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Tumblr's mobile apps finally have photo filters and stickers
In a move possibly inspired by Snapchat, or even Instagram, Tumblr is bringing photo filters and stickers to its iOS and Android apps. But that's not it: The feature will also work with GIF posts, which is going to let you spice up your feed even more than you already are. Tumblr says you can choose from over 100 "extremely relevant" stickers, so you shouldn't have a problem finding one that fits the message you're trying to get across. And fret not if you don't see these in your Tumblr app yet, as the update just started rolling out today to the App Store and Google Play.
Aviary for iOS update adds Instagram and email sharing options, extra magic
Aviary has certainly been busy over the past couple of months, having recently overhauled its photo-editing app for Android, as well as launching on Windows Phone 8. Fortunately, the industrious company has also found time to work on its iOS app, which has just been updated to allow picture sharing via Instagram and good old-fashioned email. The sharing menu now features two new buttons that'll push the selected image into Instagram's own app, or launch Mail and add it to the body of an email. According to the update changelog, the new version also has "a bonus extra dose of magic added." We asked the folks at Aviary exactly how they implemented this exciting feature, but frustratingly, they wouldn't tell us.
Aviary lands on Windows Phone 8, paid content made free for a limited time
Aviary has come a long way from its humble origins as a Flickr plugin -- over the last year it's graduated to a standalone app, been given a makeover and has even been ported to Windows 8. Today the popular photo-editing software lands on yet another platform: Windows Phone 8. As on iOS and Android, the app itself is free and comes with a bunch of filters and stickers. Extra packs can usually be purchased for two bucks a pop, but WP8 users can get them for free for a limited time -- not bad for a digital lizard sombrero. Follow the source link below to check out the (temporarily) gratis photo editor yourself.
Daily iPhone App: PhotoMagic is a very capable iOS photo editor and effects generator
I have seen and reviewed many photo filter apps, but after awhile they tend to blend together in my memory. That's not the case with PhotoMagic, a US$0.99 app for the iPhone that goes beyond the mundane color filters we usually see in these apps, and gives you some professional effects to make your images unique. There are more than 30 filters that change color, add sharpening, give an oil paint effect, apply B&W transformations and many more. There are also some very nice lighting effects, with sparkles, lens flares, glows, textures, etc. Some are not subtle; others are laid back, and yet they can enhance a photo of a person or a landscape. %Gallery-193525% The app also has more than 30 frames in mono and color -- some with mattes, while some are plain. I found them tasteful and usable, and none were outrageous, which I have seen in similar apps. Of course the usual tools are included for crop and rotate. There is also a flexible text tool, that allows you to add titles or captions to your photos. Your finished images can be shared via the usual social networks, and of course email. My only complaint is one that I have with many similar apps. Images are not saved at full resolution. The largest size is 1,600 x 1,054 pixels. The iPhone 5 supports resolutions up to 3,264 x 2,448 pixels. It's always best not to throw away data, but fine to offer saving in reduced resolution, as long as there is still an option for a full-resolution save. I found PhotoMagic to be an easy-to-use app. No help file was needed. The app is for iPhone or iPod touch only. There is a version for the iPad which sells for $1.99. PhotoMagic requires iOS 5 or later and is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Aviary 3.0 for Android features new interface and photo filters
Now that Aviary has been on its own for a year, its developers have seen it fit to give its Android app a modest overhaul. Aviary version 3.0 packs in a new interface, an improved focus tool, a beefed up color splash feature and an array of goofy stickers. The Enhance tool has also been expanded to offer three distinct options -- Hi-Def, Illuminate and Color Fix -- each tweaking your photo's sharpness, brightness and color settings, respectively. Aviary's filters went through a renovation as well, with the developers adding the erstwhile iOS-only Woodlands Effect Pack as an in-app purchase. Head on over to Google Play or click the source links below to download the app -- it was good enough for Jeff Bezos, so it might have the potential to win your photo-filter-loving heart.
PopAGraph is a clever iOS photo app that gives your photos some 'pop'.
PopAGraph is a free iOS app that lets you mask off something in a photo, then create a reduced size frame that lets the object pop put of the frame boundaries. It can give your photos a unique look, and it's something I haven't seen before in an iPhone app. To make it work you select something in your image that you want to stand out. You draw a mask with your finger. You don't have to be exact, because the app will try and find the edges of the subject if it is pretty well set off in contrast of color. You can enlarge the view for more precise masking, and pan around using 2 fingers. When you are satisfied, you touch the 'lift' icon, and your selected object will be separated from the background. Select a frame, or multiple frames. They must be smaller than your masked object so the object can extend beyond the frame. You get a choice of frame colors and styles. The end result can be quite striking. You can then send your fished product via email, instagram or Twitter. Of course you can also save to your local photo library. PopAGraph is a clever photo editor. You're not going to be able to jump right in, because not every step is intuitive. There is, thankfully, built in help with video tutorials that make the operation of the app clear enough. The app also has some nice filters, so after the masking process you can change the background or the foreground. For example, leave what has been masked in color, and turn the rest of the photo black and white. There are more extensive filters, but they involve an in-app purchase. If you buy everything, including more frame options, the app is U.S. $2.99 instead of free. I found I could get along with what is included in the free version. %Gallery-184907% I liked PopAGraph. If you're willing to spend a few minutes learning the app it will pay you back with some really unique photos that will be appreciated by friends and family. PopAGraph requires iOS 6 or later, and it is optimized for the iPhone 5. It is not universal, so it's sub-optimal on an iPad.
Zitrr Camera is a jack-of-all-trades camera app and editor for iOS
There are camera apps for the iPhone that claim to do it all, and some come very close. Newcomer Zitrr Camera (US$0.99, on sale through Tuesday) claims to be the only camera app you'll ever need. With a couple of caveats, it qualifies for the title. The app has a variety of useful shooting modes, including HD video, a timer mode, a burst mode (rapidly shoot frames one after the other), anti-shake software, a big button for larger controls to make shooting easier and even a barcode scanner. Zitrr Camera features 34 live effects, so rather than add them after the image is taken, you can actually set up the filter and see it applied live on your screen. This is very helpful. You can tap the screen to focus and adjust the white balance controls. The app provides a histogram, sharing with all your favorite social networks, and filters that can be applied after the fact. Zitrr Camera also creates slide shows, on-screen guides for composition and a level. That's a lot, but not everything. Zitrr camera also gives you digitally created lenses like fisheye and tilt-shift. It has a collection of frames, and photos can be titled. As you can see, there are a boatload of features in this one app. I used it to take some artsy (to me) photos of my parrot, which I have placed in the gallery. %Gallery-183065% I did have some points of confusion. Initially I thought Zitrr Camera wouldn't save photos to my Camera Roll. Eventually I found that option on the editing screen, not the sharing menu where I expected it to be. I also miss the ability to take HDR images from within the app. There is an effect called "Intense" that uses some HDR algorithms to stretch the picture and add saturation, but I would have preferred to combine multiple exposures for a true HDR effect. Also, once a photo is edited, it drops to just under 1 MP size, which is a considerable loss. Live filters preserve the original resolution, but as soon as you begin editing in the app itself the image loses data. This will be a serious limitation for some users. For casual shooting, it was not a problem. The developer tells me this issue will be resolved in a soon-to-come update. Having said that, Zitrr Camera is a terrific, well thought out camera app. For $0.99, it is a bargain, and it is on sale until Tuesday midnight ET. After that, it's $1.99. Zitrr Camera works on just about any iOS device, and is optimized for the iPhone 5. It requires iOS 5.1 or greater. I think you'll like this app, and marvel at what is included. If the app evolves to output edited images at full resolution, it will be best in class.
Review: Color Thief for iOS
Color Thief is an interesting app for photo buffs that copies color information from one photo and applies it to another. That makes it a rather unique feature. My first reaction was "who cares?" But after playing with the app for a while, I found it interesting to apply a color scheme from one landscape photo to another. The results were sometimes weird, but at other times I liked the result, and it was a color scheme that I could not have arrived at any other way. I also took one color selection from a single image, and applied it to several other images, so they all had similar color tones. Great for creating a collage. Images are saved at original resolution which is a plus because so many apps scale them down. Finished images can be sent via email, posted to Facebook or sent via Twitter. They can also be sent to other apps like Instagram for further adjustments. Color Thief has only one purpose, but it achieves that purpose quickly and artfully. The app is US$1.99 and is optimized for the iPhone 5. It require iOS 5.1 and is not universal. This is an app crying out for an iPad version. If you're a person who loves to experiment with digital filters, Color Thief is something I think you will enjoy. I've put some sample images in the gallery below. %Gallery-173503%
InstaCRT puts all other photo filter apps to shame (video)
To hell with Instagram. Seriously. It's not that we don't understand the appeal of the photo filter standard bearer, it's just that it lacks a cleverness and visceral quality that InstaCRT has in spades. See, rather than simply recreate retro effect with some software trickery, InstaCRT actually uses the aging titular tech to achieve its goals. The concept, while clever, is actually pretty simple: you take a photo on your iPhone using the InstaCRT app, it's then uploaded to the developer where all the magic happens. Your image is displayed on a tiny 1-inch CRT (harvested from an old-school VHS camcorder) in the company's office, a picture of your photo is then taken with a fancy DSLR, and the resulting image is sent back to you. The results are monochrome, loaded with scanlines and just slightly distorted -- offering a sense of physicality that other photo filter apps just can't match. However, as clever as the concept is, it's equally inefficient and, as more people start using the app, the wait between snapping a pic and getting the finished product back, gets longer and longer. (We had to wait almost four minutes for the image above.) Still, we can't help but fall in love with InstaCRT... at least until the next photo filter app hits the market. Don't miss the video after the break, and hit up the source link to buy it now for $1.99 and see how fast we can crash the developer's servers.
Daily iPad app: Snapseed
It's an app with a funny name, but a lot of power. Snapseed, from Nik Software, is a powerful photo editor for the iPad. You can enhance color and exposure of any photo with a single click, or just tweak your photo using a variety of powerful tools that can transform a mundane photo into something compelling. The app also lets you crop, straighten and rotate an image, or even take new photos from within the app. Perhaps the most powerful tool in Snapseed is the ability to selectively filter an image. This comes from Nik's innovative U Point technology, which was perfected on Photoshop plug-ins that are used by the pros. It's impressive to see that same function being brought into an iOS app. I tried Snapseed on a variety of photos. The tools have an interesting user interface designed specifically for a touch screen. Slide your finger up and down and to reveal a list of tools. After you select an effect, slide left or right to decrease or increase the effect. After a bit of use, the operation becomes a reflex. In addition to the tools mentioned, Snapseed lets you create frames for your images, and can produce a very striking black-and-white image or emulate some old color film styles. There is a useful sharpening tool that does't just devolve into noise as so many others do. There is also a tilt-shift function and a very useful compare button to show you before and after images before you commit to your changes. Completed images can be shared via email, Facebook, Flickr or Twitter. I've just scratched the surface of what you can do with Snapseed. At US$4.99 it is not the cheapest photo editor on offer, but I think it is clearly among the most powerful. Snapseed is universal, so when you buy it you'll get the iPhone version as well. The app requires iOS 4.2 or later and is a 26 MB download. Check the gallery for some samples I created as I used the app. Highly recommended by me, and now Apple, as Snapseed has been named iPad app of the year. %Gallery-141299%
Facebook sets sights on Instagram users with photo filter integration
What now Instagram? You wouldn't sell to Facebook and now ol' Zucks is moving on without you. That's right, friends... the social network genius himself is scheming alongside his engineers to integrate photo filters within the company's mobile application. The CEO hopes to lure users away from the popular photography app and keep them tethered to his site via mobile handset. Apparently the tech has been ready for a bit, but the boss wants his team to add more editing options before the feature is released into the wild.
