As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This is especially true for marketing. When you need to tell a story about your brand, stock photos aren’t going to cut it.
There are plenty of mobile apps out there to help you create great images for social media, websites, and more! We’ve put together a list of some of our favorites for you to try out.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Pictures
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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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.”
best social media apps for pictures
Social networks present excellent opportunities for photographers to gain more exposure for their work, build name recognition, drive traffic to a portfolio website or blog, network with other photographers, and connect with fans and followers.
Of course, each social network has its own strengths and weaknesses, and not every platform is ideally suited for photographers. If you’re trying to find the best social networks to use, this article should help you to identify the ones that can help you to reach your goals.
When it comes to social networking, it’s important to make sure that you use these platforms with a purpose. You certainly don’t need to be everywhere, and it’s better to build up a strong profile on one social network rather than having a weak presence on a bunch of different networks. You can easily spend a lot of time on social networks if you’re not careful, so be sure you are choosing the one(s) that are right for you and using it with a purpose.
Now, here are some of the best social networks that you might want to consider as a photographer.
→ Related reading: How to Get More Traffic to Your Photography Portfolio Website
- Instagram
Instagram
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Instagram is ideally suited for photographers. Not only is it a highly visual platform that is perfect for showcasing your work, but it’s also extremely popular. It’s popular not only with photographers and creatives, but also very popular for the general population. This means that it’s perfect for getting exposure to potential clients and fans, not just other photographers.
With quality photos, you can grow following pretty quickly on Instagram, as most users are very active and engaged. You can get a lot of feedback on your photos, and you may be able to get your photos shared by some Instagram accounts with very large follower counts.
The only downside to Instagram is that it’s not intended to be used for driving traffic to your own website or blog, as you can’t link each photo to a specific URL. You can, however, include a link in your profile and users can click on that link to get more info about you.
- Behance
Behance
Behance is a social network that was created especially for creatives like designers and photographers. Photography is only one category of work that’s featured on Behance, but there are many, many photographers that are active on the site and the quality of work tends to be very high.
Behance is owned by Adobe, and if you use Adobe Portfolios to power your portfolio website, there is some integration with Behance. Once you create a Behance profile, you can create collections and upload your work.
If you’re looking to get exposure for your work and build name recognition, Behance can be a great place to do it. Most of the users are designers or photographers, so a large part of the audience will be other creatives, however, there are also other people who browse the site in order to find great photography or design work.
It’s free to create your own profile at Behance, so there is no need to worry about the cost.
Although the main benefits of using Behance involve increasing exposure, you can link back to your own site from your profile and from your individual posts. You’re not likely to get flooded with traffic from Behance, but you may be able to pick up some new visitors to your own site.
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- 500px
500px
500px is a social network for photographers that was founded in 2009. Unlike Behance, 500px focuses specifically on photography and does not include categories for design and other types of creative work.
You can create a profile on 500px to get your photos in front of a large, worldwide audience. There are a few different types of accounts available. You can start with a free plan that allows you to create a directory listing and upload up to 7 photos per week. Paid plans start at $2.99 per month, which will give you unlimited uploads, ad-free browsing, and some other features. Upgrading to the Pro plan (currently priced at $3.99 per month) will give you some additional features like the option to promote your own photography workshops.
Another option is to license your photos through 500px. You’ll need to submit photos for approval, but once they are approved, your photos will be eligible for licensing. You’ll keep 60% of the license fee and 500px will keep 40%.
- Pinterest
Pinterest
Like Instagram, Pinterest is another mainstream social network that is highly visual and very popular. However, there are a lot of key differences between the two platforms. For starters, vertical photos will get the most screen space on Pinterest and tend to do the best. You can crop your photos to suit the ideal size for Pinterest (Pinterest recommends 600px wide and 900px high).
Another key difference is the fact that Pinterest is much better for sending traffic to your site or blog. Each photo/pin that you upload can be linked to a specific URL and other users can click through to your site. Pinterest is extremely popular for bloggers because it tends to be an excellent source of traffic.
In terms of gaining exposure and building a following, Instagram is usually a better option than Pinterest. But if you’re looking to generate traffic for your website or blog, Pinterest is a platform that you should definitely get to know.
- Facebook
Facebook
Of course, Facebook is the giant of social networks. Although Facebook changed its algorithm several years ago to reduce the amount of exposure that businesses can get without paying for ads, there is still plenty of potential for exposure and free traffic from Facebook.
There are a few different ways that photographers can use Facebook. The first option is through your personal profile. You can post photos, announcements about your products and services, and even links to your own website or blog from your personal profile.
The second option is to create a Facebook page for your photography business. You can post of all the same types of content, but this allows your fans to like or follow your business.
The third option is to be active in Facebook groups. There are groups for all sorts of purposes, including photography. Most of the people in the photography groups will be other photographers, so you can easily connect with others in the industry. You could also use location-specific groups to showcase your photos of a certain area, like your home state.
- Flickr
Flickr
Flickr, founded in 2004, is one of the oldest social networks for photographers. Although its popularity has declined a bit over the years, it’s still a very active platform that is capable of providing plenty of exposure. Flickr was purchased by SmugMug a few years ago, which has brought some positive changes and additional options for users.
You can create a basic Flickr profile for free, or upgrade if you want some additional features. The paid plans start at $6.99 per month and give you unlimited uploads and storage, advanced statistics, and ad-free browsing. You’ll also get a number of other perks like 50% off your first year of SmugMug.
- Tumblr
Tumblr
Tumblr is an incredibly popular microblogging platform. Although you can find all types of content on Tumblr, photos tend to generate a lot of interest and resharing.
Tumblr could be an ideal platform if you’re interested in combing blogging and your photography. It’s a platform that you’ll probably either love or hate, but in the right situation, it can be great for generating a lot of exposure for your work.
Creating a Tumblr account is free.
- Vero
Vero
Vero is a community-based platform that allows you to gain exposure to a wide audience. It’s not just for photographers. Vero is popular for sharing thoughts on movies, TV shows, books, links, photos, and more.
As a photographer, you’ll love the fact that Vero showcases your photos in full resolution, rather than decreasing the quality of the images like most social networks. Landscape and travel photographers will appreciate the ability to catalog photos by location. And you can also share links through the platform, so you’ll have the potential to get traffic to your own website or blog.
You can download the Android or iPhone app for free to start using Vero.
- Steller
Steller
Steller is an app and social network that is all about storytelling. You can download the Android or iPhone app for free to get started, and use their pre-made themes to showcase your photos and stories.
Due to its visual nature, Steller users tend to be creative, which means the audience will include a lot of other photographers. If you’re looking to increase exposure and improve your name recognition with the industry, Steller could be an excellent option.
- Trover
Trover
Trover is a platform that can be ideal for travel and landscape photographers. The platform is all about discovering unique places and it is very location-dependent, so it can be perfect for showcasing your photos and the locations that you’ve photographed.
Whether you want to focus on your local area or share photos from wide-ranging travels, Trover is ideal. It’s free to use and you can easily get started by signing up and sharing some photos.
Next Steps
Hopefully, this article has helped you to identify some of the best social networks for photographers. If you’re looking to increase exposure for your work or network with others, browse through the details of each of these platforms to find the one that is the best fit for you. Remember that you’ll need to be consistently active in order to maximize your results with social networking, so build it into your regular schedule.
Conclusion
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