THERE ARE SOME CLOSE RUNNERS UP THAT MAY BE PREFERABLE TO SOME.

VSCO JACK OF ALL TRADES. Free with IAP vsco.co/store/app

The Visual Supply Company app wears a few photographic hats in its attempt to be the complete outlet for your photographic expression. You have the option to either take a photo with VSCO’s streamlined camera (it’s a little too basic for our liking but the simplicity will appeal to some) or you can import from your device’s local storage, a OneDrive folder or Google Drive’s servers. There’s also a reasonable suite of editing tools and plenty of filter presets for a free offering. You’ll miss out on custom export size and format controls with VSCO, but it does offer all the needed sharing outlets.

PIXLR PUT YOUR PIXELS TO WORK. Free with IAP pixlr.com

This free smartphone photo editing suite comes from Autodesk, the software company behind the architecture industry’s design software of choice, AutoCAD, and puts forward the only real competitor to Google’s Snapseed. With import, export and file format options on par with the leading apps and a list of tools and filters that is at least as long as Snapseed’s, there’s really not much holding it back. For us, the lack of a revision history, the app’s theme and choice of tools were the only downsides, but depending on your preferences, you might actually prefer this option.

LIGHTROOM ADOBE’S MOBILE EDITING SUITE. Free with IAP lightroom.adobe.com

Lightroom is on the runners-up list mainly because of Adobe’s photographic legacy since it doesn’t offer any filter presets and requires in-app purchases for some of its more complicated features. That said, Lightroom does have the most professional option for actually taking photos and the tools it offers in the base version will cover most people’s editing needs. You are limited to importing locally stored images or photos taken using the app, but there is an ample selection of sharing locations to move your picture to once you’re done.