Top 5 Photo Editing Apps for iOS and Android

TOP 5 photo editing apps (iOS & Android)

• Adobe Photoshop Express
• VSCO
• PicsArt 
• MeiTu
• Google Snapseed

1. Adobe Photoshop Express

Price: Free Adobe Photoshop Express turns highlight of Adobe's best editing tools together in a mobile app that's easy to use even on a tiny touchscreen. Before beginning to experience, you'll need to sign up for a free Adobe ID using an email address, Facebook or Google account. If you already have an ID, you can use that here. You can use this ID to use other Adobe products and services later. Choose a picture from phone gallery, take a photo with camera or use an image from Adobe creative cloud, Dropbox, Facebook, or Google Photos. This is a useful way to streamline your workflow and makes the same resources available on whatever device you use.

Of course, offers all the basic editing tools you expect, including crop, straighten, rotate, red-eye correction, and brightness adjustment. What makes it stand well above the pack is its selection of smart filters designed to correct common issues, including colour temperature, fogging and exposure problems. There's also a wide variety of borders and artistic effects, all of which can be adjusted using simple sliders. Once you’re done editing, you can upload it to Adobe Creative Cloud or customize the quality and size export in JPEG. The one-tap sharing tools share to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, WhatsApp, and many more social media. Also, email and SMS text your photos to people instantly.

2. VSCO

Price: Free

VSCO offers all of the tools that you’d expect from a high quality photo editing app, exposure, contrast, temperature correction, highlight shadow, as well as a very useful alignment tool for straightening horizons. There are also fade settings and tools for skewing your image and adjusting tints. In simple words, these features help you make the photos look professional, turn the photos style into the same style. For instance, you capture photos in a different place but want them to look consistent.

The selection of ambient filters isn’t huge, but the ones provided are very atmospheric and are adjustable via a simple slider.

Once you’re done, you can share your image with VSCO’s community, share it via any social networking or messaging app or export in different size.

The first time you use VSCO, you’ll also be offered a seven-day trial of VSCO X, premium and paid app of VSCO, which includes various presets and video editing tools that are normally only available for a subscription fee. Bear in mind that you'll be asked to enter payment details before starting the trial and you'll be charged automatically if you don't cancel before the period is up, so you might prefer to skip this and go straight to the free version.

3. PicsArt 

Price: Free

We picked PicsArt as the best overall because it’s as comprehensive as you can get in an app intended for consumers. It has very accessible yet powerful photo editing and collaging tools. With the addition of the new Remix feature, PicsArt also offers collaborative photo sharing. PicsArt allows you to take photos, process images, apply effects, create collages and share your finished creations. Admittedly, the in-app camera is a bit basic, with no manual controls, but the image processing and effects module is one of the most comprehensive on the market, with advanced features such as curves adjustments, cloning and perspective tools available, alongside all the standard adjustments.   There’s a huge array of digital filter effects, backed up by a various selection of frames, stickers, masking effects, clip art and more. If you’d prefer to upload your images to social media, then you’ll find sharing links to all the big-name players. The only slight issue we have with PicsArt is that it can take a little time getting used to the layout.

4. MeiTu

Price: Free

We believe most of the female user is familiar with this app. It launched since 2008 and has been activated on over 1.1 billion iOS and Android devices. MeiTu video editing app - MeiPai also ranked as No1 China video-based social media platform, allow users to personalized video with provided effect, sticker, music etc.. If you are going to make video to promote your store, add MeiPai into your list. The app offers airbrushing tools and other visual editing for photos, as well as virtual makeup and stickers, there are lot more options than many other photo editing apps that offer only stickers or only filters. Editing, retouch, FX camera, hand drawn and collapse all in one. Photo editing usually takes a lot of time, it's good to have different types of editing alternatives all in one single app like Meitu.

The Edit section is a self-contained Photoshop Touch rival with the ability to enhance, add filters, crop, add effects and stickers, create a mosaic, beautify an image or annotate with a magic brush. There’s also a dedicated Retouch section to handle beautifying needs. This will smooth out wrinkles, slim faces and any blemishes or skin imperfections. FX camera lets you taking photo with applied filter, tons of filter options are there. Make your photos look pro even by a phone camera.  Hand drawn, you can begin applying filters to make your photos look "hand-drawn"! The photo work station is up top, while a carousel of seven filters is at the bottom. Filters range from "Angelic" to "Fairy Tale" to "Petals." Collapse combine multiple photos into one, if you wish to have more customized space, choose 'Freestyle'. Turns photos into a poster? Choose 'Poster' option. Spend time to find out more, you will know what makes it famous for 10 years and leading photo editing apps in China.

5. Google Snapseed

Price: Free

Google Snapseed is a fantastic app that contains many useful yet humanistic editing tools which even desktop photo editor software lack of. Good looking, well-designed interface with simple operation, you do not need a pro skill to manage.

On top of the usual cropping and rotation tools, it also allows you to modify depth of field, perspective (ideal for compensating for distortion created by your phone camera’s fixed lens), curves and brightness.

One of Snapseed's most interesting tools is Expand, which calculates what the area surrounding the subject probably looks like and uses this data to make the canvas larger. Fill the blank space with colour or blur, cloned background as because of the nature of the tool, it’ll work better on a plain or abstract background, rather than out on the street.

Snapseed is also useful for selfies and other portrait photos. It has a useful feature that recognizes faces in pictures and allows you to subtly change the direction they're facing. The app can also identify and brighten faces automatically.

Snapseed offers a huge variety of filters, and they’re all fully customizable. This sounds like a lot, but you can breathe easy –  Snapseed also offers video lessons to help you master certain filters and tools.