Goal: I was hoping to create a form as a part of my app that's meant to be used to collect scientific data in the field. But one of the studies includes adding a photo to the data entry. I didn't find any straight forward way to do it.
Steps: I didn't find no camera module in forms.
Is there a way to use forms? Or I'll just have to make it as Mobile App?
Hello @Scottsky!
Form components can be augmented with a file upload input.
In theory this would be usable to add a picture from a phone camera roll/device file folder.
I just tried adding that input to a form on a web app and accessing it on mobile and the input seemed to disappear... which is a whole other issue. I would see if a mobile app with a file upload component in a form would work for this use case!
I ended up building a web app.
It works great for teachers and scientists.
Attaching a file is a less favourable option as a person using the app is sitting is a kayak with a phone in one hand and a pedal in the other. So minimising clicks is a priority here.
But my problem with web app is it needs a paid account to use. Which renders it useless as a tool I could distribute to 50 volunteers that can collect scientific data for a day. Yet forms seems like a way to do it.
Am I missing a pathway to do what I need without the need for tons of seats?
Ahh good question. It is tricky, there might be a work around to the seat count but it would have to be a clever one 
Totally understand the use case and wanting to reduce clicks. Forms is likely the best bet for having users upload data.
I can definitely make a feature request for uploading images from a camera in a form on mobile as that is likely a very common use case.
?
Does the 'Image Input' component in the screen shot below not work for such?
I wouldn't try anything shady with this one. This nonprofit project is supposed to help Environmental Academia rally local community to attack a Mangrove infection that's spreading fast. And since this dataset is the only thing standing in the way of total species extermination I definitely have no intention to put them is a wired spot. So it has to be 100% legit solution.
I have an app solution mostly built: If you are curious...
And I managed to manage camera input in to it perfectly. Kids did a survey yesterday, much less phones drowned in the process thanks to the interface. But that still a seats delema.
This is where I am with it currently: Our account does have a bunch of states we give to Teacher, and 4-5 best assistants with app interface. Rest of the students have to rely on Epicollect5. That's a scientific data collection giant from Oxford that I use one API call to get the entire set after the mission.
So long story short, camera input in forms would be an appreciated feature and if you would be so kind to add it to christmas list - that'd be awesome =)
Wow that is an inspiring mission!
I have heard about how mangrove forests are at major risk due to a number of issues.
Thank you for sharing the app as well! Love getting to see cool projects. That is a very smart work around, having folks upload their images, then fetching the image data into a retool app.
I was just going through a mobile app form component and saw that there is a component for photo uploads inside of a form(bottom right). When I tested it on my phone, tapping the input's icon on the right it goes straight to opening up my phone camera and then has a one tap to submit(with an optional caption text box to fill in as well).
Check it out and let me know if it works for you! If you have any feedback on how to improve it as well let me know for feature requests.
That's exactly the element I use in my app.
I was talking about stand alone Forms since Mobile app use still requires a paid seat per client.
Ahhhh ok I see now 
Yes I can check with the eng team and see if the stand alone form has image uploads on its roadmap!
That would be awesome.
Appreciate your time and effort, Jack!
Hey @Scottsky,
Just filed the feature request!
Given that accessing a Retool Form (as you had circled in your screen shot) on mobile would lead to the phone opening the form in the phone's browser, it might be a bit more complex to then have the form access pictures from the camera from a web browser.
Will keep you updated with any news I hear from our eng team!
Thank you for filing that request.
From my understanding, attach a file web action executed on a smartphone would use mobile os's methods of offering user to upload from library or take a photo as a source. So theoretically nothing stops it from working.
