iPhone Photo Apps to Make Your Memories Brighter

photo credit: iStock/rohappy

The iPhone camera really is pretty powerful. So good, in fact that the convenience of that smartphone in our pockets has us leaving the DSLR at home more often than not. We hear that the highly anticipated iPhone 7’s camera will be even more fantastic, but until then, we have been investigating what tech leaders and photo writers say about what camera apps and lenses we should try to make those iPhone pictures look their best.

Ranging from actual photo apps to photo editing tools and a few lenses, here are a few iPhone store photo apps that can enhance your imagery.

Binoculars

Do you ever feel too far away from the action? Binoculars is a free iPhone app that will let you zoom in 3X to capture better detail, whether that is flower petals or someone a bit further away. If you upgrade to the full version, the app claims up to 30X zoom. It seems to work best up to 8X, but that is far better than trying to jostle in front of the people ahead of you at the parade or the game.

Fotor

Fotor shows up on a lot of tech and photography sites as a go-to photo editing tool. It works on Mac, PC iPhone and Android. The iPhone app is FREE to start, although the app will prompt you to try different features like “Scenes,” for a small fee, as low as 99 cents

The folks at Fotor offer a ton of great features from enhancements to beauty editing, right down to removing blemishes or blurring background focus. Most users give it 5 stars in the iTunes store. Fotor has also built a great sharing community in the last few years, so if you want to share your photos or enter to win prizes, that is an option as well. Here is a quick YouTube video that explains the basics.

Pixlr

Pixlr is another great free photo editing app that is a great onramp for newbies. There is a desktop version as well. In addition to allowing you to beautify any image, and add filters, you can take your creations and instantly share them socially as well.

Pixlr’s iTunes description reads:

“Unlock your creativity with Pixlr – the free photo editor! Capture any moment and make it beautiful with over 2 million combinations of free effects, overlays, and filters. Once you’re done, share your finished work directly to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or your other favorite social networks!”

Of course there are many more photo editing apps. Explore for yourself and tell us what you love!

Seeing Through a New Lens

If you want to make that iPhone take photos more like your DSLR, there are amazing lenses you can add to your iPhone. Depending on your budget, you can spend a little or a lot. Phil Hall at TechRadar wrote a great recent review of some of the best lenses out there going up to several hundred dollars each.

For our budget, based on Hall’s review, we think the Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens is a good way to dip your toe in the lens water. Available for less than $100, it is a fun-to-use lens, which features four advanced optic quick-change lenses (Fisheye, Wide-Angle, Macro 10x & 15X.) You can’t use it with an iPhone case.

Have you tried any of these apps or the lens? Do you have other suggestions? We’d love to hear from you!