A photo editing app is a software application designed to edit pictures on a mobile device. For a business, this means you can create a great visual strategy, displaying your products in a professional manner by simply using your mobile phone. 

This type of app can provide a varied range of features from cropping, controlling shutter speed, and adding filters. But you can also find photo editing apps that can create collages or create automatic settings for various scenes. When looking to improve the visual side of your business, you can do so much with just one of the photo editing apps listed below. 

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Advanced photo editing on a mobile device.

Google’s Snapseed packs a punch, rivaling desktop photo editors with its huge range of features and an intuitive interface.

Just like you’d expect, this free photo editing app comes with a range of preset filters. However, unlike most apps, you can edit these filters and even create your own from scratch.

It also has all of the classic tools, such as cropping, straightening, frames, text, vignettes, etc. And the sharpening feature does the job without making the image look grainy.

Then, things get interesting.

Snapseed has precision masking, which allows you to edit the depth of field – photographers often do this to make the background blurry and bring the foreground even more into focus.

There’s also a “Selective Adjust” tool. This lets you select a specific area of your photo and adjust the saturation, contrast, and brightness of that single point.

What’s more, the photo editor app saves your edit history, so you can amend your previous edits at any point.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Classic-look filters.

Like Instagram, VSCO combines a camera, editing tools, and an online community.

But it’s all about the filters.

This free photo app provides a set of stunning filters that make your photos look like they were taken on an analog film camera. These soft and subtle filters add a touch of class to your photos compared to many heavily filtered Instagram presets. The apps filters are also adjustable via a simple slider.

Of course, the app also has all the standard editing tools, like adjustments, cropping, borders, and vignettes. You can also use VSCO to adjust the exposure, contrast, temperature, or skin tones.

Once you’re done editing your photo, you can share it with VSCO’s community or to another social network – like Instagram!

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Turning your photos into artistic “paintings” and “drawings.”

OK, sure – most filters that turn photos into “drawings” or “paintings” are downright awful.

Prisma is the exception.

This free photo editing app uses artificial neural networks (whatever that means), which “enable users to make photos appear like they were painted by Picasso, Munch, or even Salvador Dali.”

Give it a go – you might be surprised by how much you like it. You can pay to access additional filters, but there’s a generous set provided free of charge.

Prisma also has its own online community similar to Instagram’s. So, once you’re done editing, you can share your image to your Prisma feed, save it directly to your device, share it on any social media app, or send it via email or messaging.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: All-around photo editing.

Adobe Photoshop Express takes many of Photoshop’s best photo editing tools and squeezes them into a mobile app. And despite providing plenty of advanced features, this free photo editing app is easy to use on a small touchscreen. Just upload a photo from your device, take a new one with the camera, or use an image from your Adobe Creative Cloud account, and then get to work editing.

It has all the tools you’d expect – cropping, red-eye correction, brightness, contrast, saturation, filters, borders, etc. However, the best part is its selection of smart filters. These filters automatically correct common issues, such as color temperature and exposure problems.

Before you can use Adobe Photoshop Express, you’ll need to sign up for a free Adobe ID account. When you’ve finished editing your photo, save it directly to your device or share it to other marketing and social media apps.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Taking your food photos to the next level.

Everyone has been guilty of taking pictures of their food at some point. Foodie embraces this impulse and helps you take your food photos to an entirely new level.

The editor is somewhat similar to Instagram’s – except that all of the 30 filters and editing features are set up with food in mind.

Plus, it helps you line up the perfect bird’s eye shot and makes the colors pop.

Bottom line: If you take pictures of food, you need this free photo editing app.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Professionals and those wanting to make quick pro adjustments.

If you’d like to up your game even further, check out Adobe Lightroom CC.

This app version of the popular desktop software provides access to professional editing tools on the go. Plus, it even works with RAW files – a high-quality image format popular among photographers.

One of the great things about this free photo editing app is that it’s not trying to do everything for everyone.

Instead, it focuses on providing a set of high-quality adjustment tools presented as simple sliders. These allow you to adjust the light, detail, color, distortion, and grain of your photo.

Should you decide to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, you’ll also get access to additional features. These include selective editing and Adobe Sensei – an AI system that auto-tags your images based on their content, allowing you to quickly find the ideal image.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Creating the ultimate photo collages.

Many free photo editing apps allow you to create simple collages (like Photoshop Express). However, Photo Collage kicks it up a notch.

This photo collage maker has thousands of layouts, so you can always find the ideal one for your needs. There’s a wide range of styles and interesting backgrounds. Plus, you can add text and customize the fonts, colors, and sizes.

The app also provides basic photo editing tools, so you don’t need to switch between apps to create the perfect collage.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Editing portraits.

Adobe Photoshop Fix isn’t for adding filters or effects to your photos. Instead, it’s designed for fixing or removing unwanted aspects of your images.

You can use this intuitive and simple photo editing app to make professional-level edits to your portraits. To start, it covers all of the basics – you can adjust highlights, shadows, colors, and more.

However, it’s the Liquify section that’s truly impressive.

When you upload a portrait, the app will automatically register each of the subject’s facial features. Then you can adjust the size, shape, and position of them.

If you’re a Creative Cloud user, you can also share your edits directly to Photoshop on your desktop computer for further editing.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Retouching selfies.

First things first: There’s nothing wrong with pimples, bags under the eyes, or teeth that aren’t perfectly white when taking a selfie.

Still, whenever our vanity gets the better of us, Visage is ready and waiting.

This free selfie photo editing app lets you quickly and easily retouch your portrait photos. Specifically, you can smooth skin, reduce skin shine, whiten teeth, apply eye makeup, and more.

The app also includes a set of interesting backgrounds and effects to perk up your selfies.

The downside is that the free version of the app shows a lot of ads, and your finished photo edit will have a branded hashtag applied to the bottom. However, you can always upload to the pro version ($4.99 per month or $9.99 per year) to avoid these drawbacks.

Available on iOS only | Free

Best for: Artistic photo editing.

Enlight Photofox is the ultimate, free artistic photo editing app – it even won an Apple Design Award in 2017.

One of its most popular features is the ability to blend photos together to create dramatic effects. You can also add graphic elements to your images.

Whlie i has many of the same features as Photoshop, such as layers, the learning curve isn’t so steep. That said, to get the most out of Enlight Photofox, you’ll probably need to watch a bunch of its tutorial videos.

The downside is that the free version only allows you to use two layers at once. So, you’ll need to subscribe to the pro version ($2.74 per month or a one-time purchase of $64.99) if you want to let your creativity run wild.

Available on iOS and Android | Free

Best for: Sharing your photos to build an online following.

It should go without saying: If you’re taking photos, Instagram is the place to share them.

The site is the third-largest social network in the world after Facebook and YouTube, and as of June 2018, the app has over 1 billion monthly active users.

The platform has all of the basic photo editing tools you might need, including filters, effects, text, stickers, overlays, and more. However, the app also provides other tools to help you grow your following.

For example, you can harness Instagram Insights to understand how your audience engages with your posts, or you can use Instagram Stories or Instagram Live to connect with your following in a more interactive way.

Whichever app you use to edit your photos, you’re going to want to upload them to Instagram.