Until now, sharing images taken with Lytro's unique light field camera has required syncing with the company's desktop app for Mac and PC. That changes today — at least for iPhone owners — with the release of Lytro Mobile for iOS. The new app lets Lytro users quickly upload and share any light field pictures they've taken on the go.

Just how does it accomplish this? Lytro is finally flipping the switch on a Wi-Fi chip discovered inside the camera during a teardown last year. Wireless networking has been inactive until now, but a new firmware update will let the Lytro act as its own Wi-Fi hotspot. From there, the camera will display credentials that can be entered on an iPhone to access its image data. You'll be able to preview your shots before choosing which ones to upload to Lytro's servers, Facebook, or Twitter. Processing takes about a minute or so to complete (these aren't regular old JPEGs, after all) and after that they'll appear in your stream.

Lytro Mobile can also output GIFs of your pictures; one option showcases Lytro's dynamic depth of field capabilities, with the other demonstrating that impressive perspective shift unveiled in November.

Even if you don't own a Lytro camera, the new mobile app's photo stream makes browsing content from other users a bit more intuitive. It's easy to view recently uploaded light field images, for example, something that isn't so easy on Lytro's website. When asked about a potential Android app, the company told us that it's not out of the realm of possibilities. For now, Lytro Mobile is an iOS exclusive and the latest attempt at bolstering the value of Lytro's existing camera. The image quality remains the same however, which has us looking forward to an eventual successor. Lytro Mobile is available in the App Store now.