The Best Photography Apps for Android Photo Enthusiasts

Aren’t we all obsessed with photography these days? One look at any app store can reveal that photography apps are one of the most popular categories. You won’t find any shortage of photo editing and camera apps in any app store whether it is Google Play store or Apple iTunes.

However, with abundance comes the confusion – which one is actually good. This article tries to provide some pointers in that direction. If you have been looking for worthy photography apps, then follow along.

Best Photography Apps for Android Photo enthusiasts

Even though most of the following apps are categorized as Photo Editing apps, they also let you take photos. So you may be able to set some of these apps as your default camera app. The following list is sorted in my personal preference and experience with them. But, truth be told, I can’t get rid of any of these from my phone. So they are all very good at what they do. Let’s get started.

1. Snapseed (Google Play Link)

Snapseed is one of the most popular photo editing apps out there on any platform. As a photo enthusiast, if you aren’t using it, you are missing a great app in your arsenal. This app gives you the power and control of a professional photo editing software.

FEATURES:

• Tune image – use to auto adjust for instant fixes, use Ambience to create depth and vibrancy that uniquely adapts to colors and fine tune brightness, saturation, contrast, and more
• Details – enhance details with traditional sharpening or the unique Structure control that makes a photo’s subject pop
• Crop and Rotate – crop images to standard aspect ratios or free crop and rotate easily lets you rotate 90°, straighten or free rotate how you like
• Transform – adjust perspective across vertical and horizontal axes, then fill in empty areas after rotation
• Brush – selectively apply effects to regions of an image
• Selective adjust – make precise selections and enhancements to specific areas of your photos
• Spot repair – remove dust and dirt from the image without leaving a trace
• Vignette – adjust brightness around the subject of an image, includes a control to freely position the effect
• Many filters to add style to your photos:
  • Lens Blur – draw attention to the subject of your photo by blurring and adjusting the brightness of the surrounding background
  • Glamour Glow – add a glow to the image that is particularly useful for glamor and fashion photography
  • Tonal Contrast – bring out fine contrasts across shadows and highlights, with precise exposure control
  • HDR Scape – bring a stunning look to your images by creating the effect of multiple exposures
  • Drama – add style with an effect specifically tailored to your photo, ranging from subtle textures to wildly artistic effects
  • Grainy film – get modern film looks with a realistic grain engine
  • Vintage – make any photo look like a vintage color film photo from the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s
  • Retrolux – make your photos look truly retro with light leaks, scratches, film styles, and more
  • Noir – modern Black-and-White film looks with a realistic grain engine and the all-new “wash” effect
  • Black & White – get that classic Black and White look with this darkroom-inspired filter
  • Frames – add stylized borders to photos for the perfect finishing touch
• Stacks for Managing your Edits
  • Stacks provide a list of applied filters that you can re-edit or copy and apply to another image
  • Use Stacks to go back in time visually
  • Re-edit any filter at any time!
  • Remove a filter at any position in the stack
  • Use the new Stacks Brush to paint in or out any applied filter

With so many things that can be done with just one app, it can be argued why you would want to keep another app on your smart devices. But there are some valid reasons for other apps to be in your pocket as well.

2. Autodesk Pixlr (Google Play Link)

Pixlr is a very powerful photo editor that lets you choose free effects, overlays, and borders to further personalize your image. Create a free Pixlr account to automatically unlock premium content and features including Double Exposure with blend modes and Auto Contrast.

FEATURES

• Apply effects in real-time.
• Easily crop, rotate and adjust images when saving and sharing.
• Fast and flexible image resizing after editing.
• Create and customize a photo collage by editing its layout, background, and spacing.
• ‘Auto Fix’ photos for a one-click fix to balance out colors, adjusting for poor lighting conditions.
• Explore cool tools: easily adjust the contrast and brightness of your image, focus on one color with Color Splash, or add impact with Focal Blur.
• Make your photo look like a drawing or sketch with stylized adjustments such as halftone, watercolor, and pencil.
• Remove red-eye and whiten teeth.
• Overlays help adjust the mood of the photo – amplify the tone, cool it down, or add surreal shades.
• Finish off your editing process with the right border.
• Keep track of your favorite effects and overlays with the favorites button.
• Share your photo directly with friends through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or email.

The main reason I use this app is its Double Exposure feature that lets me add my logo to any image I share.

3. VSCO Cam (Google Play Link)

VSCO Cam is also very popular among photographers. Lots of photographers swear by its ease of adding filters and quickly changing images on the fly. With sync & edit, you can streamline your workflow by selecting photos to sync and edit across devices.

FEATURES

• VSCO Tools allow for fine-tuning your photographs.
• Exposure, Temperature, Contrast, Crop, Straighten, Fade, Vignette, and more allow you to define your look. Simplify your editing process with Copy + Paste and Single Step Undo.
• Before & after: Compare your original image with the edited version by simply holding down on the image in edit view.
• Easily view your image data including location, date, preset used, and more.
• #VSCO tag: Share your photos to your VSCO Grid, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google, your Gallery, and more.
• Stay inspired: The VSCO Journal is a wealth of original content, highlighting creatives from around the globe.

4. Instagram (Google Play Link)

Instagram is a default app for many smartphone photography enthusiasts I know. Capture an image, crop it in a square format, add filters and share it with the world on Instagram.

Every time you open Instagram, you’ll see new photos and videos from your closest friends, plus breathtaking moments shared by creative people across the globe.

FEATURES

• Edit photos and videos with free, custom-designed filters.
• Improve photos with creative tools to change brightness, contrast and saturation as well as shadows, highlights and perspective.
• Find people to follow based on the accounts and photos they already love.
• Instantly share photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social networks.
• Connect with Instagrammers all over the world and keep up with their photos and videos.
• Send private photo and video messages directly to friends.

5. Camera360 Ultimate (Google Play Link)

I love the simplicity and the level of customization you can achieve with Camera360 Ultimate app on Android. It is FREE and has no ads to ruin your experience.

FEATURES

• 10+ Camera modes: Selfie, Effects, Poster, Funny, Tilt-Shift, Audio and Video camera modes.
• 200+ Filters
• Free Cloud Album
• Nearby Photo sharing
• Facial Recognition, Skin smoothing and Face thinning features
• Manual Photo controls to adjust aperture and ISO
• Easy sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram.

6. Flickr (Google Play Link)

The new Flickr app provides such a breeze to upload, access, organize, edit, and share your photos from any device, from anywhere in the world. Flickr gives every user a whopping 1000GB to store their photos at full resolution.

FEATURES

• Auto-upload all your photos and videos, privately storing them in your Flickr camera roll.
• Camera roll in the cloud – instant access to your entire Flickr collection, so you can free up your phone for everything else.
• Organization and sharing, simplified – browse with ease, select and organize hundreds of photos with one gesture, and share in seconds.
• Unleash your creativity – tweak your photos, add filters, crop images and more, directly from the camera roll. And if you change your mind, just revert the changes!
• Explore, interact and engage with friends, family and the Flickr community – there are millions of groups and billions of photos out there to discover.

7. Mix by Camera360 (Google Play Link)

MIX is the most creative and comprehensive DIY photo editing app, created by the developer of Camera360.

FEATURES

• Design and save your own photo formulas
• DSLR-like Depth of Field experience, bokeh blurring
• Advanced selective color adjustment
• Non-linear & non-destructive workflow
• 115 Handpicked filters
• 40+ Original textures, including flare, stage, and light leaks
• 10+ Professional adjustment tools
• Fast multi-layer processing
• Easy sharing to Instagram

With its intuitive UI and streamlined workflow, MIX by Camera360 is user-friendly for any skill level. Whether you’re a photo enthusiast, designer, or a professional photographer, MIX gives you complete control over every aspect in your composition.

8. Aviary (Google Play Link)

Aviary is a powerful photo editor with all the tools you need. It is now owned by Adobe.

FEATURES

• One-tap auto enhance
• Gorgeous photo effects and frames
• Fun stickers
• Color balance
• Crop, rotate, and straighten your photo
• Adjust brightness, contrast, color temperature, and saturation
• Sharpen and blur
• Color temperature (“Warmth”)
• Color Splash
• Focus (Tilt Shift)
• Draw and add text
• Create your own memes
• Cosmetic tools: fix redeye, remove blemishes and whiten teeth

9. Adobe Lightroom (Google Play Link)

Capture the moment and make it your own with Adobe Lightroom. Get essential tools to craft incredible images — whether you’re a beginner or a pro.

Note: Lightroom requires a subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan.

FEATURES

• Bring out the best in your images with simple one-click presets to powerful advanced adjustment tools.
• Experiment fearlessly, and then revert to your original with just one click.
• Edit smartphone photos to raw images from DSLRs and access them across devices.
• View, organize, edit and share photos across mobile devices, desktops and the web.
• Automatically sync photo edits, metadata and collection info with all your Lightroom enabled devices.
• Easily share photos online via social networks, and get feedback from family and friends in beautiful Lightroom web galleries.
• Access all your Lightroom photos across a growing list of photography apps and services including 500px and more.

10. Google Camera (Google Play Link)

Google Camera is a default camera app on Nexus devices but it can be installed on any Android device. It captures quick and easy photos and videos, and provides image enhancing features like HDR+, Lens Blur, Wide Angle, Panorama and Photo Sphere.

FEATURES

• Simple Interface – Capture photos and video quickly with Google Camera’s simple and intuitive interface
• Lens Blur – Manipulate the camera’s depth of field using Lens Blur to focus on the subject in the foreground and blur the background; great for portraits and selfies
• Photo Stitching – Create amazing 360° Photo Sphere, panoramas, wide-angle and fish eye image captures with Google’s photo stitching technology
• Video – Shoot video and simultaneously capture stills just by tapping on the screen
• Android Wear – Control the camera from a distance
• HDR+ – Use the HDR+ (High Dynamic Range) setting to improve images captured in low light, and backlit scenes (only available on Nexus 5 and Nexus 6)

11. PhotoDirector (Google Play Link)

PhotoDirector puts a powerful set of photo editing tool in the palm of your hand. You can quickly edit images on your device, and share them on Facebook, Flickr and more. You can remove an unwanted person or object from your photo, adjust saturation, tweak the tone, apply one-click photo presets, or even add HDR effects, to create vivid, beautiful images on the go. Anyone can achieve outstanding, DSLR-like results in a matter of seconds with PhotoDirector.

12. Over (Google Play Link)

Over is the app for adding text and artwork to your photos. Designed with mobile creatives in mind, Over features standard and custom-made fonts and well-crafted artwork combined with a sleek design, easy-to-use functionality, and immediate sharing ability.

Search Instagram for #bestofOver and #madewithOver tags and see what cool things users are creating using Over.

These are just some of my favorites. The story doesn’t end here though, there are tons of other apps that do things a little different or add a little twist to their offering. It doesn’t hurt to try some of the popular ones from Google Play store. These all apps are available for iOS devices as well.

Over to you

Let us know in comments or on Twitter which other apps you like and why. I would be happy to add them to this list. Keep shooting and keep sharing your creative art…