Shoot a car, prove its condition, get it live.
Everything a dealership team needs, in order: get TruLens onto your phone, sign in with your code, then photograph a car through the guided angles, declare its condition, and push it out — to your website, your DMS, and a 3D Orbit spin built from the photos.
Publish to website feed
The car goes live on your dealer site — photos, condition report and a 3D Orbit spin.
- Capture
- →
- Declare
- →
- Publish
Send to DMS
Push the photos and vehicle into TruFlow — the TruOrbit spin rides along automatically.
- Capture
- →
- Publish gate
- →
- Send to DMS
00 · Before you start
What you need
TruLens is a web app that installs to your phone like a normal app — there is nothing to download from an app store.
https://lens.tru-saas.com — open it in your phone's browser. On iPhone this must be Safari (see below).You sign in once per phone — the app tells you “Signs in for 30 days.” After that you land straight on your catalogue every time, and it keeps working offline once installed.
01 · Get it on your phone
Install the app (PWA)
Installing puts a TruLens icon on your home screen and runs it full-screen with no browser bar — the way you'll want it on the floor. A prompt appears when the browser offers it; if you miss it, use the steps below.
On iPhone or iPad
Safari doesn't offer a one-tap install — in the TruLens banner tap How to install, then follow the three steps:
- Open the site in Safari
Go to
lens.tru-saas.com. Chrome and Edge on iPhone cannot install it — it has to be Safari. - Tap Share
Tap the Share icon in Safari's toolbar.
- Add to Home Screen
Scroll and tap Add to Home Screen.
- Tap Add
Confirm with Add, then open TruLens from your home screen. (Tap Got it to close the tip.)
On Android (Chrome / Edge)
- Open the site
Go to
lens.tru-saas.com. The TruLens banner shows an Install app (or Install) button — tap it and confirm. - Or use the browser menu
No banner? Open the browser menu (⋮) and tap Install app or Add to Home screen.
- Open from the home screen
Launch TruLens from its new icon — it opens full-screen and works offline for the app shell.
The banner puts it plainly: one-tap access on this phone, and it works offline for the app shell. Installing needs an HTTPS page, and some browsers only offer the prompt after a couple of visits.
02 · Register the phone
Sign in with your code
One screen the first time — the access code that unlocks the app on this phone. There's no email or password, and no dealership to choose: your code already ties this phone to your dealership.
- Open TruLens & enter the code
The sign-in screen reads “Sign in this phone” · “Signs in for 30 days · photo → export → web.” Type your code into the Dealership access code field. Tap the eye icon to reveal what you typed, and a note warns you if Caps Lock is on.
- Tap “Use this device”
The button shows Checking code… while it verifies, then signs this phone in and drops you straight on your catalogue. It stays signed in afterwards.
It's one code across all the TruDealer apps, issued for your dealership in TruFlow before it reaches you — so TruLens knows which dealership this phone belongs to the moment you sign in. Every car you shoot files to the right dealership, with nothing to pick and nothing to get wrong.
“That code is not recognised” means the code is wrong or your dealership isn't set up yet — ask your dealer principal, or contact TruSaaS. Check Caps Lock and tap the eye to reveal what you typed.
03 · Where everything starts
The catalogue
You land on your vehicle Catalogue. Filter it, add cars, and see at a glance what still needs shooting. The bottom bar switches between Catalogue, Dashboard and Settings.
Find & filter
Status tabs run across the top — All, In progress, Ready, Listed — each with a live count. A readiness filter (Any readiness / Needs shots / Web-ready) and a search box (“Search VIN, stock, make…”) narrow it further.
Add a vehicle
Tap + to open New vehicle. The fastest way in is Scan licence disc — hold the camera over the SA disc and TruLens reads the barcode and pre-fills make, model, colour, VIN and year (“Filled N fields from the disc — check and adjust”). Or enter by hand. Mileage (km) is required; add a Price (R), and expand “Colour, VIN, stock # — more details” for the rest. Save with Add vehicle.
Each car's actions
A vehicle card shows a thumbnail with an N/27 shots badge and a core-photos progress bar, plus:
The Dashboard tab shows KPIs (catalogue, ready, pending, capture rate, photos), a readiness chart and a “Do next” card. Settings holds your dealership profile, the DMS export target, currency, the AI quality threshold and your WhatsApp number.
04 · Workflow · step 1
Capture the car
A guided walk-around of up to 27 angles in three phases. You don't need all 27 — TruLens marks a car listing-ready once the 10 core shots are in; the rest add trust. Tap Take pictures on a car to start.
- Work the shot list
The header tracks progress — “Core X/10 · N/27 shots” and, once you're there, “Listing-ready · N/27.” The three phases are Front & Engine, Clockwise Exterior Walk-Around, and Interior, History & Verification. The chip strip lists the core shots; Add more shots (optional) reveals the extras.
- Shoot each angle
The viewfinder names the slot and shows “Shot N / 27.” Use the big Shoot button, or Import to add one from the gallery, or Skip to move on. In a hurry? Upload photos (bulk) lets you pick many at once and auto-assigns each to the next empty slot, core-first.
- Keep or redo
After a shot TruLens scores it for lighting and angle and shows Redo or Keep & next. There's also a Tag damage shortcut if you spotted something. On the service-book slot, No booklet with vehicle? Mark “None” (Exempt) keeps you moving.
- Finish to the review
Once the core shots are done the CTA turns into Core shots done — review & publish (or All shots captured — review & publish) — tap it to head to the publish gate.
The 10 core shots are the honest minimum for a listing — front bumper, the four corners, rear bumper, cabin and odometer among them. Get those in and the car can go live; the recommended and extra angles just make the listing stronger.
05 · Workflow · step 2
Review, tag & price
As you keep shots you rate condition; anything marked damage gets tagged on the real photo; and the price comes from the live market.
Rate each shot
Keeping a shot opens “Assess condition & keep” with the photo's quality score out of 100. Rate Condition of this part:
Add a Note if useful (“15cm scratch, lower door”), Rotate if the shot's sideways, then Keep & next. Rating Damage opens the tagger after you save.
Tag damage on the photo
On the “Tag damage” screen, tap the photo where the damage is to drop a pin. For each mark set a Type and Severity, and add a note:
Optionally Scan this photo with AI to get suggested pins — each must be accepted with Confirm — this damage is real or it's dropped. Finish with Save damage tags.
Price it
On the vehicle form, tap Get market value (it shows Checking the market…). TruLens scans dealer stock and SA classifieds, mileage-adjusted, and returns a Market average with the number of listings found. Tap Use as price to drop it into the car's price.
The condition on the report is dealer-declared — built from the ratings and tags you enter. The AI scan only ever suggests; nothing counts until you confirm it.
06 · Workflow · step 3
Report, then publish
Declare the car's condition, then send it out the two exits — your website and your DMS — with a 3D Orbit spin along for the ride.
The Vehicle Condition Report
The report opens as a printable Vehicle Condition Report — vehicle info, photo grid, panel grades (Good / Fair / Poor from your OK / Note / Damage), damage findings with pin locations, a core-photos checklist, and dealer branding. First, declare condition with No visible damage or Damage tagged below — a listing isn't ready until this is stated. From the action bar you can also copy a WhatsApp sales blurb, and export the report as HTML, Print or PDF.
The publish gate
The “Publish gate” lists exactly what's ready — “X of Y core shots captured,” “Condition declared,” “X of 8 exterior panels present,” “N optional shots skipped — listing still publishes” — over a grid of all shots. Then choose an exit (you can do both):
3D Orbit spin
From the report, 3D builds a TruOrbit spin from the eight exterior-lap panel photos (no video needed) and Open 3D previews it. It also rides along automatically with every DMS export — the catalogue toast reads TruOrbit ✓ when a spin went with it.
Once a car has its first successful DMS export, TruLens keeps it for 14 days and then lets it go — TruFlow becomes the source of truth. Export before you rely on it being here.
07 · Help that travels with you
Dealer Assist & Guide
Two kinds of help sit in the catalogue header — reach for them before you get stuck, without leaving the job.
08 · When something's off
Troubleshooting
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| iPhone won't offer install | You must use Safari. In the banner tap How to install, then Share → Add to Home Screen → Add. |
| Code isn't accepted | Check Caps Lock and tap the eye to reveal it. If it still fails, the code is wrong or your dealership isn't set up — ask your dealer principal or TruSaaS. |
| Can't publish to the website | The publish gate lists what's missing — usually a few core shots or an undeclared condition. Capture the core shots and declare condition on the report, then Publish enables. |
| No 3D Orbit on the car | The spin needs the exterior-lap panel photos (at least six frames). Shoot the full clockwise exterior and it builds automatically on export. |
| Camera won't open | Close any other app using the camera. If it still won't, use Import or Upload photos (bulk) to add shots from the gallery. |
| A car vanished | Cars are kept 14 days after the first DMS export, then removed — TruFlow holds it after that. Nothing was lost; it moved to the DMS. |
Get the core shots in and declare condition — that's all a car needs to go live. Everything else (extra angles, the 3D spin, the DMS push) builds on those two.