Photography

PhotoAlbums+ for iOS 7: move, secure, and share photos more efficiently

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 13, 2014

I have to be honest with you and state that for whatever reason, I've never been a big fan of PhotoAlbums+. I've never been big on taking photos with my iPhone, and I certainly don't take photos that I care about hiding from others. That being said, PhotoAlbums+ contains features that jailbreakers should definitely be aware of—features that may help your workflow when it comes to photo management on iOS.

The iOS 7 compatible version of PhotoAlbums+ just recently touched down for both the iPhone and the iPad. Check past the break as we go hands-on in our video walkthrough...

Instagram for iPhone introduces Lux filter slider

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2014

Facebook-owned Instagram has introduced the popular Lux filter via a free update back in February 2012. Lux is admittedly a nice new way to enhance your photos, but there's just one slight problem: Instagram's one-touch implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

For starters, the effect has no options to fiddle with. For those unaware of Lux, it reduces overexposure and uses sharpening and fill light tweaks to make your shots warmer and people prettier.

It's quite handy in low-light and low-contrast situations, even more so if you take lots of selfies using the iPhone's sub-par front-facing camera. Realizing folks need more control over Lux, Instagram has updated its free iPhone app with a custom Lux slider...

Brushstroke turns your pictures into paintings you can mount on your wall

Lory Gil ∙ March 8, 2014

Most of the time, filter apps give you some interesting tints, atmospheric frames, or tilt-shifting blur effects. There are even a few that will turn you into a cartoon or pencil sketch. Sometimes, though a photo effects app will really do something special to your image.

Brushstroke is one of those effects apps that completely remakes your pictures into a faux painting. Even more interesting, you can buy a mounted canvas print of your image and hang it on your wall…

Superburst Camera is the fastest burst camera in the App Store

Lory Gil ∙ February 20, 2014

Before the iPhone 5s came out, there weren’t many ways to take bursts of pictures. Third-party camera apps like SnappyCam began popping up so you could take up to 14 frames per second with 8MPs. Since Apple included a burst feature in its native Camera app, the bar has been raised and app makers have to work harder to impress.

Superburst Camera is being touted as the fastest burst camera in the App Store, with more than twice the speed of the iPhone 5s’ Camera app. Take an average of 25 shots per second at 8MP, or go even further with 120 photos per second in Slow-Mo Shutter mode…

Camera+ 5.1 lands with new Boost feature, 16×9 shooting mode, Lab refinements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

iPhone photography fans, pay notice: following a major iOS 7 revamp, developer Taptaptap has delivered the first major update for its popular Camera+ app, a $1.99 download in the App Store.

Camera+ 5.1 brings out several refinements to The Lab feature, as well as some nice improvements and a pair of new features: a new 16x9 shooting mode for taking widescreen photos and a new Boost option for more intense filters.

As you'd expect, the team has also fixed a number of bugs such as a nasty API issue which caused apps like Day One to not work properly with Camera+...

VSCO Cam 3.0 lets you follow people, brings out a myriad of refinements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

VSCO Cam should be on every iPhone photography fan's Home screen. The software offers a variety of advanced features making it easy to edit, crop and filter your snaps on the go.

Our own Lory Gil wrote in her review last summer that VSCO Cam for the iPhone and iPod touch is worth downloading, even more so considering that a set of filters included in the free download (with more available via in-app purchases) is enough to keep averages users occupied for some time.

VSCO Cam version 3.0, now available in the App Store, adds a bunch of new features aimed at improving your mobile photography experience. Plus, it wants to become your next Instagram by including the ability to follow individual profiles, a novel feature for a camera phone app and the number one request from users...

Wallgram lets you create parallax wallpapers from Instagram pictures

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Ever since Apple updated its mobile operating system to iOS 7, I’ve both loved and hated the parallax effect. I love having moving backgrounds via the dynamic wallpaper. I love having images that appear to move with me. However, I hate that the technology has broken my ability to use my own photos without needing some third party app.

Wallgram is one of those third party apps that make it possible for you to use your own pictures as wallpaper while maintaining the cool parallax feature. Plus, you can use images from Instagram…

PopAGraph goes free as Apple’s Free App of the Week – make your photos pop now!

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 30, 2014

Like every Thursday, today Apple gets to slash another app to $0 in its ongoing Free App of the Week promo. A week ago today it was Disney's Where’s My Mickey? puzzler and now the App Store editors have named PopAGraph this week's Free App of the Week.

Released in April of last year, this nicely done photo-editing app for the iPhone and iPad by Flambe Studios LLC wants to make your photos pop, by allowing you to mask objects and pop them out to give them an impression of depth.

Grab it free in the App Store until next Thursday...

iPad photography is now officially a thing…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

You're already familiar with iPhone photography, aren't you? And I take it those among you who attend trade shows have by now caught wind of the rise of iPad photography, no? As if using an iPad to snap photos in public wasn't embarrassing enough, Sony has now produced a dedicated camera attachment aimed at tablet owners which allows its portable QX-10 or QX-100 lens to be snapped on.

The SPA-TA1 attachment is designed for tablets between 85mm and 190mm in width so it'll work with your iPad Air (169.5mm) just fine. Available in various sizes from April 4 in Japan and coming elsewhere soon after, it's bound to give iPad photography a whole new meaning, for better or worse...

Pixelmator 3.1 brings photo printing, Mac Pro GPU acceleration and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Pixelmator is my favorite Photoshop replacement and today's 3.1 update code-named Marble brings a new Order Prints feature, full support for the Mac Pro and its dual-GPUs, including 16-bits per channel color image support, a few new effects, a number of improvements for Layer Styles, Type Tool and selections and a whole bunch of other minor refinements and bug fixes. The update is free for those who've purchased the app, a $29.99 download from the Mac App Store...

Good deal: 65% off 6-piece iPhone photography lens kit

Cody Lee ∙ January 22, 2014

If you're an avid iPhone photographer and find that the handset's tiny lens just isn't cutting it anymore, there are a number of add-on lens kits to choose from. Olloclip makes several, Sony makes one, and there are countless options from lesser-known brands.

These kits usually only contain a couple of lenses, but a company called Bazaared is taking things a step further with its Ultimate iPhone Lens Kit. It includes 5 lenses, a tripod and carrying case, and it's being heavily discounted right now over at Stack Social...

PhotoBlur lets you create great looking wallpapers for your iPhone

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Shortly after iOS 7 was released to the public, users everywhere were on the search for wallpaper apps that complimented the new design. These days, blur is the new 3-D. There is even a blurring effect jailbreak tweak that makes your camera controls transparent.

PhotoBlur is a new app that lets you flatten and distort your pictures into a beautiful mess like many other apps like it. However, this one is different because it also lets you overlay the original images and add captions so your Lock screen will look dynamite…