5 best apps to edit photos on mobile

Not so long ago, editing photos was a job for a professional. You would need to at least watch some videos on youtube to learn a little more about photoshop and be able to do some basic editing. But nowadays, there are many apps that have facilitated this process. Some of them even have ready-made editions, just 1 click to have the desired edition. With that in mind, we've put together a list of the top 5 apps to edit photos on your cell phone.

Mobile photo editing apps

pixlr

When it comes to editing photos on your cell phone for free, the pixlr is for sure the best option available for that.

In addition to the advantage of being free, the app has a clean interface, free of invasive ads. With this, you have the best experience editing your photos.

O pixlr offers thousands of effects, frames, stickers and various photo collage options among others, this opens up space for your creativity.

In addition, the application provides a “favorites” button so that you can save presets and easily use them when editing new photos. After editing the photo, you can share it directly on your social networks.

The app is available for android It is iOS and also for computer.

PicsArt Photo Studio

O PicsArt is one of the most downloaded apps on the Play Store and has hundreds of customization options for photos. The app has a built-in camera feature, in addition to having its own social photo network, which allows you to edit your photos and share them with other editors.

Its main features are: The brush mode, which lets you apply effects to specific parts of the photos. Effects through your cell phone's camera live, among other options.

The app is also free and available for Android.

facetune2

O facetune2 is a free photo editing app for Android. Easy to use, the application has features such as applying makeup, improving image brightness, making photo collage, among others.

In its latest update, the application has integrated new collections of filters to retouch photos and other very interesting image adjustment features. The frequent updates with new implementations is what highlights the facetune2 of the other apps.

The app can be downloaded for free from play store.

Photoshop Express

At the beginning of this article, we mentioned how difficult it was to edit photos if you were a beginner. With that in mind, Adobe launched the Photoshop Express which is nothing more than a simplified version of the tool. With thousands of photo editing features, the app is a phenomenon with thousands of downloads on the Play Store.

Also, unlike the desktop version, the app is free.

snapseed

Widely used by digital influencers, the snapseed is an excellent app for editing photos on your cell phone.

It has features like editing filter packs that even beat the competition like instagram and snapchat. In addition, it is possible to leave your photo with a retro, grunge, or vintage look with just 1 click.

In addition, it is also possible to include frames, add texts, rotate and tilt the photos and change their compositions.

The app is free and available for Android and iOS.

What to look for before installing

• Resolution of the exported file. Some reduce the image size when exporting without a signature. If the photo is for printing, this is a crucial factor.
• Watermark on the free version. This is the most common trick: the app lets you edit for free, but then stamps the logo on it when you save. Check this before investing your time.
• App weight. Full-featured editors can exceed 300 MB. On devices with limited storage, a lightweight app will handle the basics without crashing.
• Preserve the original. Good editors save a copy. Be wary of any app that overwrites the file directly.

What these apps don't do

Before installing, it's worth managing your expectations: there are things that no app in this category delivers.

• They don't recover details that don't exist in the file. Increasing the resolution reconstructs pixels by estimation—it doesn't reveal lost information.
• They don't remove watermarks from third-party photos. Besides not working properly, using the image without a license is a copyright violation.
• Beauty filters alter the image; they don't alter the person. It's important to remember this when comparing the result to an unedited photo.
• Recovering deleted photos only works on images that haven't been overwritten yet, and the chances of success decrease with each use of the device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the premium version worth paying for?

It's worthwhile if you edit frequently and need high-resolution export or to remove the watermark. For occasional use, the free version is sufficient.

Will my photos go to the cloud?

It depends on the app. Those that do everything on the device work offline; those that use a server send the image externally.

Which format should I save it in?

JPEG for general use, PNG when there is transparency or text, and the original format when archiving.

Does the photo lose quality when edited?

Each export recompresses the file. Edit once and save, instead of saving after each adjustment.

Is a free editor safe?

Check the permissions requested. A photo editor does not need access to contacts, messages, or microphone.

Step-by-step to get started

1. Adjust the light before applying the filter. Exposure, contrast, and shadows first; filter later. In reverse order, the filter amplifies the flaw.
2. Crop with the purpose of taking into account where the photo will end up. Square and vertical 4:5 for social media, 16:9 for screen. Crop after exporting and recompress again.
3. Export at the highest quality available. If you're going to print, look for the high-resolution export option — some free versions reduce the resolution without warning.
4. Save only once. Each export process recompresses the file. Make all the necessary adjustments and export at the end.

Traps that catch almost everyone

• Granting access to all photos when the app only needs one.
• Saving after each adjustment and watching the image lose sharpness without understanding why.
• Discovering the watermark only when exporting, after half an hour of editing.
• Send a photo of a document or a child to an editor who processes it in the cloud.

What the cell phone itself already does.

The phone's built-in gallery editor already handles cropping, light adjustment, object removal, and perspective correction in recent versions of Android and iPhone. For quick adjustments, it solves the problem without installing anything or sending the image externally.

The order of adjustments that avoids rework.

Editing in the wrong order forces you to redo work, because each adjustment alters the basis upon which the next one acts. The sequence below works in any editor.

1. Framing and horizon. Cut and straighten first. There's no point in treating an area that's going to be discarded.
2. General overview. Adjust the average brightness of the image before doing anything specific.
3. Highlights and shadows. Recover detail in the sky and open up what was too dark.
4. Contrast and black dot. Defining where pure black begins gives structure to the image.
5. White balance. Correct the dominant color after resolving the lighting, because brightness and color influence each other in perception.
6. Color. Saturation, vibrance, and color range adjustment.
7. Local adjustments. Brush, gradient, and selection in specific regions.
8. Clarity and noise. Always last.

Sharpness is achieved last because it works by increasing contrast at the edges. Applying it before cropping is processing pixels that will be wasted, and applying it before exposure causes the highlight to disappear or become exaggerated when the light changes.

Noise reduction is applied in the final block because it softens detail. Reducing noise before lifting the shadow is wasted effort: the hidden noise reappears.

Saturation, vibration, and the cost of raising shade.

Saturation increases the intensity of all colors in the same proportion. What was already strong becomes more vibrant first, and the skin is the biggest victim: it turns orange with just a few touches on the control.

Vibration acts selectively: it enhances weak colors, barely alters intense ones, and protects skin tones. For photos with people, it's the best choice.

Raising shadows comes at a cost that no one tells you about. The information in the dark areas was captured in low light, and that's precisely where the sensor generates the most noise. By brightening this region, the editor amplifies what was already there, including the noise. Colored spots and graininess appear, especially in night photos.

A slightly underexposed photo can be recovered with some noise. A photo with a completely white sky cannot be recovered because there is no recorded information in that area.

JPEG, HEIF, and RAW: what each format stores

The file format determines how much space you have to edit.

• JPEG. It compresses by discarding information that the eye perceives less. With each new recording, the process is repeated on the already degraded image. Opening, editing, and saving multiple times accumulates artifacts: square blocks in areas of uniform color, blur around edges, and visible streaks in the sky.
• HEIF. It maintains similar quality while occupying about half the space. The trade-off is compatibility with older systems and websites.
• RAW or DNG. It stores sensor data with far more tonal levels than a JPEG, which works with eight bits per channel. It is this extra margin that allows you to recover an almost blown-out sky or open up a shadow without tearing up the image.

The crucial detail is that RAW files cannot be created afterward. Either the photo was captured in that format, with the option enabled on the camera, or the extra margin simply doesn't exist. Converting JPEG to DNG doesn't return any information.

Non-destructive editing in practice

A good editor saves the adjustments as instructions applied to the original, allowing you to revert them. Not all mobile apps work this way: many overwrite the original file.

Two rules mitigate the risk. First: duplicate the photo before you begin and edit the copy. Second: when saving, look for the option to save as a copy or export, instead of simply saving.

Also avoid chaining edits across different apps: saving in one, opening in another, and then going through a third stacks three recompressions. Using a single editor, with a final export, preserves better quality.

Why does the photo get worse when it goes through the messaging app?

Messaging services reduce the size and recompress images to save network and storage space. The photo that arrives on the other end has fewer pixels and more artifacts than the original.

The degradation accumulates with each rerouting, because each passage compresses again what was already compressed. This explains the stained and block-filled photos that have been circulating in groups for months.

When quality matters, send as a document or file instead of using the photo option: in this mode, the application transfers the original without altering it. Cloud and transfer services have the same effect.

Two things don't solve the problem. A printout only records what the screen displayed, at the display's resolution and with additional compression on top. Enlarging it in an editor increases the pixel count through interpolation, which creates blur, not detail.

The screen is deceiving, and the recipe saves time.

Cell phones typically come from the factory with a vibrant color profile, which saturates what appears on the screen. When editing on this screen, the tendency is to reduce the color. The same photo viewed on a calibrated monitor or printed appears pale.

Two measures reduce the error: change the screen's color profile to natural mode in the video settings and check the finished photo on another device before publishing.

When multiple photos come from the same event, save the settings as a preset or copy the set of settings from one image and paste them onto the others. Most editors offer one of these options. Besides saving time, this is what makes the photos published together look like a cohesive album.