Photography is a broad topic. Tons of people dabble in it as a hobby. However, it’s a perfectly good career when you can find your niche. Most photographers use DSLR cameras and high tech gear for the best possible shots. However, there are many more who lean on their smartphones as well. Phone cameras are good enough for a lot of stuff. Additionally, there are non-camera apps that help photographers as well. We’ll take a look at both varieties in this list. Here are the best photography apps for Android!

The best photography apps for Android

Adobe apps

Price: Free / Up to $52.99 per month

Adobe has a suite of desktop apps for creative types. They have a similar group of mobile apps for mobile photographers. Their wares include a fairly decent mobile version of Adobe Lightroom. Additionally, you can find a scanner app (for real photos), two Photoshop apps, and more. Lightroom is the most professional among them. The Photoshop apps are more for simple things like filters and stickers. However, even they have some basic stuff. The apps are free. You can expand functionality with Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription.

Google Photos is an excellent app for photographers. It offers cloud storage for your photos. There is a caveat, though. It uploads them in high quality resolution, but not maximum resolution. Thus, those who are very particular about stuff like that may not enjoy Photos. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly good cloud storage space. You can access it from your phone or computer. It has some other features as well. We don’t recommend it for photo editing or anything like that. Otherwise, we can’t find much wrong with it except Google is removing the free part of the service starting in June 2021.

HyperFocal Pro is a different style of photography app. It doesn’t take or edit pictures. It helps with calculations, mostly. You can keep track of things like your camera settings and shooting conditions. That includes depth of field, angle of view, field of view, and hyperfocal distance. The UI is a little bland, but entirely functional. There isn’t a lot to complain about, really. This is an excellent app for DSLR photographers. Plus, it’s completely free with no ads or in-app purchases.

Magic ViewFinder apps

Price: Free / Up to $5.20

Magic ViewFinder apps are also useful photography apps. They let you scout locations and pre-shoot scenes without dragging all of your gear around. There is a variety of them from this developer. That includes ones that emulate Canon, Nikon, Lumix, Red, and others. You can find things like focal length and prepare your shots before going through the process of setting up all of your gear. The prices vary, but none of these apps cost more than a couple of dollars. They’re above average for photography apps. The developer also has an all-in-one viewfinder app for $4.80 that includes everything.

Generally, you should use the stock camera app on your phone. They almost all come with manual modes, pro modes, and post processing designed specifically for your camera’s hardware. However, those who need a replacement could do a lot worse than Open Camera. It has a full manual mode along with auto-leveing, HDR, a panoramic mode, on-screen histogram, focus peaking, and even voice controls to take photos remotely. The image quality is quite good and the app is not only free, but also open source. It’s a great camera app replacement.

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ProCam X

Price: Free / $4.99

ProCam X is an above average camera app with a lot of manual camera features. You have control over white balance, ISO, focus, shutter speed, and you can set custom video bitrates if you need to. Of course, your phone has to support those features for them to work. There is also a burst shooting mode, real time filters, color effects, and an intervalometer (an interval timer). The pro version has a reasonable price and people seem to like it.

Snapseed is probably the best free photo editor on Android. It comes with a variety of both simple and advanced tools. That includes support for RAW files, simple stuff like red eye removal, and tons of stuff between the two. It also has a fairly powerful auto enhancement capability. It works well sometimes, but it usually depends on the photo itself and the type of scene. There are also over a dozen filters for those who like simple stuff. Every mobile photographer should have this app. It’s completely free, after all.

TouchRetouch is an interesting photo editor app. This doesn’t focus on basic stuff like contrast or red eyes. Instead, it lets you remove small imperfections from a photo. We’re talking about telephone wires, people, blemishes on a wall, and more. It works best on minor imperfections. The app doesn’t do well with major changes. However, this is a good way to remove the occasional issue and make photos look a little better. It runs for $1.99 with no additional in-app purchases. It’s definitely a unique photo editor. This one is also free if you use Google Play Pass.

VSCO

Price: Free / Up to $19.99 per year

VSCO is an all-in-one photography tool. It works as a camera app as well as a photo editor. It also has some tips, tricks, and various fun filters for use. The filters emulate various types of film. They’re pretty neat, but they are still filters at the end of the day. This one is a little harder to recommend than most. It doesn’t do anything the best, but it does several things extremely well. There is a subscription for $19.99 per year. It adds additional features, but it’s a little hard to justify with so many other tools out there. It might be up your alley, though.

YouTube is an excellent spot for photographers. You can find a variety of tutorials, reviews, comparisons, and other such info on YouTube. Plus, it has a visual element and photography is a visual medium. That makes it a little better than stuff like books for things like tutorials. You can also find more video tutorails for stuff like Lightroom, Photoshop, Gimp, and other photo editor apps. You can even find reviews and commentary for cameras in case you’re shopping for another one. It’s a decent all around tool.

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