TrapDock
iPhone and iPad · iOS 18 · free
One card per trap.
Back up in the field.
You don’t need to buy a spare memory card for every camera trap just to bring your photographs home. Copy them to your iPhone, iPad or external drive at the camera, check the copy, then clear and reuse the same card.
Fewer cards to buy. No internet needed. A free app that checks every copied file.
Less money tied up in memory cards
Keep the cameras. Skip the second set of cards.
A swap-and-take-home routine needs a replacement card ready for each camera. With TrapDock, you can transfer the files during your visit and put the same card back to work.
Swap and take home
20 cards
10 in the cameras.
10 spares for the next visit.
Back up in the field
10 cards
One working card per trap.
Clear it, reuse it, keep recording.
10 traps. 10 fewer cards to buy. The more cameras you run, the more spare-card purchases you can avoid.
Example: ten single-card cameras, compared with buying one rotation spare for each. You need a compatible reader, an iPhone or iPad, enough destination storage, and time to transfer at the camera. Any extra hardware costs depend on your kit. An emergency spare can still be useful.
At the camera, not back at your desk
Copy. Check. Put the same card back.
Copy in the field
Connect a reader to your iPhone or iPad. Copy to the device or a connected external drive. Local transfers need no signal or account.
Check the result
TrapDock reads every copied file back and compares its checksum. Failed or incomplete copies do not grant erase permission.
Reuse the card
Once your copies are checked and your backup plan is satisfied, choose whether to erase the imported files. Return the same card to the camera.
Proof before you erase
A progress bar is not enough.
Until you copy it, the card may hold the only record of weeks in the field. TrapDock checks what was written before offering to erase imported files. Erasing is always a separate, confirmed choice; you can keep the originals.
Hash while writing
Every byte read off the card is fed through SHA-256 as it is written to the destination.
Read it back
The written file is re-read from storage with the page cache bypassed, so the check hits the disk and not a copy of what was just written.
Compare, then offer
Only matching copies count as verified. The app checks whether imported files are safe to erase, then asks for your confirmation.
Your choice of field kit
Card to device, card straight to a connected drive, or device to drive later. Every route uses the same copy-and-read-back checks. Bring a compatible reader and enough storage for the photographs and videos you expect to collect.
Interrupted imports can be resumed without recopying files already verified in that session. Verification proves that the copy matches the bytes read from the source; it cannot repair an already damaged original or replace another independent backup.
Bring the photographs home, not a pocketful of cards.
Browse photographs and videos still on your device, check the transfer record and share selected items. When you are ready, offload to a drive and choose whether to free the local space. Keep another independent copy before removing one you rely on.
Files land under Camera / dated import session /, and each session folder carries a _manifest.json with a per-file SHA-256, capture dates and provenance. The archive describes itself, so it stays readable without this app, or after it.
What it does not do
- No account is needed for local transfers.
- No advertising or tracking. The app has no analytics or crash-reporting SDK.
- No mandatory cloud connection. Pairing with Camera Trap Studio is optional.
- TrapDock is free, with no in-app purchases. Studio is a separate service with its own account and storage limits.
After pairing, new completed imports stored on your iPhone or iPad are queued for Studio automatically. Older staged imports can be sent from their session screen. Direct card-to-drive imports are not uploaded by the iOS app. You can unpair in Settings.
In development for Mac
TrapDock for Mac is a desktop offload station built from the same engine: a card to a verified drive copy, and on into a cloud archive if you use one. It also syncs archives of photographs you already have, mapping folders to cameras and dating sessions by the photographs rather than by the day you happened to run it. The archive itself is never written to.