APP-Y SNAPPS
Up your photography game with these camera apps
WE’RE all getting out and about a bit more, and there’s reason to be optimistic that at least some of us will be able to salvage some of our summer as the lockdown begins to be lifted.
And you know what that means – fewer photos of your backyard, and more images of interesting stuff further afield to share with the world.
Up your photography game with these camera apps, and make sure your feed is up to speed.
FOR IOS & ANDROID
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CAMERA
Free with in-app purchases, £1.99 for 20GB of Creative Cloud storage
They say: Adobe Photoshop Camera is a free, intelligent camera app that lets you add the best filters and effects to your photos – before you even take the shot.
Show off your unique style with tons of Insta-worthy lenses and filters inspired by your favourite artists and influencers. And with no Photoshop skills needed, it’s easy to share your world — your way.
We say: Photoshop is well-known as the industry-standard pixel editing app – but its enormous power is perhaps best left in the hands of professionals.
There are a few pared back mobile apps that bear the Photoshop name and perform some of its functions, but this new app takes the idea of simplifying Photoshop’s core features to another level.
It’s more or less a filters app (along similar lines to those found in Snapchat and Instagram Stories, although without quite the same level of silliness). It’s a solid camera app without too many controls and features a few celebrity-made lenses (including a couple from Billie Eilish), with the promise of more to come.
The app is free to use, but you can upgrade to store your photos on Adobe’s fast and reliable cloud.
FOR IOS
RTRO Free with in-app purchases, £19.99 a year for Retro+
They say: This is the fun, vintage video camera we’ve always wanted. Pick a look, each made by pro filmmakers. Shoot up to 60 seconds, stacking multiple clips until your timeline is full. Delete any segments you don’t like. And when ready, select your sharing format before posting to your story or feed.
We say: Rtro is a hipster app from
Moment, the makers of some great iPhone camera accessories, most notably their range of add-on lenses. They, too, make a pro camera app, but Rtro is a little bit more aimed at the amateurs.
It captures video for your social stories with some very cool filters created by some of the talented filmmakers out there. The looks it brings are very classy, and will bring a stylish old school cool to your feed.
You can buy extra filters individually, or subscribe to Rtro+ for all filters, plus access to some advanced features (like setting frame-rate) and the ability to capture stills with the filters.
HALIDE £7.99
They say: Halide is a groundbreaking app for deliberate and thoughtful photography. With high-end tools, and a beautiful UI (user interface) designed from scratch for the latest iPhones, Halide is your go-to camera when you want to really take a photo rather than a quick snapshot.
We say: Even if you don’t take a lot of photos, you should still check out Halide – it’s a beautifully made app which is an absolute joy to use. It exposes a lot more of the controls available on the iPhone camera than the native camera app allows, and crucially offers the option to shoot in RAW format, preserving as much of the information the camera captures as possible (the built-in camera app throws some of that detail away to produce images in compressed formats, prioritising efficient storage over the ability to edit properly later).
ANDROID
PROCAM X £4.49
They say: ProCam X will turn your phone into a professional camera wannabe, with full control over exposure, focus, white balance, ISO and other features like a professional camera, which can bring your mobile photography to the next level. Take the best capture of your photo and even record your video in high resolution.
We say: You don’t quite have the same choice when it comes to camera apps on Android, partly because built-in apps from the various phone makers tend to offer just about every feature you could want. But this app is more or less equivalent to Halide for iPhone, bringing intuitive and powerful controls to your fingertips.
You might like this over your built-in camera because it simplifies things – some of those camera apps that come with Android phones can be hideously complicated and hard to master. This is the opposite, offering just the right amount of control.