Camera Awesome hits iPad, Camera+ gains iPhone 5 low-light boost mode

Taptaptap’s Camera+ and SmugMug’s Camera Awesome are like the two most important photography and image editing apps in my arsenal. Both have been refreshed this morning, but don’t let a minor version update fool you as each app enables major enhancements that add help add flair to iPhone photography.

Following in the footsteps of Taptaptap, SmugMug’s Camera Awesome has been updated with native iPad support. At the same time, Taptaptap (which recently released CAmera+ for iPad and gave the iPhone version iCloud sync and other new features) has updated Camera+ for iPhone with the cool low-light boost mode Apple debuted on the iPhone 5

As you’d expect, Camera Awesome looks business on the iPad, with the redesigned interface lending itself nicely to the tablet’s 9.7-inch canvas.

Here it is…



Camera Aweome, now available on the iPad. Click to enlarge

As for Camera+, the team fixed an issue where if you denied access to your Photos the app wouldn’t save to the Camera Roll.

More importantly, Camera+ now features the iPhone 5’s low-light mode which kicks in automatically and can make a world of difference when shooting dim or poorly lit scenes.

Apple made this feature available optionally in third-party apps and Camera+ is the first photography app, at least to my knowledge, to incorporate this functionality.

On the iPhone 5 we now support the same low-light sensitivity as the native Camera app — if you’re not camera-term inclined this just means you can take photos with less light than ever before. If you are camera-term inclined, your ISO can now go up to 3200 (vs 800 before – that’s 4 times MORE POWER). This will only kick in if it’s really dark.

Note that this is an iPhone 5-only feature of Camera+.

Developers noted that your ISO in photos taken using Camera+ can now go all the way up to 3200 versus 800 before. This translates to four times greater sensitivity.

Of course, there are limitations related to the quality of low-light snaps so don’t expect miracles like in Nokia’s faked commercials.

While this low-light boost mode in Camera+ brings out remarkable detail in dark photos, it does so at the expense of clarity, inevitable making your photos more grainy.

My favorite: Camera+ now finally shares high-resolution photos on Facebook.

Previously, it would share only low-res versions so in that regard Camera+ was useless as I need my snaps shared in the highest resolution possible, no excuses.

Release notes, as follows:

Camera Awesome for iOS version 1.1

• native iPad support. Shoot, Awesomize and share on the big screen!
• support for Facebook Single Sign On in iOS6

Camera+ for iOS version 3.5.1

• better photos in low-light
• higher quality photos when sharing to Facebook

Camera Awesome is a free universal binary download for your iOS devices.

It has been downloaded over seven million times and offers about three hundred filters and effects, but you only get 36 filters to boot from. You can purchase additional filters, effects, textures and frames in 99-cent packs, or $10 for all 297 features.

Camera+ is now on sale for just 99 cents so hurry up before the price goes up again.

If you’re into photography, iDB’s iPhoneography series is a highly recommended read.

Plus, feel free to tag your Apple-related photos with the #iDownloadBlog hashtag and follow me @dujkan on Instagram.