How to Make a Virtual Tour With Your Phone

Get the app

• AndroidPanorama 360 & Virtual Tours on Google Play.
• iPhonePanorama 360 & Virtual Tours on the App Store, also shown as “TeliportMe: 360 Virtual Tour”.
• What it doesTakes a series of photos as you turn the phone and stitches them into one panorama, which you can look around in its 360° viewer and share.

Shoot each room

1. Get the room ready: lights on, curtains open, clutter out of sight. A panorama sees everything around you (see How to take a 360 photo).
2. Stand where a visitor would stand, near the middle of the room and away from walls and furniture.
3. In Panorama 360, start a capture and turn slowly and steadily, from left to right. The app joins the photos into one panorama.
4. Keep the phone in the same spot as you turn: turn around the phone, not around your own body. Hold it at the same height in every room.
5. Take one panorama per room, plus one in each hall or doorway that joins them, so visitors can walk the route.

Put the panoramas in a tour

1. Save each finished panorama to your phone as an image file. TeliportMe takes JPG or PNG files; if your phone saved one as HEIC, convert it to JPG first (see Image specifications).
2. Create a tour and upload the panoramas, as in Create your first tour. To share a single room without a tour, upload it to Panos instead.
3. If the uploader says “The image you’re trying to upload doesn’t look like panorama.”, the file isn’t twice as wide as it is tall and carries no 360° information. A phone panorama may not cover the whole room from floor to ceiling; choose Yes to upload it anyway.
4. Link the rooms with hotspots, preview the tour and publish it: steps 3 and 4 of Create your first tour.

What to expect from a phone

• Each spot takes several photos. The app builds the panorama from photos taken as you turn, so every room takes longer than one press of a 360° camera.
• Movement shows. If the phone drifts sideways, or someone walks past while you turn, the joins between photos can show. Objects close to the phone bend most.
• Light matters. Steady hands and a well-lit room give the cleanest result.
• A 360° camera is quicker for a whole home. It takes the full room in one shot. If you’re shooting tours often, see Choosing a 360 camera for virtual tours.

Common questions

Can I make a virtual tour with my phone?

Yes. Shoot a panorama in each room with a phone app such as Panorama 360, save them as JPG files, then upload them to a TeliportMe tour and link the rooms with hotspots.

Is there a virtual tour app for Android?

Yes. Panorama 360 & Virtual Tours is TeliportMe’s own app on Google Play, first launched on Android in 2010. It captures the panoramas; you build the tour from them on TeliportMe.

Which 360 camera app can I use on an iPhone?

Panorama 360 & Virtual Tours, TeliportMe’s own app, is on the App Store for iPhone. Any app that saves a panorama as a JPG or PNG file works with TeliportMe too.

Do I need a 360 camera to make a virtual tour?

No. A phone works, though it takes several photos at each spot. A 360° camera takes each room in one shot, so it’s quicker for a whole home.