The Best New iPhone and Android Photo Apps

Published on April 8, 2015

The digital media world is saturated with photos (pun intended.)

In fact, there has even been some pretty compelling information published by CBS News which indicates teenagers have adopted Instagram as their #1 social media platform of choice, recently coming in at the very top, 76% of teens saying they used Instagram, compared to runners-up Twitter (59%) and Facebook (45%).

This usage goes well above just taking a good selfie, as many users of Instagram choose to use other apps to get a leg up on the other photo competition.

If you're looking to get with the times and start getting creative with your own photos, check out these top new iPhone and Android photo apps which Cool Mom Tech recently presented.

1. Darkroom

This photo editing app has well earned its rave reviews. With its instant import capabilities (aka being able to access all of your iPhone photos as soon as you open the app), infinite nondestructive edit history (saving every single change you make, and allowing you to go back to any point of the edit history), and a pretty sweet make-your-own filter feature (because how many times can you use Valencia, right?)

Note that there is one $3 in-app purchase available called Curves which gives you more pro editing capabilities, like highlights and shadows on each individual RGB channel.

This photo editing app really feels professional, almost to the ranks of a desktop Photoshop experience, with the added bonus that its free (or a mere $3 with the Curves add-on). Love it. (Available for free with optional in-app purchase on iTunes)

2. Do Camera by IFTTT

Our love affair with IFTTT has been a long standing one, and their new line of apps are right on par with their already fantastic platform. Among these great new apps is the Do Camera app.

The Do Camera app is essentially connects your camera to another function of your choice, using an "If This, Then That" recipe, and provides a one-click button which performs that action for you.

For example, you could use your Do Camera button recipes: "DO post ski photos to "Ski Adventure 2015" album on Facebook" or "DO send all receipt pictures to Dropbox."

Note that you can only use 3 recipes on the app at once. Sure, you can switch these out often, but it would be nicer if it would be able to store more. Nonetheless, this app totally rocks and can bring supreme efficiency to your photo-taking experience. (Available for free on iTunes and Google Play)

3. Gallery Doctor

Let's face it, not every photo you take is share-worthy. I personally have far too many subpar photos stored in my phone, taking up space, out of sheer laziness to search for and delete my less-than-awesome photos.

The new Gallery Doctor feels your pain. It uses an algorithm-based technology called Gallery Curation Engine which can analyze what constitutes as a "bad" photo (poor color quality, lighting, sharpness) and then flags them down for you so you can remove them with a simple swipe. And don't worry, if a good photo makes the batch, you can just unflag it before you get of the rest. Ah, organization. (Available for free on Google Play)

4. Manual Camera

This is truly the app for photo enthusiasts.

If you're a RAW photo taker - that is, literally taking photos in RAW formatting, which saves all image data without compression or loss - you'll need a solid app to edit these rich images. Manual Camera fits the bill.

This is the first Android app which grants users full control over the camera on your phone, including the ability to manipulate shutter speed, white balance, and more. It gives your phone the feel of a legit dSLR. (Available for $2.99 on Google Play)

5. Typic Kids

Let's not forget the children! Typic Kids creates a fun photo editing app that is entirely geared for kids. A quick browse through the app will discover fun filters, colorful backgrounds, fonts, speech bubbles, and... stickers! (Because, what good is kids app without stickers, right?)

Note, you'll have to be careful about social sharing on this app - think twice before you link your app to social media sharing, as you probably (but not definitely) want to keep these creations between family. (Available for $1.99 on iTunes)

What is your favorite photo editing app? Drop a comment below!