PhotoMagic
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Play photo tag with your Facebook friends this holiday
Whether you're a Facebook inhabitant or not, you have to give the social network credit for rolling out timely features that make it easier for people to share their personal moments and random thoughts. According to the company, about nine billion photos are sent via Messenger every month. That figure sees a predictable spike on New Year's Eve when pouts and poses make the rounds on social media. To make that exchange quicker, Facebook has introduced Photo Magic, a feature that tags and shares your group photos instantly via Messenger. The facial-recognition tool, first launched in Australia last month, is now ready to tag faces everywhere.
Facebook Photo Magic asks you to send pics to photographed friends
Facebook is testing out Photo Magic, a new facial-recognition feature that prompts users to send photos via Messenger directly to the people in the shots. The test hits Australia today on Android, with an iOS rollout planned for later this week. Photo Magic uses the same tech as Facebook's Moments and tag-suggestion features, and for your friends to receive photos of themselves, they need to have Moments installed, Verge reports. When you open the updated Messenger app, it'll scan your smartphone's camera roll (after you give it permission to do so) and select a snap that features you and some Facebook friends. You can then send it to those folks with one tap; Messenger will open up a new group thread if there are multiple people in the shot. After that, if you take a photo with some Facebook buddies, Messenger will offer the option to send it right to them. Of course, users can opt out of facial recognition in Facebook's settings page. Photo Magic should make its way to countries outside of Australia within a few months. [Image credit: Shutterstock]
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.
