CameraTestSlate turns your iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch®, or Mac® into a wireless data slate so you can update on-camera test info from behind the camera. Info resizes to fit the space available. CameraTestSlate is color-balanced for 3200 K, 4300K, 5600 K, or 6500 K (and can show that color temperature onscreen), and you can choose light or dark mode slates.
How To Use It
Launch CameraTestSlate on your slate device. It displays any information previously entered, and shows you a Connection Info alert:

Tap OK to hide the alert, or just open the webpage on your controlling device. If you want to see it again, tapping the screen shows the alert when it’s hidden.
If Connection Info says, “No connection; can’t run web server”, make sure that Wi-Fi is turned on (or that a wired network is connected), and that there are no other web servers running on your machine. You might need to turn Airplane Mode off. Then close and reopen the app.
Open a browser window on your controlling device. Use the slate’s local name if shown, or its IP address. Enter any information you want displayed, and select the color temperature and display options.

Press Send it!, or hit [Enter] or [Return] while on a text field, and your slate will be updated:

You can just change the color temperature and display options, and update the slate. The browser’s display changes color to match:


Controls
On the CameraTestSlate screen:
Tap the screen to display connection info. Tap the OK button to hide it.
On the Browser Interface:
- Type your info into the four text fields.
- Select 3200 K, 4300 K, 5600 K, or 6500 K to set the color temperature for the slate.
- Check Show color temperature to display the color temperature at the end of the last line of text.
- Check Dark mode to display light text on a black background.
- Press Send it! to update the slate. You can also press [Enter] or [Return] in a text field to update.
FAQ
- Why? I needed a remotely updatable slate for a series of camera tests because I was tired of (a) running back and forth to change the slate on-set or (b) using VNC to display a slate from my Mac. Besides, iOS has this cool feature where you can stuff too much text into a label and it’ll automatically resize the text to fit.
- Can I enter text directly on the slate? No, sorry. When running on iPad, you can bring up a Safari window in Slide Over mode, update the slate, then swipe the browser to the side to hide it.
- But I still need Wi-Fi, right? Yes, you still need Wi-Fi. If you're in the field, try using an iPhone's hotspot feature. You can also use wired networking if your device allows it.
- Does it run on Mac, too? Yup.
- It says, “No connection; can’t run web server.” Make sure your device has Wi-Fi or wired networking enabled (you might need to turn off Airplane Mode), and that it’s not running any other web server processes. Then close and reopen the app.
- Why the weird peach colors? The peach colors read as white (or close to it) on cameras set to the corresponding color temperature. Note that for consistent results you’ll want to turn off your iPhone’s / iPad’s True Tone and Night Shift settings.
- I have this cool feature I want: will you add it? You can always ask, but I won’t promise anything. It’s free for a reason. ;-)
- How do I get it?
About
App privacy policy
CameraTestSlate doesn’t run any tracking code and doesn’t collect any information from you or about you. No third-party analytics tools or advertising networks are used.
If you’ve enabled data logging on your iPhone / iPad (Settings app > Privacy > Analytics > Share With App Developers, or Settings app > Privacy > Diagnostics & Usage > Share With App Developers, depending on iOS / iPadOS version; Settings app > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Share with app developers on Mac), Apple collects information about your usage of the app (see Apple's privacy policy). Apple makes the following anonymized information available to developers:
- How many times the app ran.
- What kind of iPhone / iPad / Mac was used, and with what version of iOS / iPadOS / macOS.
- What country it was used in.
- How many times the app crashed.
- What lines of code did the app crash on.
- What the error codes were for the crashes.
I only see information aggregated across all devices with diagnostics enabled; I can’t see any info specifically about your use of the app.
If you use the links in the app or on the contact page to send me email, I get your email address, but that’s the only way I’ll ever find out who you are. For email and for website browsing, this Privacy Policy applies. Short version: I'll see your email address, source IP address, and any other information you supply in email you send, and the IP address you visit my website from. Web-browsing IP address info is not retained beyond 24 hours. Any retained email communications and email addresses will be deleted upon request, except when needed to resolve technical issues, commercial or legal disputes, or when required by US law. I take reasonable precautions to guard this information, and it is never supplied to third parties for any purposes whatsoever unless required by US law.
iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
© 2025 Adam J. Wilt. Last updated 2025-01-13