus, but will get there soon…
NOW regarding one of my friends camera (a nikon d3100) the strangest thing happens…
if I try to fire the camera (on any mode) with just one channel on (“shutter” or “focus”) the lcd screen from the camera blinks, but the camera doesn’t fire! IF i turn both channels on (“shutter” and “focus”) AND have the focus on the camera lens on manual, then the camera fires on any mode. IF i still have both channels on, BUT turn autofocus on then it won’t fire anymore!
SO, now what?
anyone out there having the same issue with the same/other camera?
fyi: tried with different dongles/iphones and the problem remains. so i’m thinking this may be a camera issue(incompatibility)? tomorrow i’m going to try with other d3100 and different iphone/dongle. will keep you updated.
p.s.: your app drains a lot of battery power…i mean a lot(!)
Hi,
I am a bit confused, because in the iPhone (at least in my settings – I am in Germany) there are some special settings for limiting the maximum volume, if you like – for example for chidren. If you turn that off, all should be fine? I believe that there was a built-in limitation for some time on my old clickwheel iPod. This could also be turned off by using a piece of sw on the mac.
So – is there really still an additional volume limitation in Germany that is built-in, even though there are special setting to enable and disable this kind of function?
Yes, I believe so. We’ve had reports that disabling the limit in the settings didn’t help. It’s an addition hard limit.
I am afraid you are right. I did some additional web searching and found this:
http://www.dslrbot.com/support/eu-volume-limit-cap-removal/
This should also answer the question which countries are affected.
Is there already an estimate as to when modified units can be shipped? After all changing either the input amplification or adding a little OpAmp/transistor or alike should not be too much of a problem? Or is this a problem because you are generating power from the audio as well …. then this might become a bit tricky.
Hey!
We have already designed several dongles that fix the problem; we just need to pick the best design, and go through thorough testing before we send them into mass production.
Hi.
I have similar problems as reported above.
Tested from my computer the dongle works fine, but when connected to my Iphone using my Nikon D700 and D90 it will not work properly.
If I switch my lens and camera mode to manual, it works fine. At least in “cable mode”
I have a Norwegian phone
Hey!
If it does work when your camera is set to manual, it isn’t the dongle, so that’s good news!
Remember that for Nikon cameras, both the shutter and focus channel needs to be on. we also have a small bug which means that you can’t change the duration of your signal properly, which, in turn, means that it’s tricky to get the camera to focus before it triggers.
Use it in manual mode for now; we’re releasing a software update that will fix the problem!
Hi,
I am from germany. The german iphone 4 and the ipad 2 & 3 can not release the shutter of my nikon d7000… Just for information…. Hope you can fix it …
Thumbs up, you will do it, greetings
I’ve got my Triggertrap dongle and camera cord today. I live in Sweden and have iPhone 3S and iPhone 4S as “triggers” and a Pentax K-7 and a Canon 450D.
For me, it worked on the Pentax and not the Canon whit both iphones. Could it be different signal strenght needed to thrigger different camera models?
I have not done so much testing yet, just wanted to let you know that it worked on swedish phone and Pentax. I´ll get back if I can get it to work on the Canon.
I am glad it worked on at lest ONE of my cameras, so I can play around with it.
I is a great product and I will have a lot of fun taking all the photos I havn´t been able to take before.
Hey,
Just an idea to make your dongle even better,
If you have to create a new one, could you make the headphone jack plastic part more thin (like the apple ones) so it can fit inside most cases ?
That would be awesome…
Oh, and, before I forget,
when I got mine today, I was impressed by the quality or your cables ! good job :)
Cheers,
Teo
Yes, a slimmer headphone jack is planned for the next version. We have to admit, the size of the hole in cases weren’t something we considered when first designing this, but we’ve had several requests so it’s in the requirements.
I can confirm that the dongle is not working on an iphone 4 purchased in Switzerland.
The cable is good but not working with the iphone.
cheers
chris
Notizie per IPhon 4 Italia ?
Ciao, con iPhone 4 con iOS 5.11 comprato in Italia, il dongle funziona! Attenzione alle spese di dogana…
My italian iPhone 4 is fully functional with Sony and volume set at max. Ciao
Hi,
I’m from Finland, and the dongle is not working. BUT when I tried if the camera will take photos if I put the music on from my ipod touch, It started to take photos. I mean it’s not taking photos with the trigger trap mobile app, but it takes photos when I put music on and the camera is connected to my ipod touch 4th gen.
So is the problem in the app really ?
Regards,
Janne
it works when I updated to ios 5.1.1 And this is a ipod touch 4th gen, bought from Finland.
Janne
Hi,
it’s working with a jailbreaked iphone, but I’ve to activate both channels? If only one channel is activated
nothing happens?!
Has anyone an idea?
Lars
That depends on what camera you are using! Canon triggers happily on only one channel; Nikon and Sony need both.
Hi,
thanks for you reply.
Lars
Hi,
I followed your trouble shooting guidevnd got my iPad 1, thevTriggertrap dongle & my canon 5D Mk2 to work except for Motion and Peekaboo as both say a “Camera is required” even though my camera is connected and working in the other modes. Should these modes work?
Thanks
Oh, and well done for telling everyone about the issues and your attempts to fix them – don’t know of any other company that has, voluntarily, done that.
Sorry in advance if this seems like an obvious thing to ask but have you checked that both SOUND CHECK and VOLUME LIMIT are turned OFF in the Settings > Music menu? Just asking in case it brings the audio volume up to the required threshold.
Hi there,
good news from italy: on the new iPad the dongle works
Hey guys, nothing more read your draft me lance head to ask him, what received precisely this Friday May 25 today after reading your news and make thousand tests with the iPhone4 and the iPad2, I have to say that here in Spain do not work me… Please aisarme when East solved the issue that I’m quite interested.
Thanks and good luck
Fede
I inform you that after reading all the comments, I set out to update the iPhone4 and the iPad2 to the latest version, 5.1.1 and started to work, the Triggertrap Mobile with the Nikon D700. OS would ask that if you are doing a review, incluyerais an update to the Spanish.
Thank you and encourage you that your product has a great future.
Hugs.
Fede
Hi Guys,
Your dongle just arrived. I made a few test shoots and I confirm it works with my Italian iPhone 4 and Nikon D700.
Needless to say I really appreciated the transparent, honest and professional way you coped with this issue.
Keep up the good work.
An happy customer.
Luca
My dongle is defective, but I am willing to stick it out, and wait for a solution. This is a great idea, and I can’t wait to see the cool ideas people will come up with to utilize it. I have some ideas about a slow shutter pool table break(sound trigger), macro bee or hummingbird in a flower( motion detection), and some star trails while piggybacked on my telescope. If you’ve got some cool ideas, please share!
Hi,
I ordered the dongle and cable for an Olympue E-620 for a Swiss iPhone 3GS (MC132FD) and, as expected, no reaction from the camera using the free version.
I then went through the jailbreak and volume limit reset procedure, including removing then restoring all content.
Unfortunately Triggertrap Free wasn’t reinstalled and at the moment isn’t shown by iTunes, so I decided to go ahead and buy the full version.
But it still doesn’t work!!
Now, is it the EU problem or something else?
Any ideas anyone?
Hi John,
Thanks for emailing us after going through the Troubleshooting guide, glad it all worked out for you.
Unfortunately I bought the Dongle ‘after’ the date of this post :(, but had never seen the post, till I got the shock after receiving it and finding out that it’s not working :(
Would you please consider my case, or am I going to be thrown into the ” * Conditions Apply ” bracket?
E-mail us on s@tri.gg and I’ll see what we can do!
Any News about the eu-dongle?
Stay tuned next week for an announcement!
I love the sincere sentiment and openess of this letter.
This is the kind of customer service I’d like to see in so many other companies. It’s really quite refreshing.
Hi there,
I’m trying to fill out the form to get a replacement dongle but I’m not able to get through. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi there,
The replacement programme is now closed, but please contact us on support@triggertrap.com, and we can see if we can still help you!
~Haje