Comparing the Best Photo Editing Apps for iPhone

In depth test of the best iPhone photo editing apps

[bradbennett]

This is sick. I didn't expect exposure controls to vary as much across apps. I'm locked into my VSCO membership for another 6 months so I'm glad to see it performed so well lol

[emiel]

Great video. Pro tip: when editing photos, make sure True Tone is off.

[carstenpxi]

Agree that the Apple Exposure is weird, along with several other controls. However, I normally start with the the Magic Wand Slider, find it gives good results, which I may touch up using highlights, shadows, and a bit of contrast or brightness. The more I use the Magic Wand slider, the more impressed I get with it, if I stay in the +- 50% range. I don’t know how to describe its behavior, but you can see the other sliders moving when adjusting the Magic Wand Slider. I have been a big Lightroom fan for many years, but have decided to see if I could get good results with Apple Photos. My first observation, was as yours, their controls don’t at all work like Lightroom. (Think Different) But the Magic Wand Slider was a positive surprise. Would appreciate if you perhaps could do a review of it, and explore if it is useful for you or not. It is important to forget the normal expectations to give it a chance.

[newecreator]

It's just a shame that VSCO removed clarity, tone, grain, and the A6 filter from their free tier.

[RobertJohnLora]

Note on the Apple Photos app (especially now, with iOS 16) that might make it more useful!

I’ve created a few filters using the default Apple filters, setting them to 30-50%, hitting auto, and then adjusting slightly according to taste (e.g., lowering “blacks” while raising “definition, ” adjusting temperature when needed to compensate for some of the weird filters, etc.).

I save the edits to a certain photo and put that photo in an album called “Films, ” which I can then use to copy and paste edits to my recent photos and videos now that iOS 16 allows for that.

The reason I like Apple Photos over the others is because it allows me to edit my videos and photos all with the same looks, and even the loop/bounce gifs from Live Photos.

[lozarmusic]

Darkroom has been my go to for months and they do have a grain slider that I use often I noticed u missed at the end.

[jacobbo-lee]

In Snapseed defence, I would say the main filters and grain effects are under grainy film and not under the looks tab. And another thing I like about Snapseed is, it allows you to create your own filters and save it to the looks tab so you can easily access it

[ByronWrightJr]

Great video. I am very much a rookie photographer that is wanting to shoot on my iPhone and wanting to know how to edit and what I need to look for when it comes to what makes a good photo. This helped with what editing app I need to use now I am going to learn more about what makes a great photo. Thanks. Keep up the great work. 👍🏽

[erinfuller]

The side-by-side comparisons were very helpful, thank you.

[jacobbo-lee]

I feel like for what I need it for Snapseed is the best and it’s also free so I guess I’ll stick with that, the selection tool is so easy to use and powerful, I also like that when I save over my original photo, I can still reset it back to the original in the Photos app really easily so I don’t have duplicates

[khushturna]

Bought an A7c and been using light room
Auto presets are awesome and learning a lot
Using an iPad Pro and paying for it through adobe directly

[PillzBerry]

The two best apps for photos are Afterlight and Vsco. The way your telling Vsco I bought it because you explain why it better. Great job my friend.✌🏿💯😉

[EoghanBell]

Lightroom is my jam jsut because of the crossover with computer.

[dantsai]

as a darkroom & lightroom user, completely agree with your take. Darkroom has great tools that work well, but its greatest weakness is the poor built-in filters. I would also say that their "Shadows" and "Blacks" sliders don't work very well either in my experience, Lightroom is better for bringing up the shadows.

[rarehex]

Loved this type of video, try a video version! Would be really interesting! Great job Tyler!!

[samuelkitevski]

Actually, Pixelmator Photo provides the same ability as Lightroom to add custom presets (including LUT’s) on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

[theGiantAngryRobot]

I really love editing my fuji raws with Pixelmator pro on the iPad.

[TheGossamerGroup]

Thank you so much for focusing on the tools of what’s most important in choosing the better app! You just saved me so much time!

[brooklynbound]

I do like VSCO but it’s been crashing on me recently when exporting a photo. So it’s essentially useless for me.

[AJGolosino]

Can you do one for video editing apps for phones. There may be times when we are on-the-go and can’t edit on our laptops.