Photo presets can make or break a photo. A good preset gives your picture a certain vibe and creates a specific mood for the viewer. A bad preset, on the other hand, can be distracting and take away from the overall aesthetic of your image.
This article will discuss some of the best mobile apps for photo presets. I’ll go over what makes each app special, then give you some tips on how to use them in conjunction with one another so that you can get the most out of each one!
If you’re looking for an easy way to edit photos without having to use Photoshop, these are all great options for beginners and professionals alike!
Best Apps For Photo Presets
So you want to promote your business through photography, but you want to catch your customer’s attention. This is extremely difficult to do. Especially in the age of social media when attention spans are shrinking to just eight seconds. Fortunately, the best photo editing apps can help you get one step closer to success by using photo filters and touching up images.
Need to find products to sell and photograph? Try Handshake, your one-stop wholesale shop.
Thirty-two percent of marketers say visual images are the most important form of content for their business. Can you afford to not invest in a photo editing app that could skyrocket your visual brand? Furthermore, we created a product photography course on how to take stunning product photos with your phone.
We put together a list of the 23 top photo editing apps on the market, both free and paid, so you can choose which one suits your picture editing needs the most.
Product Photos pulling your marketing down? Learn about angles, lighting, editing, and more in our Product Photography course.
TAKE AMAZING PHOTOS TODAY
But First, What Is a Photo Editor App?
A photo editing app is a software application designed to edit pictures on a mobile device. For a business, this means you can create a great visual strategy, displaying your products in a professional manner by simply using your mobile phone.
This type of app offers a wide range of diverse features from cropping, controlling shutter speed, and adding filters. But you can also find cool photo editing apps that let you create collages or create automatic settings for various scenes. When looking to improve the visual side of your business, you can do so much with the photo editing apps listed below.
The Best Free Photo Editing Apps for iPhones and Android
- Snapseed
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Advanced photo editing on a mobile device.
Snapseed Photo Editor App
Google’s Snapseed packs a punch, rivaling desktop photo editors with its huge range of features and an intuitive interface.
Just like you’d expect, this free photo editing app comes with a range of preset filters. However, unlike most apps, you can edit these filters and even create your own from scratch.
It also has all of the classic tools, such as cropping, straightening, frames, text, vignettes, etc. And the sharpening feature does the job without making the image look grainy.
Then, things get interesting.
Snapseed has precision masking, which allows you to edit the depth of field – photographers often do this to make the background blurry and bring the foreground even more into focus.
There’s also a “Selective Adjust” tool. This lets you select a specific area of your photo and adjust the saturation, contrast, and brightness of that single point.
What’s more, the photo editor app saves your edit history, so you can amend your previous edits at any point.
- VSCO
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Classic-look filters.
VSCO Photo Filters App Free
Like Instagram, VSCO combines a camera, editing tools, and an online community.
But it’s all about the filters.
This free photo app provides a set of stunning filters that make your photos look like they were taken on an analog film camera. These soft and subtle filters add a touch of class to your photos compared to many heavily filtered Instagram presets. And you can also adjust them via a simple slider.
Of course, the app also has all the standard editing tools, like adjustments, cropping, borders, and vignettes. You can also use VSCO to adjust the exposure, contrast, temperature, or skin tones.
Once you’re done editing your photo, you can share it with VSCO’s community or to another social network – like Instagram! The app even lets you share on WhatsApp and SMS using the in-built sharing feature.
- Prisma Photo Editor
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Turning your photos into artistic “paintings” and “drawings.”
Prisma Photo Filter App
OK, sure – most filters that turn photos into “drawings” or “paintings” are downright awful.
Prisma is the exception.
This free photo editing app uses artificial neural networks (whatever that means), which “enable users to make photos appear like they were painted by Picasso, Munch, or even Salvador Dali.”
Give it a go – you might be surprised by how much you like it. You can pay to access additional filters, but there’s a generous set provided free of charge. In total, there’s more than 500 creative filters you can choose from.
Prisma also has its own online community similar to Instagram’s. So, once you’re done editing, you can share your image to your Prisma feed, save it directly to your device, share it on any social media app, or send it via email or messaging.
- Adobe Photoshop Express
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: All-around photo editing.
Adobe Photoshop App Free
Adobe Photoshop Express takes many of Photoshop’s best photo editing tools and squeezes them into a mobile app. And despite providing plenty of advanced features, this free photo editing app is easy to use on a small touchscreen.
Just upload a photo from your device, take a new one with the camera, or use an image from your Adobe Creative Cloud account, and then start editing.
It has all the tools you’d expect – cropping, red-eye correction, brightness, contrast, saturation, filters, borders, etc. However, the best part is its selection of smart filters. These filters automatically correct common issues, such as color temperature and exposure problems.
Before you can use Adobe Photoshop Express, you’ll need to sign up for a free Adobe ID account. When you’ve finished editing your photo, save it directly to your device or share it to other marketing and social media apps.
- Foodie
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Taking your food photos to the next level.
Foodie Free Photo Filters App
Everyone has been guilty of taking pictures of their food at some point. Foodie embraces this impulse and helps you take your food photos to an entirely new level.
The editor is somewhat similar to Instagram’s – except that all of the 30 filters and editing features are set up with food in mind.
Plus, it helps you line up the perfect bird’s eye shot and makes the colors pop.
Bottom line: If you take pictures of food, you need this free photo editing app.
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Professionals and those wanting to make quick pro adjustments.
Adobe Lightroom Photo Editing App
If you’d like to up your game even further, check out Adobe Lightroom CC.
This app version of the popular desktop software provides access to professional editing tools on the go. Plus, it even works with RAW files – a high-quality image format popular among photographers.
One of the great things about this best photo editor app is that it’s not trying to do everything for everyone.
Instead, it focuses on providing a set of high-quality adjustment tools presented as simple sliders. These allow you to adjust the light, detail, color, distortion, and grain of your photo.
Should you decide to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, you’ll also get access to additional features. These include selective editing and Adobe Sensei – an AI system that auto-tags your images based on their content, allowing you to quickly find the ideal image.
- LiveCollage
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Creating the ultimate photo collages.
Photo Collage Free Photo Editing App
Many free photo editing apps allow you to create simple collages (like Photoshop Express). However, LiveCollage kicks it up a notch.
This photo collage maker has thousands of layouts, so you can always find the ideal one for your needs. There’s a wide range of styles and interesting backgrounds. Plus, you can add text and customize the fonts, colors, and sizes.
The app also provides basic photo editing tools, so you don’t need to switch between apps to create the perfect collage.
- Adobe Photoshop Fix
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Editing portraits.
Adobe Photoshop Fix Photo Editor App
Adobe Photoshop Fix isn’t for adding filters or effects to your photos. Instead, it’s designed for fixing or removing unwanted aspects of your images.
You can use this intuitive and simple photo editing app to make professional-level edits to your portraits. To start, it covers all of the basics – you can adjust highlights, shadows, colors, and more.
However, it’s the Liquify section that’s truly impressive.
When you upload a portrait, the app will automatically register each of the subject’s facial features. Then you can adjust their size, shape, and position to create the perfect image.
If you’re a Creative Cloud user, you can also share your edits directly to Photoshop on your desktop computer for further editing.
- Visage
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Retouching selfies.
Visage Photo Editor App
First things first: There’s nothing wrong with pimples, bags under the eyes, or teeth that aren’t perfectly white when taking a selfie.
Still, whenever our vanity gets the better of us, Visage is ready and waiting.
This free selfie photo editing app lets you quickly and easily retouch your portrait photos. Specifically, you can smooth skin, reduce skin shine, whiten teeth, apply eye makeup, and more.
The app also includes a set of interesting backgrounds and effects to spruce up your selfies.
The downside is that the free version of the app shows a lot of ads, and your finished photo edit will have a branded hashtag applied to the bottom. However, you can always upgrade to the pro version ($4.99 per month or $9.99 per year) to avoid these drawbacks.
- Enlight Photofox
Available on iOS only | Free
Best for: Artistic photo editing.
Enlight Photofox Photo Editing App
Enlight Photofox is the ultimate, free artistic photo editing app – it even won an Apple Design Award in 2017.
One of its most popular features is the ability to blend photos together to create dramatic effects. You can also add graphic elements to your images.
While it has many of the same features as Photoshop, such as layers, the learning curve isn’t so steep. That said, to get the most out of Enlight Photofox, you’ll probably need to watch a bunch of its tutorial videos.
The downside is that the free version only allows you to use two layers at once. So, you’ll need to subscribe to the pro version ($2.74 per month or a one-time purchase of $64.99) if you want to let your creativity run wild.
- Instagram
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Sharing your photos to build an online following.
Instagram Photo Editing App
It should go without saying: If you’re taking photos, Instagram is the place to share them.
The site is the third-largest social network in the world after Facebook and YouTube, and as of June 2018, the app has over 1 billion monthly active users.
The platform has all of the basic photo editing tools you might need, including filters, effects, text, stickers, overlays, and more. However, the app also provides other tools to help you grow your following.
For example, you can harness Instagram Insights to understand how your audience engages with your posts, or you can use Instagram Stories or Instagram Live to connect with your following in a more interactive way.
Whichever app you use to edit your photos, you’re going to want to upload them to Instagram.
- Afterlight 2
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: All-around editing and artsy overlays.
Afterlight Free Photo Editor
Afterlight dubs itself the “all-in-one, feature-packed” photo editing app – which is a fair summary.
It has all the basic features you would expect, including tools to adjust the exposure, hue/saturation, contrast, and tone. And the options to add and customize text are vast.
Plus, there are more than 70 frames to choose from and tons of great filters which you can customize to suit your needs.
Best of all, there’s a set of textures, including prism effects, real film light leaks, and dusty film overlays. These allow you to create unique images that stand out and capture people’s attention.
The app also works with RAW files on iOS or Android.
- Canva
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Business-related branded photos.
Canva Free Mobile Photo Editor App
OK, so Canva is not just for photos. It’s for creating posters and other visuals across your website and marketing collateral, but that is why we love this app!
Take a photo, upload it to Canva, edit it, and start creating all your amazing visuals that are consistent no matter where your customers will see them.
With filters, vignettes, and more your photos can look professional in minutes, and so can everything you post on social media and your website.
- Over
Available on iOS and Android | Free
Best for: Adding beautiful text to your images
Over free photo editing app
Over has a little bit of everything – like blurring, tints, opacity – but the option to add text is where it truly shines.
You can use the app to add multiple text overlays, which you can style individually, to your images. It has a great catalog of fonts, as well as a simple interface for quick editing.
Editing lets you adjust tint, size, and text alignment of the image. Plus, you can pinch to resize the text. Moreover, you can add multiple text entries on a single image using the app’s layer system.
Customize as you like and then share on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks. It’s a neat and low-cost way to start generating brand awareness for your business.
- Bazaart
Available on iOS | Free
Best for: Surreal and artistic image effects
bazaart iOS review
If you want to do more than just remove blemishes from your last selfie, Bazaart can help you transform your photography with unique effects.
Using montage and collage tools, you can combine multiple design elements to create something new. You can layer text and graphics on your photos and even move segments of the image around for a surreal effect.
Features like instant background removal and templates mean Bazaart is a fantastic product for beginners who are still exploring the phone editing landscape. You can even create Instagram stories with pre-made designs.
For those searching for some extra inspiration to make the most of this app, Bazaart’s Instagram app is a wonderful muse.
The Best Paid Photo Editing Apps
- SKRWT
Available on iOS and Android | $0.99
Best for: Adjusting the perspective of your photos.
SKRWT Picture Editing App
Have you ever taken an amazing photo that just wasn’t quite lined up right? Perhaps the perspective was slightly tilted or askew?
SKRWT fixes these issues.
This photo editing app lets you adjust the perspective of your images so that everything lines up perfectly. It has automated cropping and perspective correction. Or if you’d prefer, you can use the “4 Points Correction” to edit the perspective of your image manually.
You can also use the app to correct lens distortion – a common problem with smartphone cameras. No wonder SKRWT says it’s the “missing link in high-end smartphone photography.”
- Facetune
Available on iOS and Android | $3.99
Best for: Professionally editing selfies.
Facetune Paid Photo Editing App
Do you love taking selfies? Facetune is another portrait photo editing app designed to help you look your best.
It allows you to quickly make professional photo editing adjustments to your images. You can smooth skin, whiten teeth, remove blemishes, and even adjust the position of facial features with just a few swipes and taps.
You can also change the backgrounds of your selfies using its set of fun graphics.
Facetune is best used in moderation – if you get carried away, your selfie can quickly end up looking like a wax doll.
Thankfully, you can tap and hold the blue button at the bottom of the screen to switch between the original image and your edited version. This way, you can easily tell if you’ve gone too far.
- TouchRetouch
Available on iOS and Android | $1.99
Best for: Removing unwanted objects from your photos.
TouchRetouch Paid Photo Editor App
Have you ever taken a photo that has an object in it you wish you could remove? Well, TouchRetouch is a photo editing app that lets you do just that.
You can use this photo editing app to remove things like telephone wires, posts, power lines, street signs, or trash cans. You can also remove blemishes, pimples, or even pesky photobombers.
Plus, the app is extremely simple to use. In fact, you can remove most objects with just one tap. However, should you need help, there are tutorials within the app that teach you how to harness its full potential.
- Pixelmator
Available on iOS only | $39.99
Best for: A huge range of photo editing features.
Pixelmator paid photo editor app
Pixelmator covers all the bases. It blends the tools needed by both photographers and graphic designers into one mobile app.
This is a feature-packed, layer-based photo editing app. You can use it to enhance images, add graphics and text, or create advanced artistic compositions. And the app comes with preset templates, collages, and effects.
The best part? The interface is very simple to use.
The app also works seamlessly with Pixelmator’s desktop software (which costs $39.99,) so you can edit wherever and whenever is most convenient for you.
- Mextures
Available on iOS only | $1.99
Best for: Quick and professional layer editing.
Mextures Photo Editing App
Mextures is a layer-based photo editing app that makes advanced photo editing simple.
You can use the app to stack different edits and adjustments on top of each other and edit them individually.
Plus, the app comes with plenty of beautiful filters for quick editing. And you can save your editing formulas to apply to other photos in the future.
It’s also fantastic for applying dust, film grain, textures, gradients, or light leaks.
- Distressed FX
Available on iOS | $0.99
Best for: Unleashing your editing creativity.
Distressed FX Paid Photo Editor App
This is a photo editor app with a twist. Distressed FX allows you to add a wide range of textured images and overlays to your images to create something amazing.
With this photo editor app you can turn images into photographs, add extra elements that you wouldn’t otherwise have at your disposal, and so much more.
Users of the app praise it for being “easy to use” and having “so many options to release and free your creativity”.
If you are looking to create visuals that are 100 percent unique, you can achieve this through this awesome app.
creative photo apps
Using the best photo apps will help elevate your good pictures to great pictures. After all, there is a lot more to a great photo than just tapping the capture button on your smartphone. You’ve probably looked at other people’s snazzy photos and wondered how on earth they caught them – and that’s where photo editing apps can help.
To get the best from your photos, you need a brilliant photo app on your device (though having one of the best camera phones or the best iPhones for photography helps, too). And, depending on your aim, you might be able to perform all of the editing on your phone itself.
With this in mind, we’ve put together this definitive guide to the best photo apps – covering iOS and Android (see here for the best all-round Android apps). If you want to edit video, then head over to our post on the best video editing apps.
We’ve divided the best photo apps into three subsections: image manipulation or photo editing apps, camera apps for taking photos on your device, and artistic photo apps. You can navigate between them quickly using the links above.
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If you’re more concerned with your Insta feed than anything else, then you may want to check out our best VSCO filters for Instagram. Also, if you have a photo stuck on Instagram, see our guide detailing how to download Instagram photos.
The best photo apps in 2021
PHOTO EDITING APPS
- Lensa
Best photo apps: Lensa
(Image credit: Prisma Labs)
Download: iOS
Developer: Prisma Labs
Price: Free with In-App Purchases (IAPs)
Pitching itself as a way to improve your selfies, Lensa is photo app that goes beyond conventional filters and editing tools. Powered by AI, this app promises simple ways to improve anything you might dislike about your portrait shot. You can smooth skin and remove blemishes, remove eye bags, thicken your eyebrows, plump your lips, make you eyes sparkle… and pretty much anything else. There are also tools to blur out the back ground and add depth, to ensure nothing detracts from your perfect selfie.
- Instasize
Best photo apps: Instasize
(Image credit: Instasize, Inc)
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Instasize, Inc
Price: Free; $4.99/month
Instasize is a feature-packed toolkit for creatives wanting to edit their photos in myriad ways. Brilliant for editing specifically for the different social media formats, this app comes with all the edit capability you’d expect, including a vast number of filters (over 130) and adjustments including contrast, exposure, saturation, and clarity. There’s a collage maker, the ability to add borders to your photos, a text editor and more. It is a creative app with good capability, but you do need to subscribe to unlock the best features (without subscription there are a lot of ads, fyi).
- Afterlight
Best photo apps: Afterlight
(Image credit: Afterlight)
Download: iOS
Developer: Afterlight Collective Inc
Price: Free with In-App Purchases (IAPs)
From basic functions such as colour editing, all the way through to more complex functions including curves and selective colours, Afterlight provides an easy way for users to fine-tune their photos. It comes with a set of of basic filters from the word go, and there’s fun to be had for typographers too, as lettering can be overlaid onto your snaps. Topping off the release is a double-exposure tool that can give your photos some truly unique blends.
- Snapseed
Best photo apps: Snapseed
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
After a powerful Google tool that rivals even desktop editors? Look no further. This impressive app comes armed with 29 tools and filters, the ability to open JPG and RAW files, as well as letting users save personal settings and apply them directly to future works.
What puts Snapseed in a league of its own though, is its precision masking tool. Perfect for photographers looking to blur backgrounds and give their pictures depth, this control is sure to transform your snaps for the better.
- Photoshop Lightroom CC for mobile
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Adobe
Price: Free
Adobe makes a number of photo apps but if you’re serious about photo editing on your device, you only need one: Photoshop Lightroom CC for mobile. It’s a free photo editor that gives you a powerful yet simple solution for capturing, editing and sharing your photos.
You can shoot raw photos (on compatible phones), or transfer from your camera onto your device, and easily organise and tweak them, then automatically upload them to the cloud so they don’t take up space on your device. It has presets to keep your edits quick and simple, but you can also go deeper and fine-tune images to perfection.
Signing up to a Creative Cloud account – including the Lightroom CC plan, adds the ability to work across phone, tablet and desktop with instant synchronisation. Check out the best Adobe deals available now.
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- Photoshop Express
Best photo apps: Photoshop Express
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Adobe
Price: Free
As you would expect from Adobe, the interface and user experience of the Photoshop Express photo app for Apple and Android devices is faultless. It fulfils all the functions you need for picture editing and will probably be the one you turn to for sheer convenience. Straighten and Flip are two useful functions not included in many other apps.
However, none of the filters really jump out, and some are surprisingly naff for an app that comes from the developer for designers. Ultimately, if you are looking for a more professional tool, look towards Lightroom CC for mobile, but the cut-down feel and familiarity of PS Express will suit some. Or if it’s filters you’re after, then see Photoshop’s latest app, Photoshop Camera.
For more on the other Photoshop apps, see how to Photoshop on your iPhone.
- Photoshop Mix
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Adobe
Price: Free
Photoshop Mix is an app that caters more for those looking to make big statements than those making subtle adjustments, and it’s none the worse for it. PS Mix enables you to cut out and combine elements from different images, blend layers and make adjustments to your creations on your device, and it majors in ease-of-use.
Usefully, it live-syncs with Photoshop CC, meaning that when you make a change on your phone, it’ll show up instantly on your desktop – and you can take advantage of Creative Cloud benefits with an Adobe Photography Plan, which saves a fair bit of cash over a full subscription.
- Photoshop Fix
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Adobe
Price: Free
With Photoshop Fix, you can make the most common image adjustments very easily, right on your smart device, without having to transfer your photos to a desktop computer and use expensive photo editing software. At your fingertips are the tools to liquify, heal, lighten, colour and adjust your images to perfection, plus you can experiment with painting tools and vignettes, control exposure, contrast, saturation and focus.
As with all Adobe mobile apps, having a Creative Cloud account opens up the ability to instantly share your work with other CC apps on desktop or mobile, but Photoshop Fix is probably the best Adobe app for those just looking to make their smartphone photos better without requiring deep knowledge of editing tools.
- MuseCam
Download: iOS
Developer: MuseWorks Inc
Price: $3.99
Massively popular on the App Store (and with a 4.6 star rating, to boot), MuseCam is a fantastic all-round photo app. It gives you the all-important manual camera control (with compatible iPhones): custom exposure with independent control of shutter, ISO, white balance and focus.
The built-in photo editor lets you take even more control of your images, and with film-inspired presets plus professional grade tools, it’s a great tool to help you move from novice snapping to great photography.
- Google PhotoScan
Best photo apps: PhotoScan
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Google
Price: Free
It’s all very well being able edit photos on your phone or computer, but what about those old pre-digital prints you have lying around? If putting them all through a scanner’s too much for you, there’s an app that makes digitising your ancient snaps much easier. Google’s PhotoScan enables you to scan photos with your phone in seconds, without unsightly glare and shadows.
- PicLab
Best photo apps: PicLab
Use the photo editor to quickly create trendy infographic images with this photo app [Image: Super Basic, LLC]
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Super Basic, LLC
Price: Free (IAPs)
PicLab is a nifty app for creating those inspiring images that you get all over the internet these days. You know, the ones featuring a photo – probably with at least one retro filter applied – with a helpful aphorism layered over the top in an attractive, friendly typeface. PicLab HD makes them an absolute doddle to create, enabling you to either snap a photo or grab one from your photo library, then go to town on it.
As well as adding typography – lots of fonts and full control over size, positioning, opacity, rotation, and colour – you can also layer illustrations, ornamentation and other design elements on top of your image.
PicLab features full layer-based editing and also packs plenty of tools for making your original photo look its best, with loads of lighting and film effects to choose from as well as preset photo filters and adjustment tools for fine-tuning the brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation, and the blur level of your photos.
- Facetune
Best photo apps: Facetune
Download: iPhone, iPad, Android
Developer: Lightricks
Price: From $3.99
Embarrassed by your laughter lines? Feeling blue about those blemishes? Fear not, Facetune is here! Grab a photo from your Camera Roll and start your makeover; you can remove unwanted freckles, blemished skin or hide bags under the eyes with Smooth; reshape that wonky nose or misshapen jawline with, er, Reshape; and make subtle tweaks of colour using Tone.
The results of this photo editor are truly impressive. You can share results over social media or email.
Jump back to start
- PhotoWonder
Best photo apps: Photo Wonder
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Xin Guo
Price: Free (IAPs)
An excellent user interface makes Photo Wonder one of the speediest smartphone photo apps to use. It also has a good collage feature with multiple layouts and photo booth effects. The filter selection isn’t huge, but many are so well-designed that you’ll find them far more valuable than sheer quantity from a lesser app. The Vintage filter works magic on photos of buildings or scenery. Combine with Sweety for a dreamy retro effect.
- Rakuga Cute
Best photo apps: Rakuga Cute
Download: iOS
Developer: Tatsumi Electronics
Price: Free (IAPs)
At first glance this iPhone photo app seems aimed at Japanese schoolgirls rather than discerning designers, but Rakuga Cute actually contains some unusual editing functions that make it an interesting addition to your photo repertoire.
The Mosaic option lets you selectively pixelate any part of a photo, which is quite useful for blurring out license-plates, identities or should you feel so inclined, body parts.
BEST CAMERA APPS
- ProCam 8
Best photo apps: ProCam 8
(Image credit: ProCam 6)
Download: iOS
Developer: Samer Azzam
Price: $7.99
ProCam 8 is another app for the iPhone that gives you full manual control over your camera, enabling DSLR-like camera functionality and full-featured photo and video editing capabilities. Worried that this will mean an impenetrable user interface? Not so – ProCam 8’s UI has pleasingly intuitive gestures and menus, so there is little to scare off the newcomer.
The best feature has to be the overexposure warning that comes up on the screen when shooting still or video – very handy – as well as a fast and reliable tracking focus, and the all-important portrait mode, which is arguably more subtle that Apple’s own and just as adjustable.
- Halide Mark II
Best photo apps: Halide II
Download: iOS
Developer: Chroma Noir
Price: From free (or one-off fee/subscription fee)
If you love the convenience of mobile photography but miss the control you get with a full-on SLR, Halide is well worth snapping up. It’ll work as a simple point and shoot, but with a swipe you can open up a whole load of lovely manual options, giving you tactile control over focus, ISO and shutter speed, as well as a live histogram to help you get the right exposure.
You can review your photos Tinder-style, with a right swipe to add them to your favourites, and a left swipe to trash them, and Halide can even export as RAW to give you more flexibility when you edit your shots.
- Camera MX
Download: Android
Developer: Magix
Price: Free
The Android-exclusive photo app Camera MX combines powerful enhancement tools with a beautifully simple user interface. Thanks to intelligent image processing you can take visibly sharper snaps, as well as cutting and trimming them to perfection in the edit.
In the latest version, you can create dynamic photos with the Live Shot feature. By saving the last seconds before you actually take the photo, this app lets users capture moving snaps that can be relived and shared.
- Camera+ Legacy
Best photo apps: Camera+ Legacy
(Image credit: LateNite Apps)
Download: iOS
Developer: LateNite Apps
Price: $2.99
The Camera app that comes on the iPhone by default is not brilliant: yes, you can use it to take some decent shots, but it doesn’t offer you much creative control. This is where Camera+ excels. The app has two parts: a camera and a photo editor, and it truly excels at the latter, with a huge range of advanced features.
Camera+ doesn’t just limit you to editing new pics – you can quickly import your existing photos into the Lightbox so that you can breathe new life into them.
- Camera360
Best photo apps: Camera360
(Image credit: Camera360)
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: PinGuo
Price: Free
Camera360 is a remarkable smartphone photo app. It’s perfectly self-contained with a huge range of functions, no ads and no insistence in promoting paid content.
Touching the photo after applying a filter produces a nifty quick comparison of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions. One drawback is that the process of importing photos is slightly tedious, with one too many clicks involved. Tip: go to Enhancement > Night for a great filter to correct slightly dark or underexposed photos.
Jump back to start
- LINE Camera
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: LINE Corporation
Price: Free (offers in-app purchases)
Sleek and easy-to-use, LINE Camera comes with a solid range of filters, borders, icons and stamps. You can also add text to your pictures in over 100 fonts and 20 colours, making this free smartphone photo app one of the best for typography. Check out Stamp > Heart Symbol > Shine for a nice selection of kitschy sparkle brushes.
- VSCO Cam
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Visual Supply Company
Price: Free (IAPs)
Connect with amazing photographers from around the world, and create your own stunning photography with VSCO Cam. Create your own VSCO Journal to join in with the community and find inspiration form other users. Unlike other social platforms, your followers and clout are not displayed, giving everyone an equal creative playing field.
VSCO Cam comes packed with top performance features, including high resolution imports, and before and after comparisons to show how you built up your edit. Introduce yourself to the community by downloading it for free.
ARTISTIC PHOTO APPS
- Enlight Photofox
Best photo apps: Enlight Photofox
Download: iOS
Developer: Lightricks Ltd
Price: Free (IAPs)
Offering users the ability to control tone, colour and details, Enlight Photofox can also convert your photos into an artistic masterpiece. This is thanks to a range of painterly effects, including the ability to convert your picture into street art or a realistic looking sketch.
- Prisma
Best photo apps: Prisma
Download: iOS, Android
Developer: Prisma Labs
Price: Free (IAPs)
Better than any filter-based photo app, Prisma can transform your photos into masterpieces in the style of famous artists such as Van Gogh, Munch, Mondrian and Picasso. It uses an AI technique called style transfer to do its artistic magic, and it’s no longer restricted to still images; it now works on video as well.
- Instagram
Best photo apps: Instagram
(Image credit: Instagram)
Platform: iOS, Android
Developer: Instagram, Inc
Price: Free
Even if you’re new to the world of photo apps, chances are you’ve heard of Instagram. Capable of turning the most everyday photo into something glamorous thanks to its range of custom-designed filters and editing tools, Instagram has won over billions of fans and dedicated users.
There is a reason Instagram is so popular. It’s powerful, versatile, and best of all it’s free. A wide range of filters and features allow you to create unique images, Stories and videos.
Learn how to change the font in your Instagram bio, or follow Creative Bloq on Instagram for more inspiration.
- Sktchy
Best photo apps: Sktchy
(Image credit: Sktchy)
Download: iOS
Developer: Sktchy LLC
Price: Free (IAPs)
Sktchy offers artists a new way to connecting with other around the world. You choose from a selection of photographs, uploaded by the Sktchy community, and create a portrait from that image. Sktchy co-founder Jordan Melnick says: “Our community of artists is growing every day because Sktchy is the perfect place for them to find inspiration and share their art with the world, in part because of the neat way we layer portraits over the photos that inspired them.”
Conclusion
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