I’ve been an iDevice user since March 2012 and I’ve seen many photo editors, collages/frames and text editor apps in the AppStore. However, only a few caught my attention. I’m a self-proclaimed photographer (no, not a professional one, not even a good one). I take pictures just to get a still of a memory of a lifetime, memories that will probably not happen again, memories that I will forever hold close to my heart. Although I am a fan of the #nofilter photos, I still like some of my photos filtered, collaged or framed and most of all, I like putting captions on my photos.
So here I am, sharing to you guys my top 6 favorite photo apps that I use regularly on my iPhone and why they’re my favorite.
Favorite Photo Apps
1. Afterlight. This is my favorite photo editor. This is a paid-app that costs $0.99 only from the AppStore but I would say it’s definitely worth it. It has a lot of nice filters to choose from, filters that are pleasing to the eyes that is. Since I’m more of a #nofilter kind of person, I only use one filter from this app which is the Russ under Guest filters. Sometimes, I would tweak my photos a little bit more and try to add other filters but that rarely happens. This app also has free light leaks and dusty that you can use to give your photos a more vintage-y feel. If you want Polaroid-like borders, this is also the best app! However, those frames/borders are included in the In-App Purchases which costs extra $0.99 if you want the Instant Film Pack.
Afterlight
2. PicFrame. This is actually my first paid app from the AppStore. I used to have Diptic on my iPod touch which was jailbroken back in 2012 and that used to be my favorite frame/collage app but when they updated the app, I got confused and I decided to look for another app to frame/collage my photos. This is where PicFrame comes in. PicFrame offers a variety of collages and frames that you can use to showcase your photos. You can even change the size of the frames so your photos will fit perfectly. It’s actually easy to use. It also costs $0.99 just like Afterlight and again, I’d say it’s worth it! By the way, it can also frame/collage your videos! I told you, it’s worth it!
PicFrame
3. PicPlayPost. This app is a lot like PicFrame, only I prefer this over PicFrame whenever I would frame/collage my videos. Personally, I think PicPlayPost is easier to use for videos and its features are more user-friendly. You can add background music on your videos, you can also change the size of the frame so your videos can fit. The default length for video in PicPlayPost is only 15 seconds long (I’m assuming this is because of Instagram’s 15 seconds video), but you can choose the maximum option for videos which is 10 minutes long. By the way, this is also a paid app that costs $1.99 from the AppStore but I got this for free because it was an App of the Week when I got this, so yay!
PicPlayPost
4. Squaready. Before anything else, I’ll say this first, this app is free! I got tired of having to crop my photos just to fit in the 1 x 1 frame of Instagram. Then I found out about this app. I tried this out and instantly it solved my problem. If you want to fit your portrait photos on Instagram, Squaready can do that for you! Since Squaready is a free app, it has some advertisements below but I’m sure you can bear with it. If you want the ads to go away, you would have to buy the Squaready Pro which costs $0.99 but I don’t recommend it since it has the same features, pro or non-pro.
Squaready
5. Flipagram. If you want to make a slideshow of your photos with background music so you can upload it on Instagram or wherever, here’s the perfect app for you! It’s very easy to use and it’s free! It used to be a paid app that costs $0.99 but I think they made it free for all now. But there’s a catch, of course. There’s a Flipagram watermark on whatever video/slideshow you make. If you want to be able to change or remove the watermark, you would have to buy its In-App Purchases that costs $1.99.
Flipagram
6. Phonto. And lastly, here’s Phonto! If you want to put texts over your photos, here’s the perfect app for you! There’s actually a lot of apps like this one that you can choose from but for me, this is the best among all those. You can add your own fonts via iTunes or you can download fonts from another app called Fontasia. This is a free app. It has advertisements but it’s bearable, so go download it now!
Phonto
So there’s my top 6 iPhone photo apps that I use regularly to edit my photos. I also asked some friends of their favorite photo apps and here’s what they gave me:
- Camera 360 for unwanted pimples and to beautify the skin.
- InstaSize that works the same as Squaready.
- PopCam for cute stickers to put on your photos.
- LabelBox works the same as Phonto but it has a ribbon-like/tape-like background.
- Muzy for collages.
I hope you find this entry helpful!