To no surprise of iPhone app developers and users everywhere, Instagram recently won Apple’s Best App of 2012. With its customizable features and user-friendly features, Instagram is our favorite all-around photography app. But the iTunes store is filled with other apps to help with everything from panoramic pictures to polaroids. We’ve researched and hand-selected the best photo apps so you don’t have to! Here are our top picks (non-Instagram) photo apps to download today.
1. For Editing: Filterstorm ($3.99)
Filterstorm offers more editing features than other similar tools, and it’s a favorite app of many professional photographers. Abilities of the app include layers, curves manipulation, and color correction. With this app, turn casual shots into masterpieces!
2. For Panoramic Pictures: Pano ($1.99)
This handy app stitches together up to sixteen different photographs to create magical panoramic scenes. With built-in color correction and auto-alignment, panoramic images created with the app are virtually seamless.
photo provided by Rebecca K
3. For “Polaroids”: ShakeItPhoto ($1.99)
If color effects aren’t retro enough for you, download ShakeItPhoto. As the top-rated Polaroid app in the iTunes store, this tool will take Polaroid look-a-likes and make your current photographs look like the real thing.
4. For Sharing Photos: Flickr (Free)
If you’re already using Flickr on your desktop, you know how useful this photo-sharing social site can be. With this app, you can share on-the-go and view the pictures taken by friends and followers. It even lets you comment on photographs and collect your favorites.
photo provided by Rebecca K
5. For Artsy Photos: Paper Camera ($0.99)
There are plenty of apps to turn your photos into paintings, but this is one of the best. With filters ranging from sketches to cartoons, you’ll get lost turning your world into a work of art. You can also import your existing photographs and turn them into cartoons or paintings.
6. For Vintage Pics: Hipstamatic ($1.99)
Although Instagram can whip up some nice vintage-styled photographs, Hipstamatic is more obviously retro. With its analog feel and quirky effects, Hipstamatic makes even the most modern photographs look like they were taken decades ago.
photo provided by Rebecca K
7. For a Whimsical Perspective: TiltShift ($1.99)
This app creates the impression of a toy scene. Use it to alter the perspective of trains, planes, and automobiles—or anything your camera captures. The app even lets you choose whimsical aperture shapes—like hearts and dollar signs—to add subtle playfulness to your pictures.
8. For Making Prints: Postagram & Postal Pix (both free)
POSTAGRAM: This app turns your photographs into printed postcards and mails them to you, your friends, and family. It even integrates with other apps like Instagram to send edited pictures. Postcards are inexpensive and arrive quickly. You can even add personal messages to each card!
POSTAL PIX: This app allows you to order real prints directly from your phone in 4 unique ways: on professional quality luster sheets, on scratch resistant aluminum plate, on a mouse pad, or in the unique square shape (for those Instagram pics). And each product is delivered right to your home!
Download these apps to bring professional quality and fanciful fun to your iPhone photographs! You can use them individually or together to create stunning images. And most of them feature sharing options, so you can show your creations off to your friends.
What’s your favorite photo app for the iPhone? Do you have a new kind of photography app in mind?
