5 Must-Have Photography Apps: Modern smartphones can make for incredibly good cameras, with the best of them delivering images that, particularly with a little editing, don’t look too far off what you might get from one of the best mirrorless cameras.
But right out of the box, even the best camera phones aren’t performing at their full potential. That’s where apps come in. With the right tools, you can improve both taking and editing photos to get even better results.
Below, in no particular order, we’ve listed five apps that can help you take sharper photos and edit them to perfection.
5 Must-Have Photography Apps
1. Lightroom
Lightroom is one of the most powerful photo and video editors you’ll find on mobile, and it’s more than some people will need. But if you want a comprehensive editing tool, then this is it.
You can brighten images, crop them, blur backgrounds, remove objects, and select from numerous filters to apply. You can also adjust exposure, shadows, highlights, hue, and saturation. Many of Lightroom’s tools can even be applied with a single tap, so it’s not overwhelming.
In fact, the app’s built-in AI will even suggest the best edits for your images, taking the guesswork out of it and helping you become better at selecting edits yourself too. Lightroom on mobile is a feature-packed photo editing tool, and it’s similarly accomplished for video.
2. Snapseed
If Lightroom feels a bit too much, Snapseed might be the right fit. It’s another photo editing app, but simpler and less loaded with features.
Still, it packs over 25 useful tools, like cropping and rotating images, removing unwanted objects, adding text, enhancing details, adjusting white balance, and even editing RAW files. There are tons of built-in filters too, including Vintage, Drama, Noir, Grunge, and more.
Whether your photos need a quick touch-up, a filter, or a more detailed edit, Snapseed has you covered. Between Snapseed and Lightroom, we’d generally recommend Snapseed for simpler fixes and Lightroom for bigger changes.
3. Halide Mark II
Halide Mark II is a bit different from the apps above. First, it’s only available on iPhone. Second, it’s for taking photos, not editing them.
Your iPhone already has a good camera app, but Halide Mark II unlocks extra tools and features. You can control how the image is processed, or even select ‘Process Zero’ to skip processing altogether. It allows macro shots even if your iPhone doesn’t have a macro lens. You can adjust shutter speed, ISO, white balance, manually focus, and more.
Halide Mark II is designed to be intuitive with gesture-based controls. It even offers lessons to help you improve your photography. If you just want to point and shoot, you may not need Halide Mark II, especially since it’s not free. But if you want more control or want to learn, it’s one of the best camera apps available.
4. Open Camera
For Android users looking for an alternative to the built-in camera app, Open Camera is worth checking out.
Depending on your phone, it can add helpful features, like panoramas with the selfie camera, using a screen flash for brighter selfies, auto-leveling images, and adjusting white balance and ISO. You can even take photos remotely using a timer or by making a noise.
Open Camera also has tools to reduce noise, optimize dynamic range, and view things like a histogram, zebra stripes, and focus peaking.
5. VSCO
VSCO is a photo editing app that makes it easy to give your images a wide variety of looks. It includes over 200 presets you can apply to your photos with ease.
You can also add borders, create montages, and adjust things like contrast and saturation or add grain. The app lets you save edits as “recipes” to apply them to future photos easily.
VSCO also has a community element, letting you share your photos, see others’ images, and take part in weekly photo challenges. Some features require a paid subscription, but most basics are free to use.
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