With smartphones having several camera lenses nowadays as pretty much the standard and social media sites like Instagram and Facebook puts forward the importance of curating great photos, photo editing apps for smartphones have wormed their way into millions of smartphone users worldwide.
In fact, statistics show that there are at least two photo editing apps per working smartphone all over the world. The importance of having several of these apps can’t be overstated either because the features one gets from an app can’t be found on the other, and vice-versa. In this article, we’ve collated the best photo editing apps for both mobile operating systems:
1. Canva
The canva app is arguably one of the best photo editing apps that you can download in your smartphones today. It’s not only a simple photo editor that has lots of presets, but it’s also an app that’s designed to let users design their own photos. Perfect for social media enthusiasts, Canva is widely used by social media managers to make quick and effective photo campaigns.
Those perfectly-styled with great graphics, and text overlays that you usually see on social media? There’s a 75% chance that it was done with Canva. So if you are the creative type who’s thinking about a photo set for your social media accounts, download Canva now. It’s free for both iOS and Android, and all you have to do is log in to start accessing its myriad of features!
2. Lightroom
Possibly the best mobile photo editing app from Adobe, Lightroom is better than the mobile Photoshop app in a lot of ways. It’s lightweight, more straightforward, and has powerful tools that users can access to manipulate photos. The app is free to download, but there’s a paid version that lets you in on some advanced tools. For the average users though, the free version should be enough.
One of the best features of Lightroom is that it instantly hooks up with the desktop version if you have one. That means continuity in your work and files. It syncs your work through the cloud so you can access it anywhere you go. With Lightroom, you can expect standard photo editing features like Exposure, White Balance, cropping, etc., as well as some, presets that you can save to make your photos look and feel identical.
Know about some best Video editing apps
3. Enlight
Enlight has been a part of the mobile photo editing conversation for quite some time now. What the app offers is its ability to combine two or more photos in one seamlessly. The resulting effect is photos that are creative, out of this world, and fun. Alongside the photo editing mode, Enlight also is a great camera app, with advanced features to capture the app’s default aesthetic.
The most prominent feature of the app is its ability to meld two different exposures. That means it can use double exposures in one photo. For the uninitiated, that simply means you can create one composite photo from several pictures. It’s the best photo editing app when you want to be creative with your visuals. The different tools inside the app make sure of that.
4. Darkroom
Another great photo editor, Darkroom’s edge is in its simplicity. The ease of use on this app is second to none, as even kids can easily edit photos in a jiffy. It has powerful editing tools as well, and make no mistake – it’s as intuitive as Lightroom when it comes down to it. Batch editing is possible with the app, plus it supports RAW format so that you can mine additional details from your photos.
5. Afterlight 2
Arguably the best photo editing app that’s paid one time – yes, you read that right, the app doesn’t ask you for monthly subscriptions payments – Afterlight 2 is in a class of its own when it comes to depth tools like curve, clarify, and hue shifts, among others. You can create your own filters as well and save them for future use.
Takeaway
Suffice it to say that any of these apps listed above could be your main photo editing tool forever. What you need to figure out is exactly what app you’re the most comfortable using. Download each of these apps and see for yourself. After all, as the end-user, you have a say whether you like an app or not. Either way, it’s fun to explore these apps and the features they are packing!