Millions of photos are taken each day with smartphones and tablets: not because the photos are better than those taken with a dedicated camera, but because it is endlessly more convenient.
Photo editing apps for phones can make your pics looks much better than straight out of the camera, but they need to be similarly convenient and easy to use. Here are our picks for the best photo apps on Android and iOS.
Snapseed
Snapseed is deceptively simple looking, but it hides some deep adjustment tools below the surface. It has the basic tools, like crop and auto-colour tweaks, but it also has a wide range of colour options, image filters and frames you can apply. There is even a ‘selective adjustment’ mode where you can select parts of the image where you want to apply an adjustment.
Many of these same options are available in countless other apps, but many lack the ease of use you get with Snapseed. Using this app relies on a basic input idea — you swipe up and down to switch tools, and left to right to apply the settings in degrees out of 100.
Best of all, it’s entirely free. Other photo editing apps offer the basic tools for free and charge for advanced options, but Snapseed gives way the lot for zip.
| Download on Android | Download on iOS |
Pixlr Express
Anyone familiar with the Pixlr web app, available to use in a web browser, will be familiar with the power of this tool. It really is like a free version of Photoshop that you can access from anywhere.
Pixlr on mobile devices is also powerful, though it isn’t a Photoshop replacement by any means. Like Snapseed, you apply filters and adjustment, but Pixlr goes further, with the ability to add Text layers and some truly goofy stickers.
| Download on Android | Download on iOS |
Repix
If you want to spruce up your photos without thinking too much about how to do it, Repix is a great app to have in your toolset.
It is stupidly simple to use. Just select the brush you want and paint with your finger on the touchscreen. It is a bit ‘spray-and-pray’ to use, but you can get some cool results with a bit of practice.
The downside: this is one of the few apps in this list that asks for in-app payments to extend the functionality of the app. You get a few core brushes with the free download, but many of the best tools cost extra to install.
| Download on Android | Download on iOS |
Other great photo apps
WedPics
This is such a good idea for an app. While many of us have pictures of weddings on our Facebook walls, WedPics creates a place where all pics of the happy day can be posted to a single location.
The Bride or Bridegroom create a WedPics profile and event and invite their guests to join it. Thereafter, everyone can save their photos and thoughts on the day to a place where they are easily found.
Pictures can be tagged by different times in the proceedings, and at the end of the day the entire album can be pushed to Facebook for everyone to share.
| Download on Android | Download on iOS |
Retro Camera
This is an oldie but a goodie; in fact, it would have to have been one of the first photo apps we ever downloaded on the Android OS.
Sort of like Instagram in reverse, you select an old camera model (i.e.: a photo filter) and then take a photo. After you’re happy with the results you can publish it online using a very cute retro postcard style interface.
| Download on Android |
Download on iOS |
Feature image: Placeit
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