FINALLY! The Ricoh GR III gets the one thing I always wished it had

Much as I love the Ricoh GR III, it has been missing one major thing since it launched all those years ago: a dedicated smartphone app.

Yes, I know, you can connect it to Ricoh's Image Sync app – but Image Sync is terrible. The connection is unstable, handshaking is frequently hit and miss (not just with the Ricoh GR III, but I could never get it to consistently connect to the K-1 Mark II), and because it's a generic app for all Ricoh cameras, it just doesn't feel very "GR-y".

I always thought that the Ricoh GR III is such a special product that it deserved a proper app all of its own – and now it has one: GR World.

It takes all the good bits and best intentions of Image Sync and packages them in a new app that, first and foremost, fits the feel and aesthetic of the Ricoh GR III: sleek grey menus with a smooth interface befitting one of the slickest street cameras.

I love that you can register and name your camera on the app – which is particularly cool if you own more than one GR. The app is compatible with the Ricoh GR III / GR III HDF (using the latest V2.00 firmware, just launched), the Ricoh GR IIIx / GR IIIx HDF (via the latest V1.50 firmware) as well as the Ricoh GR II (V1.10 or later).

It's also compatible with special editions, like the Ricoh GR III Diary Edition, so long as they are running the latest firmware (and Ricoh is keen to point out that the special edition graphic screens will remain intact).

You can import your JPEG, RAW and movie files, but the interface for doing so has been dramatically improved. You can filter your files by type, shooting date and transfer status (transferred / not transferred) to make life immeasurably easier when dealing with big batches. Or of course, you can just check the thumbnails you want to import.

The GR World app enables you to shoot remotely and also transmits location information to the camera when connected. Helpfully, you can toggle the "Background location information transmission" setting so that the app always sends GPS data – even when your phone is asleep or other apps are being used.

There's also a potentially fun Widget function, which displays your imported images on the phone's home screen a bit like a digital photo frame.

I don't think every camera necessarily needs a bespoke app, but the Ricoh GR III just feels so weird with Image Sync (if you can even get it to work) that I'm thrilled we now have GR World.

The app will be available for download from July 23 – and again, it requires the latest firmware to work with your camera.

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