Camera companion apps on phones have for a long time been notoriously bad with poor features and slow clumsy connections. Last year Fujifilm addressed the issue of its own languishing Fujifilm Camera Remote app with the launch of the new Fujifilm XApp. Hot off the heels of that, Fujifilm has already prepared an app version 2.0 with some big new features - which were revealed at yesterday's X-Summit, alongside news of the new Fujifilm X100VI camera.
The XApp went a long way to solving the majority of the major gripes that Fujifilm users had about previous apps, and the overall experience of the new app is pretty solid, with many more features, and a (usually) very stable connection in my personal experience, but there is definitely room for improvement, so it is great to see this is a priority for Fujifilm with a major update coming so soon.
There are some major improvements to the activity page, currently, the page displays how many images you have taken with each camera, lens, and film simulation linked to the app, although that was about the limit. With the new version, the app will allow you to filter the view to show only the images taken with each camera, lens, or film simulation to make finding specific images much faster and make it much easier to compare images.
Also added to the XApp ver 2.0 will be a new equipment page. This will keep you up to date with the general health of your equipment, displaying the total number of mechanical shutter actuations, battery charge cycles, battery health, and the number of days since the sensor was last cleaned. This will make it easier to maintain your equipment and know when it is time to replace parts or upgrade the system.
The new app version will also allow background downloads of firmware updates for the latest Series 5 cameras from Fujifilm (GFX 100 II, X100VI, X-H2S, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20). There is not much more information to go on for the time being, but anything that makes the tedious process of updating firmware that little bit faster is a win.
The renewed activity page and new equipment page will be compatible with more Fujifilm models, although a specific list is not available at this time, although I would be surprised if any cameras were removed from the current list of compatible models.
Interestingly, although billed as a single 2.0 update, it looks like the renewed activity page will be coming first, with the equipment page and background downloads billed for a later unspecified date.
You can download the current 1.3 version of the XApp for iOS or for Android now to get familiar before the next big update.
For more on Fujifilm, check out our choices of the best Fujifilm camera, as well as our top picks for the best Fujifilm lenses and best Fujifilm GF lenses.
