Wednesday, March 1, 2017

26 photo apps to supercharge your iPhone camera

Th ere's an old adage amongst photographers that goes, "The best camera is the one you have with you." The point being that when the perfect scene pops up, any camera is better than no camera at all. And since most of us carry our smartphones with us everywhere we go, the best camera we have is often an iPhone. Moreover, the camera on the newly-launched iPhone 7 and 7 Plus — and those adorning nearly all recent iPhone models — are nearly as powerful as the point-and-shoots of yesteryear, with a massive selection of sophisticated apps that render them even more versatile.

Check out this list of our favorite photography apps for iOS, whether you're looking for a way to shoot, edit, or organize your photos with the to uch of your finger and a little intuitiveness.

Even with the latest iOS update, Apple's native camera app is rather anemic when it comes to features. Thankfully, Camera+ provides a wider range of exposure controls and advanced tools such as continuous flash, frontal flash, touch-focus adjustment, 6x digital zoom, a timer, and preset filters. The well-organized interface also makes it a breeze to utilize, whether snapping or sharing shots on social media.

When iOS 8 launched, rather than updating the existing ProCamera app, developer Cocologics decided to go ahead and make an entirely new app. The new app — now optimized for iOS 10 — still sports a minimalist interface, with a host sophisticated features for setting exposure time, tint, ISO sensitivity, and more. It even features a night camera and full-resolution previews in addition to robust exposure control and more than 70 unique filters and effects.

ProHDR is probably one of the most fully-featured apps we've encountered in the HDR category. The interface isn't quite as slick as VividHDR, but it offers you a wider range of control over exposure adjustments and tone-mapping settings. It also features an array of beautiful preset filters for you to use, if you're into that sort of thing, along with options for digitally zooming, cropping, captioning, and setting a s elf timer, among other features.

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iTunes

Adobe Photoshop Express Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express

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Adobe Photoshop Express

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When it comes to photo editing software, nobody does it better than Adobe. Though the mobile version of their renowned desktop software offers a smaller work space than most apps, it's still one of the most capable after-effects programs you can buy. Popular Photoshop features such as layers, selection tools, an d adjustments all make an appearance, as do options for adding text, applying effects, and blending images. Unfortunately, many features are locked behind in-app purchases, so be ready to spend some dough if Express is your photo editor of choice.

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iTunes

Adobe Lightroom Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom

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Although many of Lightroom's tools require a newer model of iPhone to run, it remains one of the most feature-rich apps on our list, particular for photographers who want to edit their workflow while on the move. The app automatically syncs images with its desktop counterpart – whether you're using images shot on your smartphone or raw images from a DSLR – allowing you to quickly edit, enhance, and share your photos using a variety of familiar tools. With iOS 10, Lightroom now supports RAW image capture and editing.

Download it now from:

iTunes

Instagram Instagram

Instagram

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What would our photography app roundup be without any mention of the undisputed king of photo filters? There are dozens of apps out there that essentially allow you to do the same thing, but Instagram remains the best given the enormous user community. It still supplies a bevy of classic filters from which to choose, along with the ability to comment, like, share, and send photos directly to friends of your own choosing.

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iTunes

Pixlr Pixlr Express

Pixlr Express

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The web-based Pixlr has long been one of our favorite image editors, and thankfully, so is the mobile incarnation of the software. The app lets you choose from four pre-defined dimensions when resizing photos, with additional options for cropping, rotating, stylizing, and sharing photos on standby. Lighting and overlay effects even let you adjust the mood, while one-click adjustments allow for quick and automatic control.

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iTunes

Facetune ($4) FaceTune

FaceTune

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A mere $4 is a small price to pay for perfection. Not everyone is as photogenic as this g uy, and more often than not, the images you snap of yourself and your friends aren't as flattering as you'd like them to be. That's where Facetune comes in.As the self-professed favorite app of Kim Kardashian, one of the most photographed celebs on social media, the app allows you to perform specific touch-ups like teeth whitening, blemish removal, and color correction so that your mug looks perfect when you post the pics to your social media profiles. Hell, you can even change your eye color or color over grey hairs.

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iTunes

Photo Editor by Aviary Photo Editor by Aviary

Photo Editor by Aviary

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Photo Editor by Aviary

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If you're looking for a solid after-effects app that doesn't cost anything up front, check out Photo Editor by Aviary. An Adobe product, it's got plenty of advanced features and a sleek, minimalist interface from which you can stylize and edit your photos using a wealth of purchasable filters and content. Like Facetune, Aviary includes tools for eliminating redeye and whitening teeth, along with options for adding text , replacing color, and sharing.

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iTunes

Manual Manual

Manual

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The aptly-titled Manual, one of the more recent photography apps to hit the App Store, is a sight for sore eyes. The mobile software gives you full control of the shutter, white balance, ISO, focus, and exposure composition for a more hands-on approach to capturing photos. Furthermore, you can use the app to monitor automatic exposure values and view a live histogram, that is, when you're not using the flashlight or slick grid mode.

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iTunes

Photoblend Photoblend

Photoblend

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Photoblend makes being artsy easy. The photo editor allows you to blend to images together to create a simple, double exposure effect, with the option to add a melange of quotes to your photo (i.e. "To love and be loved"). Furthermore, you can add images to one of Photoblend's many traditional frames, or add modern figures such as an owl, peace sign, tree, or sun, among others. Is it gimmicky? Yes, but who really cares?

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iTunes

Luminance Luminance

Luminance

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Luminance made its name by allowing users to stack different filters on top of one another to create a more personalized photography experience. The mobile app includes a suite of special effects that can be applied to pictures, along with basic photo-editing tools that allow you to crop and rotate your images. Luminance sets itself further apart by allowing you to export pictures at different resol utions (Small, Medium, Large, or Original).

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iTunes

Horizon Camera Horizon Camera

Horizon Camera

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We know you would never, ever record vertical video on your iPhone. But for your friends that might do it by accident, Horizon Camera offers a viable solution. Horizon simply forces your phone to record in landscape mode, keeping the feed horizontal even while rotating the phone itself. The app includes slow-mo support at 60 and 120 fps, and allows you to record at a resolution o f your own choosing — so long as it falls within the scope of a pre-selected list, of course.

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iTunes

Paper Camera Paper Camera

Paper Camera

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Paper Camera is a lighthearted take on your average photo filter app, and offers a number of cartoon-style filters, each with a number of sliders that let customize your pictures to your heart's content. Unlike most apps, Paper Camera applies the filter to the camera rather than the photograph, allowing you to see what a picture might look like before you actually take it. The app also allows you to import and filter your own photos.

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iTunes

Lifecake Lifecake

Lifecake

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Lifecake is the app that's bringing Grandma's scrapbooks into the 21st century. The app, owned by Canon, is built to chronicle childhood, one picture at a time. The user can view 'stages' of their child's life by selecting and comparing different dates, and decide who can view the albums. The app also allows you to annotate photos or albums.

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iTunes

PixelWakker ($3) PixelWakker

PixelWakker

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With PixelWakker, creator Joseph Wrigley brings pointillism into the digital world. The app breaks photographs down into pixels, then turns those pixels into art. Even with just four filters to choose from — like pixel image, dots, lines, and color rain — you can have a ton of fun. Moreover, the app is compatible with Instagram and allows you to directly post photos to your live feed.

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iTunes

Sktchy Sktchy

Sktchy

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For anyone who loves to draw (or simply loves art), Sktchy is a unique app that allows users to post pictures of themselves for artists to draw or paint. Sktchy is great for following your favorite artists, getting feedback on your own art, and comparing different artistic depictions of the same subject. Touted by creator Jordan Melnick as "the perfect place for artists to find inspiration," Sktchy's community grows every day.

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iTunes

TiltShift TiltShift

TiltShift

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There are dozens of apps designed to give your photos a tilt-shift look, but TiltShift solely focuses on tilt-shift photography and nothing more. Not only does it house the ability to apply real-time effects and let you share your photos across your favorite social platforms, but it includes a lens blur feature, bloom adjustment, and the ability to choose a shaped aperture. Furthermore, the interface is streamlined and simple, making the editing process easier than ever before.

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iTunes

Ampergram Ampergram

Ampergram

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Have you ever found yourself in dire need of an app that creates ransom notes? If so, Ampergram is perfect for you! The app allows you to choose from a ton of real-life photographic fonts to create a unique message. With Ampergram, you can utilize community-uploaded fonts, default fonts, or take photos of letters you see in real life to add them to your library. Just keep in mind that Digital Tre nds does not take credit for ransom notes created this way.

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iTunes

VSCO VSCO

VSCO

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Free of frivolous distractions and interface clutter, VSCO Cam is a stills-only app that specifically built with composition and editing in mind. The app allows you to set the focus and exposure independently, as well as make subtle adjustments to temperature, contrast, brightness, saturation, and more using a variety of tools. You can even adjust the strength presets, or peruse a curated gallery of impressive photos from the creators .

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iTunes

YouCam Snap YouCam Snap

YouCam Snap

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YouCam Snap brings something different to the table. The app lets users capture  real-life photographs of displays, charts, presentations, and the like. The app then automatically de-skews, straightens, and enhances the photos so that they can be used as reference material or sent to others. A student might snap a picture of notes on a whiteboard, for instance, and the app will adjust t he angle of the picture and render the notes readable for future use.

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iTunes

TinType ($1)

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If Instagram's filters aren't antique enough for you, TinType might be what you're looking for. This simple app, created by the same team behind Hipstamatic, is designed to turn your smartphone photos into a tintype camera. The styling is somewhat niche, but the results are impressive and the app's interface is straightforward.

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iTunes

Prisma

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Turning an average photo into a piece of art usually isn't an easy task, but thanks to some help from artificial intelligence and neural networks, Prisma makes it as simple as a few taps. Using the various styles of artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Levitan, and more, Prisma warps your photos and videos into a painteresque images.

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iTunes

Filmborn

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As the name implies, Filmborn was born out of its creator's passion for film photography. The app features a powerful camera that's capable of shooting RAW photos with compatible devices. Once an image is captured, Filmborn offers nine incredibly accurate film simulation presets, each of which is inspired by a film stock from Fujifilm, Ilford, or Kodak.

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iTunes

RNI Films

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Much like VSCO and Filmborn, RNI Films — short for Real Nice Images — is inspired by the analogue aesthetic. Similar to VSCO, RNI Films gives you a few collections of film simulations to edit your image with. Each of the presets is named the same as the film stock it's looking to replicate . The app's interface is clean and easy to navigate, and the presets are some of the more impressive ones you'll come across in any app. If you want more presets than those that come with RNI films, you can also purchase one of five themed collections as an in-app purchase for $4.

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iTunes

Polarr

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From beginning to end, Polarr is a photo-editing suite that's capable of doing almost anything you can imagine to an image. From basic exposure and curves adjustments to photo filters and detailed face-editing tools, Polarr is a well-rounded app that gets the job done. The full version of the app will set you back $20 via in-app purchases, but the free version still has a lot to offer.

Download now from:

iTunes


Source: 26 photo apps to supercharge your iPhone camera

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