Google Camera rivals! Five brilliant photography apps for your Android device
5
- So Google has gone ahead and revamped its Camera app
and now we can expect more features to be added in at a faster pace
than earlier. Since its launch on the Play Store, we have seen quite a
few people download the new app and one of the key new features is Lens Blur,
which lets you selectively choose where to apply the focus area. But
Google was hoping to flatten the competition with this, they need not
have bothered because photography apps on Android have come a long way,
even from last year. Here are five that we think all shutterbugs must
try out.
Pixlr Express
Tons of control
This photo-editing app by Autodesk offers a lot of editing options.
The user interface is pretty straight forward – you can either select an
image from a gallery to edit or click a new picture or make a collage
of existing photos. You can adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness and
also perform operations such as healing, focus blurring and so on.
Effects mode brings up a huge number of filters which are categorised
into seven sections. Overlay and Border are superimposing tools. There’s
also a Text option which allows you to write on your photographs.
Overall a good app which provides most of the post processing tools to
be used on the go, in an easy to navigate user interface.
PicsArt
Great for novices too
PicsArt is a photo-editing app as well as a social network to share
your photos, just like Instagram or VSCO app. The main editing related
interface comprises Effect, Collage, Draw, Camera, Photo and Shop
options. It allows you to take images not only from your camera gallery,
but also from social networks such as Facebook, Google+, Flickr,
Picasa, Drive and so on. Under the Effects menu, you can apply filters
to your images, add add various kinds of blurring effects, make
corrections such as red-eye correction, fixing blemishes and so on on
portraits. Draw feature allows you to doodle on the photograph itself or
add text to a photograph. It offers a lot of scope for creatively
editing your photographs.
VSCO
Perhaps the most polished photography app on Android
If you like shooting filters but want to take a more restrained
approach then VSCO is the best bet for you. With options to sell your
photographs on the Grid, VSCO takes the image sharing category to a
different place. The app looks great and it has come a long way since
its early days on Android and boots up a bit faster than it used to.
VSCO lets you shoot images and then apply various edits to it. You
can choose from the stock options and filters as well as purchase or
download new filters from the store. The store has new filters on a
regular basis and many are released for free. In addition, you can also
create your own filter preset and sell them on the store, so it gives
photographers a better tool to actually make a living, rather than just
sharing.
The design of the app takes a little getting used to and isn’t as
fluid as one might expect, given the high-res detailing. Neverthless
VSCO is a great choice if you want to stock up on all kinds of
photography apps.
Camera FV-5
Replete with settings
This one is packed with features that have been seen on many other
rivals such as filters, color effects, frames, and borders, but it also
adds more granular control to the equation, something no photogrpaher
can complain about. You get control over specific photo elements and
camera controls such as exposure time, aperture, stops, light metering,
white balance, and more. The app even supports long exposures and
time-lapses, with users being able to set quick controls to their
hardware keys.
Interestingly, the viewfinder in FV-5 packs a live RGB histogram, so
it’s very close to a professional viewfinder. The only downside is that
the
app costs around $4 though there’s
a lite version also
with limited picture resolution support. If that’s not a problem, then
the free app is your best bet since it has all the features of the
premium version.
Flickr
Flickr’s new look is just stunning (Image: Lifehacker)
Yes, we know Flickr is tried and tested, but the Android app left a
lot to be desired. But then just this week the app received a major
update on iOS and Android that makes it a solid contender in this space.
First of all, Yahoo has gone for a major look overhaul and now Flickr
is smoother to use and images look much more emphasised and there’s less
clutter. The main feed has a nice subtle scrolling animation, while the
other tabs are one or two swipes away. The shooting mode has changed
dramatically too, now effects and filters take up the left and right
side and arrange themselves in an arc on each side. You can tap or
scroll around the arc to select the right function. Even though the
update was just released this week, the animations and scrolling were
all quite smooth. Flickr also automatically backs up any photos you
might take, if you allow it to. If you have a huge Flickr collection,
then the new Android app is more than enough to manage it all. It’s
feature-filled and adds elements of Instagram, Vine and Twitter to the
mix to give Flickr a polished look that we had never expected from the
app.