Your camera, your call: Insta360 support is here

In restoration, seeing is believing. From the moment you step on-site to the final walkthrough, capturing the full scope of a job is what gets estimates approved fast—and a shot of the whole room, not just a few angles, is what makes your documentation hold up when an adjuster starts asking questions.

That’s why 360° photos have been part of every Encircle subscription since we introduced 360° capture with Ricoh THETA cameras. Today, we’re adding a second option: Encircle now connects to Insta360 X-series cameras too.

Same 360° photo capture you already know. Same job file. Just more cameras that work with it—and those photos do more than sit in the file, too. They feed Encircle Scope, so the room you capture in 360° helps build a more complete scope on the other end.

What’s new

Camera choice is now built into Encircle. Connect the 360° camera your shop already owns—Ricoh THETA or Insta360—and capture straight into the job file, alongside your standard photos, video and notes.

Why it matters

1. Use the camera you’ve already got

Plenty of shops picked up an Insta360 before Encircle supported it—because it was the only camera that was supported by another software vendor. Now that same camera works for job documentation in Encircle, no upgrade required.

2. More detail where it counts

Every Insta360 camera captures 72-megapixel 360° photos, giving you more detail to zoom into when an estimator or adjuster wants a closer look at damage tucked in the corner of the frame.

3. One app, one workflow, either camera

Whichever camera your crew connects, the capture flow is the same: open the room, tap to add a 360° photo, connect to the camera’s Wi-Fi, and shoot. The photo lands in the same job file as everything else—no export, no second upload step, no separate gallery to dig through later.

4. Feeds Encircle Scope

360° photos don’t just sit in the job file—they feed Encircle Scope, the AI feature that turns your field data into an IICRC-aligned mitigation scope in minutes. A 360° photo captures every angle of a room in one frame, so Encircle AI has more context to work with—which means a more accurate, complete and defensible scope on the other end, whether that photo came from a Ricoh or an Insta360.

How it works

Connecting a 360° camera to Encircle works the same way regardless of brand, with one extra step up front: telling the app which camera you’re using.

1. Turn on your camera and make sure Wi-Fi is enabled. Both Ricoh THETA and Insta360 cameras broadcast their own Wi-Fi network—there’s no internet involved, so don’t worry if your phone flags “no internet connection.”
2. In Encircle, open the room you want to document, tap the orange plus button, then Add Photos and Videos, then 360°.
3. Select your camera brand—Ricoh or Insta360—so Encircle connects using the right camera SDK.
4. Open your phone’s Wi-Fi settings and select your camera from the list of available networks.
5. Once connected, you’ll see a live preview in the viewfinder and a confirmation that you’re ready to shoot.
6. Capture the photo, review it, and tap Save.

One difference to know: Insta360 supports Single Shot mode only—the camera captures the full 360° scene in one shot, so step out of frame before you shoot. Time Shift mode (front-lens-then-back-lens, useful for larger rooms on Ricoh) isn’t available on Insta360 yet.

Like any other photo in Encircle, 360° photos can be marked up, added to notes, moved between rooms, and included in your PDF reports.

Get the most out of 360° photos

• Step out of the shot. In Single Shot mode, the camera captures everything in the room at once—including you, if you’re still in frame.
• Use a tripod for the cleanest shot. A steady base beats a handheld shot for stitching quality on either camera.
• Watch for heat and battery warnings. Insta360 cameras will flag when they’re running hot or running low on charge—give the camera a minute to cool down if you see the warning, and keep a charger on hand for longer jobs.
• Set up in multiple spots for bigger rooms. One 360° photo covers a lot, but large or oddly shaped spaces may need more than one capture point.

Designed for real teams

• Field techs get one capture flow no matter which camera is in the bag—no separate training for a second device.
• Estimators and PMs get a full room overview without a second site visit, whether the crew shot it on Ricoh or Insta360.
• Adjusters get the context to make a call faster, with a photo that shows the whole room instead of a series of angles that might miss something.

Get started with Insta360 support

As of July 22, 2026 Insta360 support is live now in Encircle —update your app and connect your camera to start capturing. Don’t have a compatible camera yet? Visit the Insta360 store for current promotions on the X5, X4, X4 Air and X3.