The saying in photography that "the best camera is the one you have with you" is not untrue. I take more pictures with my smartphone than any other camera, even though I own at least five cameras at home. Plus, the cameras on smartphones these days are so excellent that it doesn't even feel like a compromise.
However, taking pictures is only the beginning of producing a quality photograph. You must edit your images if you want to create very amazing ones. Fortunately, software has advanced over the past several years to the point that the finest picture editing equipment is frequently the one you carry with you. For iPhone and Android, there are several great picture editing applications that are just as strong and efficient as any desktop or online programme.
I've been writing about (and teaching) photography for more than ten years, and I've been taking pictures for over half of my life. And although while I enjoy the methodical, lengthy process of shooting film or going on a walk to photograph a landscape in the morning, I use my phone the majority of the time. I tried over thirty of the finest photo editors for iPhone and Android for this article, and these are the top six.
The top Android and iPhone photo editors
- An expert mobile picture editor is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
- Use the free and excellent photo-editing programme Snapseed on your iPhone or Android device.
- VSCO for image editing with filters
- For a free iPhone photo-editing programme, use Apple Photos.
- For Android, Google Photos is a free photo-editing app.
- The greatest AI-powered photo-editing software is Lensa.
What distinguishes the top photo-editing software for Android or iPhone?
Although simple photo editing can have a profound impact, developers don't have a difficult or complex challenge in doing so. This explains why there are so many reasonably good picture editing applications available. You can make a photo appear a little clearer and brighter using even the most shady, ad-filled apps, but the user experience will be awful and your photo will likely have a large watermark over it.
The larger issue with this situation is that there are many poor picture editing applications available that rely more on aggressive marketing and a high monthly membership fee to stay in business than on being the finest tool for the task. The genuinely horrible apps are simple to avoid. Your images will appear better if you use one of these applications, so you'll probably be satisfied with it, but you'll be spending too much for features that are available for free in more user-friendly apps.
The good news is that I get to choose which applications make the cut for this list, so I can truly set the bar high. For any mobile editing app to be listed, it needed to:
- Have powerful editing features. At the absolute least, and hopefully more, you should be able to modify your image's exposure, contrast, colour, and crop. Advanced features like curves, HSL, and local tweaks are available in the majority of these editing software, albeit often not as part of the free plan. Every app that doesn't come pre-installed on your phone includes them, even though they aren't absolutely required to be on this list.
- Be easy to use. An excellent picture editing programme clears the way so you can focus on altering your image. Even the most potent applications need to have a pleasant, user-friendly interface. Though there is a little learning curve for the more sophisticated applications, all of the apps on our list are appropriate for photographers of all skill levels.
- Provide repeatable results. It's common to wish to be able to apply the same edits to several photographs as you're editing them. There are several ways for this to occur, and I had anticipated better from the more costly and high-end programmes. The most convenient way to store adjustments is as a preset that you can use on any picture, but other options include reapplying the prior set of edits or copying and pasting settings between photos. In a pinch, even a set of excellent filters and simple-to-use tools will do.
- Be appropriately priced with no ads and minimal nagging to upgrade. To perform basic picture editing adjustments, you don't need to pay for an expensive app membership or utilise a free software that continuously asks you to upgrade. Since many of the greatest tools are available for free, apps that need a membership should only be used for very compelling reasons.
I solely took into consideration photo editors for this list. This implies that applications for designing, such as Canva, any of the millions of collage creators out there, or even picture organisers, were left out. Although you can edit photographs using some of them, it's usually more inconvenient than utilising a dedicated photo editor and then importing your altered image into your preferred design programme.
I performed the obvious thing and imported some photographs and started editing in order to evaluate any of the applications that appeared to fit the requirements. I've been using these kinds of apps since the iPhone 3GS, so I was usually able to tell right away when an app wasn't working well. If I saw one SHEIN full-screen ad, I wouldn't be tapping any more. Out of all the applications that I looked at, these six stood out as the best. You probably won't be surprised by the names if you have any interest in photography.
A quick overview of the top mobile picture editing apps
Best for | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom | expert photo manipulation | Available in free version; monthly cost of $4.99 |
Snapseed | Strong and free picture editing | Free |
VSCO | Photo editing with filters | $7.99 a month ($29.99 a year) |
Apple Photos | iPhone | Free and included with your iPhone |
Google Photos | Android | Complimentary and packaged with your iPhone |
Lensa | AI-driven editing | Free to save one picture per day; $2.99 per week or $4.99 every month |
The best app for editing photos on a mobile device that is professional
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (iOS, Android)
Experts in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom:
- Amazingly excellent free plan
- incredibly strong editing tools
- Overall top in the class
Cons of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom:
- A little bit of a puzzle when it comes to price
- There is a little learning curve.
On all platforms, including iOS and Android, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is the industry standard for photo editing applications. Although it is intended for both amateur and expert photographers, you may use it to edit any type of smartphone photo you take.
Surprisingly easy to use, Lightroom is an extremely powerful programme. I'm here to speak about the picture editing tools, but it's one of the greatest photo catalogue applications for sorting and organising your photos (or even backing them up to Adobe's cloud storage).
Curves and the option to create your own presets are just two of the many free basic tools you get when editing your photos. Everything is adjustable, including exposure, colour, contrast, and cropping. I often utilise the robust and accurate auto adjust tool as a starting point for my own picture modification.
Lightroom Premium includes more presets, a potent healing tool, and local edits and masking. It may be purchased separately or as part of many Creative Cloud subscriptions that also include with desktop versions of Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, and varied quantities of cloud storage. Upgrading via your smartphone for $4.99/month is the least expensive option; you'll receive 100GB of cloud storage along with Lightroom Premium on your device. The Lightroom 1TB package provides 1TB of cloud storage along with Lightroom on the desktop and online for $9.99.
The primary drawback of Lightroom is that it requires some level of photographic experience. It will take some getting used to if words like "exposure" are foreign to you. Although the software is very pleasant to use and the lessons are good, be ready to invest a few minutes in getting things done.
If you choose Lightroom, you can link it to all of your other applications and utilise its Zapier connector to automate your picture editing operations. You may monitor the status of tasks, convert files into different formats, and apply presents or Auto Tone automatically. To help you get started, below are a few pre-made processes.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom price: Lightroom Premium 100GB plan with 100GB of cloud storage is available for $4.99 per month.
Top free photo-editing software available for Android and iPhone
Snapseed (iOS, Android)
Snapseed experts:
- Free of charge for all features
- Excellent method for local tweaks
- really simple to use
Cons of Snapseed:
- Google doesn't prioritise it, therefore updates are only sometimes made to it.
One of the first very excellent mobile photo-editing apps was called Snapseed. Because of its greatness, Google purchased it in order to access the development team and technology. Even while Snapseed is obviously not a top focus for Google, it's still a very strong and cost-free mobile picture editing tool.
Along with a wonderful selective adjustment method and a few respectable filters, Snapseed comes with all the essential tools. These are called U Points, and with a few fast touches, you may change the brightness and colour levels of various places in your image. These types of local tweaks are often only available with subscription plans, so even if Snapseed's user interface hasn't been updated in a while, it's still an appealing option with a little easier learning curve than Lightroom.
Repeatability is the main area where Snapseed is lacking. You cannot make presets or batch process photographs, but you may apply your most recent adjustments to a fresh picture. This software certainly isn't the ideal choice if you want every photo on your social media sites to have a certain style. Otherwise, though, you really can't go wrong if you're looking for a free, robust, and user-friendly mobile image editor.
Snapseed pricing: Free
The best photo-editing software for Android and iPhone that uses filters
VSCO (iOS, Android)
Pros of VSCO:
- The greatest filters available in any app
- lovely, user-friendly editor
- really thoughtful
Cons of VSCO:
- The monthly plan is reasonably priced, and the free plan has extremely limited features.
- Not everyone is drawn to social elements.
Although extensively filtered photographs became popular on Instagram, and this trend peaked in the mid-2010s, filters are still a great method to give your photos a consistent, unified aesthetic. And VSCO is the greatest app for filters.
The team behind VSCO first developed Lightroom presets that mimicked film stock. Later, they used this same expertise to create a very potent, filter-forward picture editor. In contrast to many filter-based applications, every one of VSCO's hundreds of presets seems thoughtful, and the business blog details the thinking process that went into creating them. Additionally, the filters are shrewdly arranged into packs of comparable settings that have similar names. For instance, the eight colour grade presets have the designations CG1 through CG8, while the popular film stock Kodak Portra is emulated in various ways by KP1 through KP9.
While not all presets will work with every image, it's simple to identify (and save) your favourites or use the suggestions that VSCO provides.
Apart from filter functionality, VSCO offers all the standard image editing features you might want along with some pro tricks like split tone, which allows you to add distinct colours to the highlights and shadows of your image, and dodging and burning, which allows you to selectively brighten or darken certain regions of your image. You may also apply other effects, such as film borders, scratches, and grain patterns. Additionally, you may store recipes depending on additional modifications and filter combinations.
The only real drawbacks with VSCO are that the free plan isn't that great and that there are a lot of filters, which may be a bit intimidating at first to navigate. Only fifteen filters and rudimentary editing tools are included. Even said, VSCO is a great option if you want the greatest possible film/filter look, and I'm happy to pay the $29.99/year subscription. It's more difficult to suggest at $7.99/month, but you can give the free trial a try and remember to cancel if it's not for you.
VSCO pricing: From $7.99/month ($29.99/year) for Plus with most filters and capabilities; from $59.99/year for Pro, which includes a desktop software and a handful of more presets.
The best iPhone photo-editing software for free
Apple Photos (iOS)
Pros of Apple Photos:
- Simple to employ
- has all the tools you need for picture editing
- Integrated with the whole Photos application
Cons of Apple Photos:
- Some find it too simple.
Although it's not the most robust picture editor available, Apple Photos is readily available in your camera roll and can be downloaded for free. "Edit" is simply one tap away if all you want to do is make a few simple adjustments to a recent shot that you took.
All the standard—and some not-so-basic—editing tools are there, and the auto adjust function is good. You may change the exposure, brilliance, highlights, shadows, contrast, brightness, back point, saturation, vibrancy, warmth, colour, sharpness, definition, noise reduction, and vignette with a simple slider system. Solid filters are offered, and you may even move adjustments between photographs by copying and pasting them.
I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said I didn't utilise Photos frequently for fast tweaks, even if it's not the most interesting option. There's not much need to search elsewhere unless you know you need a more feature-rich software or something with a certain amount of power; this is especially true if the free programme you find elsewhere has a poor UI and advertisements.
Apple Photos pricing: Complimentary and packaged with your iPhone
Android's best free photo-editing software
Google Photos (Android, iOS)
Google Photos experts:
- Fantastic AI-powered auto adjust
- Integrated with the whole Photos application
- Complimentary and bundled with your phone
Cons of Google Photos:
- Some find it too simple.
Google Photos is a more attractive option on Google's smartphone platform since it comes pre-installed, even though it is available on both iOS and Android. Once more, you only need to hit "Edit" to start editing photos.
Google is fully committed to artificial intelligence and provides three recommended auto edits: Enhance, Warm, and Cool. Each of them improved my test photos rather well and is capable of standing alone. Prior to making any further changes, I would advise giving them a try unless you are certain that you want to make any specific adjustments.
You may adjust brightness, contrast, white point, highlights, shadows, black point, saturation, warmth, hue, skin tone, blue tone, pop, sharpen, and denoise in Google Photos, among other settings. Additionally, a wide variety of filters are available.
You should look into one of the other apps on our list if you're looking for something more potent. However, Google Photos is the only software you need to use if you have an Android phone and only need to make little adjustments to a few photos.
Cost: Free and comes with your Android device
The greatest AI-enabled picture editing software for Android and iPhone is called
Lensa (iOS, Android)
Lensa advantages:
- AI functions aren't an afterthought.
- It's a genuinely excellent picture editor.
- Testing it is simple with the free plan.
Cons of Lensa:
- Some dubious AI characteristics
- costly if you like to download several pictures each day
Though few apps on this list depend as heavily on AI as Lensa does, not just because of its well-known Magic Avatar feature, which trains a Stable Diffusion model using a large number of selfies to produce a large number of AI portraits, every app on this list employs AI to some extent. (It's enjoyable, but completely unrelated to this topic.)
Lensa recognises if a picture you submit is a landscape, a portrait, or anything else. A set of tools is provided if it's a portrait so you can adjust things like the rosiness of your cheeks and the smoothness of your skin; if it's a landscape, you receive another set of tools so you may replace the sky with a more dramatic one. Lensa's implementation is good, as these types of tools go. You may achieve amazing effects if you use them sparingly, but overusing them usually leads to very unreal-looking photos. Although they aren't the first tools I employ, they can be helpful in some situations.
However, Lensa's inclusion on this list has been guaranteed by two factors: the remaining editing tools and the free plan. Lensa provides nearly the same set of editing options as Lightroom, including the ability to delete things using an AI-powered magic eraser and build masks for localised modifications. It's a really good picture editor, even with one or two dubious AI-powered art filters and the like.
Regarding the free plan, Lensa offers all the features you need without any adverts or pressure to upgrade, but the only limitation is the ability to store a single photograph each day. It's a good compromise that lets you test its AI functions appropriately without requiring you to use a poor app or subscribe to a costly subscription. At $2.99 a week or $4.99 per month, if you choose to subscribe, it's on the pricey side of things, but it offers a lot more value than any other app I tested that makes a bold claim to be an AI picture editor.
Pricing: $2.99 per week or $4.99 per month; one daily image can be saved for free; Magic Avatars can be purchased separately for $3.99.
Which photo-editing programme on my iPhone or Android phone should I use?
Almost any picture editor will yield decent results, though some do make the process much simpler.
When making fast modifications directly from your camera roll, Apple Photos and Google Photos work particularly well. If you're serious about shooting excellent pictures, Lightroom is the industry standard and well worth learning to use. However, Snapseed is a good, completely free option. A little more costly overall, VSCO and Lensa distinguish themselves by their superior use of AI and filters, respectively.
It's also important to note that, at this time, Lensa is the only mobile image editor I can suggest that has a strong AI component. I tried all the others, and to be honest, they were all expensive and not very nice. Both Apple Photos and Google Photos have auto-adjust capabilities that are at least on par with each other, and they are totally free.
Finally, if Instagram is where you plan to post your images anyhow, it also features a good image editor.
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