With smartphone penetration in the US having now reached 61% for persons, 12 years of age and older, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 sporting a 16MB camera and the new Apple iPhone 6 Plus with a 8MB camera, users want more sophisticated and comprehensive photography apps. Here are 10 of the apps that are attracting the most attention during 2014.
1.Adobe Photoshop Express
With both an Android and iOS version, Adobe is bringing its legendary photo-editing tools to smartphone photographers. Adobe Photoshop Express was created for beginner or casual smartphone shooters who want the basic tools, such as auto-fix, one-touch filters, red-eye correction and cropping. There are also sliders to manipulate contrast, exposure, shadows and other basic editing needs. The entry-level version is free, but if you want more advanced features and filters, then they can be purchased from the app.
2.Ubookoo
With a name like Ubookoo, it may be difficult at first to take this app seriously, but it provides photographers with a serious array of mobile applications to build a photography business. The Mobile Studio App in conjunction with an exclusive mobile keyword makes it easy for a your customers to access the mobile studio and book new projects and place orders. In addition, whenever consumers text the mobile keyword, their data is captured, so you can respond with customized information and special offers. Maybe, the best Ubookoo app is offering customers an exclusive mobile app, so they can share their photos with family and friends, maximizing orders and new leads. Hands down this app is worth checking out.
3.Adobe Photoshop Touch
For just $9.99, Android and iOS you can add a few of the basic capabilities of Photoshop to your camera phone, such as layers, selection tools, adjustments, filters and many others. You don’t have to minimize the resolution of high-resolution photos to edit them and the app allows you to edit as much as 12 megapixels and retain all the fine details during the editing process. It shouldn’t be surprising that you’ll have to spend some quality time learning how to use Adobe Photoshop Touch, but it’s well worth it.
4.Afterlight
This is the app that will transform many snapshots into high quality images. For just $0.99, you can perform basic edits – contrast, saturation, highlight, shadow and mid-tone corrections. With either the Android or iOS version, you can become an even more creative editor, selecting from such features as textures, light leaks, slider-controlled filters and crop, transform and straightening tools. For a final touch, give your photos a touch of class with a choice of frames.
5.Filterstorm Neue (iOS)
The title is a dead giveaway that this app is filled with many filter choices, but it offers more for the photographer who wants a rather complete set of editing tools, including a clone brush, a curves tool, masking tools and noise reduction among many others. The app remembers as many as 10 editing steps for an image, so it is easy to know what edits you’ve applied and backtrack if you want. Once you’re done, you can export your edited photos as a JPG, TIFF or PNG.
6.FaceTune
With selfies the latest rage in casual smartphone photography, FaceTune is a nifty little app to improve selfies and portraits, so whomever you capture with your phone looks their best. Before sharing a raw image, use FaceTune to whiten teeth, correct red-eye, eliminate gray hair and remove pimples and other blemishes. Once the person’s face is beautified, other tools can be used to improve lighting and focus, apply filters and rotate and flip the image.
7.Camera+
Although Camera+ is primarily promoted as an advanced alternative to the default camera in an iOS device, it also includes a complete range of editing and photo management applications. The Lab is the center of the editing functions and it’s been significantly expanded with many more capabilities. If a photo is too dark, then select the Clarity feature to give it new life. Other editing features include straightening, cropping, borders, captions, tint adjustments and giving your photos the look of film grain.
8.iPhoto
Apple’s photo editing app has an excellent reputation and it’s an even better tool if you’re shooting with the new iPhone 6. The editing palette includes most of the features any photographer may need, from cleaning to special effects to manipulating contrast and sharpness with just the touch of a fingertip. What makes iPhoto so useful is its many photo management capabilities – apply photo tags to make it easy to find any image, create online slideshows and even order prints and photo books.
9.Photo Editor by Aviary
What you’ll like about Photo Editor (for Android, iOS and WP8) is that you can control all the editing tools with an easy-to-use slider bar. There are specific sliders for cropping, orientation, brightness, contrast, sharpness and color warmth. You can also add tilt-shift effects by manipulating the focus. Make your final image even more presentable with frames and stickers. You’ll also find a number of other editing tools for purchase from within the app.
10.PicLab HD
Give your photos a purpose by creating posters or humorous Web memes with the PicLab HD app for Android and iOS. First, you have access to the full array of editing tools, such as filters and brightness, saturation and other image controls. Then, you can be very creative with layers, the app’s many text styles and packs, overlays, illustrations and a nice selection of art effects to generate more interest in your photos, and even receive inquiries to purchase them for printing and display.
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