The following apps are some of the best and most widely used camera apps on Android and iOS. They provide more advanced controls, creative options, and customization than the default camera app so that you can upgrade your photography and videography experience.
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Point, tap, then learn more or act.
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Lens gives you a glimpse of how smart cameras could be.
On iOS, Google Lens is a feature found within the Google app. But on Android, Google Lens is a complete, installable app. While Lens isn’t a conventional camera app, it may be the smartest camera app you’ve used: It can identify many plants, animals, and landmarks, and it can recognize phone numbers, event dates, and addresses in text.
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Adobe’s Lightroom app combines custom camera controls with a variety of image editing options in a single app. You can take images and make basic edits with the free version of the app. A paid monthly upgrade adds access to more selection and editing tools, auto-tagging, and storage. (Adobe Creative Cloud members receive these benefits after they sign in, as well.)
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ProShot, from Rise Up Games, gives you control over the file format (JPEG, RAW, or RAW + JPEG), exposure, aspect ratio (16:9, 4:3, 1:1, or a custom ratio you choose), and shutter speed. It also offers bracketing, which takes several shots at different exposure levels. A light painting mode lets you create an image as the lens gradually captures light. The app also supports video and time-lapse modes.
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Captures the classic, square (1:1 aspect ratio) Instagram image format.
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Shoot, edit, share all within one app.
You might not think of Instagram as a camera app, but it may be the most widely used free image-sharing platform. The Android app includes both camera and video capture options. Take a picture, then choose from one of several filters and adjust brightness, add a caption and tags, and then share it.
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Strong set of editing controls.
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Social network without follower counts, likes, or comments.
The camera portion of VCSO is fairly straightforward. Open, point, tap to focus, adjust flash, capture the image. VSCO excels at editing, with exposure, contrast, crop, sharpen, and saturation adjustments, along with a long list of filter options. The app also offers a social network, too.
An optional membership upgrade gives you access to additional editing tools.
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Google Street View (free) lets you look at images of buildings taken from roads and helps you capture the 360-degree view (also known as a photosphere) around you. Tap the camera to start, then rotate the camera to capture the globe around you while rotating the camera around a central point. You can import and view 360-degree photos in the app.
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With the free Horizon Camera app, you’ll never end up with a vertical video or photo again. The motion sensor in the app detects your phone’s orientation and automatically creates a landscape-oriented frame for your photo. Rotate your device? No problem. The app adjusts the frame as you move to ensure that you always capture a horizontal image.
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While most camera apps capture either a single image or a video, the developers of Lapse It designed it to capture images at intervals. That makes it an excellent tool for time-lapse or stop motion photography. It includes a variety of controls so you can adjust the time interval frequency and resolution, as well as the exposure, speed, and white balance.
The free version limits capture to 360p or 480p resolution, while a one-time paid upgrade improves image capture quality to 720p or 1080p.
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