PhotoForge2 On Sale!

PhotoForge2 will be available to purchase for a limited time at the special price of $0.99 (€0.79/£0.59), which is roughly 66% off the regular App Store price.

PhotoForge2 On SalePhotoForge2 is one of the most comprehensive and advanced photo editing apps available in the App Store and definitely one worth having for iPhone/iPad photographers, thanks to the many tools for full control over post processing, like RAW import, curves, levels, white balance and exposure adjustment, layers support, masking features, a rich collection of effects and several, in addition to an extensive collection of sharing options.

The special offer will be valid until the release of iPad’s native support.

8mm Vintage Camera 1.2 Out Now

8mm Vintage Camera for iPhone by NexvioAfter a long wait, the updated version of 8mm Vintage Camera is now available in the App Store. Release 1.2 adds a few useful features to Nexvio’s 8mm camera, in addition to new film simulation and lens.

A pleasant surprise is the newly added possibility to process previously recorded videos by importing them from your device. In the older versions of 8mm Vintage Camera, you could only use videos taken from within the app; this limitation was one of the biggest concerns for the Nexvio’s app users. Unfortunately, previously taken videos are also saved in small resolution, just like videos taken in-app and processed in real time. This means that, if you process your HD videos within 8mm Vintage Camera, you will end up with a rather disappointing 480 x 360 resolution clip.

8mm Vintage Camera by Nexvio for iPhone
You can now combine projector sound with soundtrack recording and delete all your clips at once from My Reels gallery. Moreover, your videos can now be saved automatically to Camera Roll, other than to My Reels gallery.

Other relevant additions are the new lens, Super 8, and the two films, Noir and 60’s. 8mm vintage camera now comes with a total of 5 lens and 7 film effects. This short clip shows both Noir and 60’s film in combination with Super 8 lens.

Finally, AirPlay support was also added with this latest release.

King Camera Updated to 1.02

King Camera 1.02 is out! The latest release of Saycheezzz.com’s app is not only about the new fancy icon. Here are all the changes and improvements in version 1.02:

King Camera by Saycheezzz.com

  • Optimized thumbnail generation in Photodesk: now 2.5x faster;
  • Optimized cache system for Quickmatik thumbnails: now up to 20x faster;
  • Improved access speed to Photodesk when it contains over 10 pages of photos;
  • Added 90 degree Rotate Tool to Crop/Rotate;
  • New app icon;
  • Fixed bug that made photos disappear in Photodesk after app update;
  • Restored photos that disappeared with update from 1.0 to 1.01;
  • Fixed metadata and geolocation not showing properly in Photo Info with photos imported photos from Camera Roll.

What does it all mean? Simply that King Camera is faster and smoother than before, both when shooting and when editing. If the previous update (1.01) mostly took care of improving the speed of camera features, the latest release enhances the app’s performance in post-process modes.

King Camera by Saycheezzz.comOn a final note, developers informed their users that a reported bug concerning the White Balance and Exposure lock when recording video is iOS 4.3 related and that Apple seems to have fixed it in iOS 5.

King Camera will be available at the special launch price of $0.99 until the end of June!

ClassicSAMP & ClassicINSTA On Sale!

ClassicINSTA and ClassicSAMP are currently on sale! Both apps in misskiwi’s Classic line are 50% off their original price.

ClassicINSTA comes with 12 lo-fi and toy camera effects plus 3 styled borders, to take photos that convey the appeal of classic instant cameras.

ClassicSAMP transforms your iDevice into a multi-shot camera. In addition to 6 camera modes, 16 effects are also included, for many different results.

ClassicINSTA & ClassicSAMP by misskiwi

You can get ClassicINSTA and ClassicSAMP at the special price of $0.99 (€0.79/£0.59) each in the App Store, for a limited period.

360 Panorama & A Few Other Updates

360 Panorama, Occipital’s panorama creator for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, got an update in the last hours. Release 4.0.1 brings no significant changes to the way the 360 Panorama works; nevertheless, the latest version improves a few features, especially to the benefit of Premium users.

360 Panorama for iPhone

  • Classic capture mode is back;
  • Improved capture quality, for smoother final images;
  • Cloud enhancement of previously uploaded panoramas (premium uploads only – free uploads coming soon);
  • Set captions;
  • Improved 2X resolution (premium uploads only);
  • In-app support for more effective help and feedback.

Other noticeable updates: Trover (1.1.1), ClassicSAMP (5.2.0), Old Photo Pro (1.0.4).

Phoster Updated to 1.2.0

Phoster 1.2.0 is now available in the App Store. Here are all the details about the latest release:

Phoster for iPhone/iPad

  • Added 6 new templates;
  • Added background color options;
  • Added new user manual;
  • Added Flickr upload available;
  • Added export to Instagram;
  • Added export to other photo apps;
  • Added bluetooth keyboard support;
  • Added high-definition device support;
  • Added iPad2 camera support;
  • Fixed font size adjustment error;
  • Fixed keyboard rotation problems.

As you can see, version 1.2.0 of Bucket Labs’ poster creator improves the app’s overall usability thanks to the newly added exporting (directly send to Instagram and to other photo apps) options and enhancements to many other features.

Phoster by Bucket Labs for iPhone/iPad
Phoster's new templates.

The new Phoster adds six more multi-purpose template designs to its already rich collection — now counting 72 templates in total. Thanks to the newly introduced change background color feature, which allows more accurate matching in photo/background combination, more customization is possible for the creation of your posters and invitations.

Phoster by Bucket Labs

FX Photo Studio For Mac Review

FX Photo Studio is a simple and hassle-free app for photo editing on your Mac. It comes packed with effects and other features to adjust photos you have taken, either with your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad or with your favorite camera.

Main Features

  • Supports image resolution up to 16 mega-pixels;
  • Supports  different image formats, including JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF;
  • 150+ effects;
  • Save custom presets;
  • Adjust exposure, brightness and contrast;
  • Adjust hue and saturation;
  • Undo/redo;
  • Crop and rotate;
  • Send via email or share on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr.

Appotography Opinion

If you are familiar with FX Photo Studio for iPhone or iPad, you know what to expect. MacPhun’s photography apps are among the smoothest, slickest, smartest you will ever find in the App Store. FX Photo Studio for Mac is no exception. It only takes a few minutes and clicks from loading the photo to saving or sharing it. FX Photo Studio will help even total newbies to achieve neat results.

FX Photo Studio by MacPhun for MacFirst, you drag and drop or load a photo into the work area. You can start by adjusting a few settings, like exposure, saturation, brightness, contrast. If you need, you can rotate the image to straighten it using the right tool. You can also crop, freely or choosing one of the standard ratios (1:1, 4:3, 16:9, etc.).

FX Photo Studio by MacPhun for MacYou can apply one of the over 150 ready-to-use filters to your photos. Effects are arranged into thematic categories, like Vintage, Vignette, Blur, Fantasy, and many others. Each category comes with a fair selection of possibilities, in order to satisfy any user, from the beginner with no experience or ideas about editing to the regular post-processing aficionado looking for a quick and well-balanced solution. Each effect can be adjusted with sliders to suit your taste and/or the feel of your photo. By combining the various effects together (you can apply more filters, one after the other), you can obtain personalized styles, which you can also save as presets for applying them over and over.

FX Photo Studio by MacPhun for MacWhen you are done with the processing, you can save your photo, mail it or share it on your favorite social networking site.

FX Photo Studio for Mac is a very focused photo editing application, whose aim is to help anybody to improve the look of their photos with the minimum effort. In comparison, FX Photo Studio is much easier to use than average photo editing software, especially for users with no previous experience: features are basic, but well conceived, the interface is so clean and clutter-free, processing and saving times are extremely fast.

MacPhun’s app is currently on sale! You can get it now for $9.99 (€7.99/£5.99) in the App Store.

The developer of FX Photo Studio kindly provided a promo code for reviewing purposes.

Overall

Name: FX Photo Studio
Developer: MacPhunn LLC.
Compatibility: Mac OS X 10.6 or later.
Price: £5.99||$9.99||€7.99
Vote: 5/5

FX Photo Studio - MacPhun LLC

Qbro Updated to 3.3

Qbro 3.3 by Jellybus is now available in the App Store. The latest release, in more detail:

qbro by Jellybus for iPhone

  • Added auto-saving of original photos to Camera Roll;
  • Added 3 new filter packs;
  • Optimization for iPhone3G;
  • Added support for uploading to RenRen.com;
  • Improved SNS sharing.

The filter packs added in version 3.3 contain each three filters, for a total of nine new filters for your iPhone photography.
qbro by Jellybus for iPhone
Scene Pack (filters included: AutoTone, Darken, Backlight) simply adjusts exposure; MiniA pack (filters included: Mini Up, Mini Mid, Mini Low) simulates tiltishift effects for creating miniature photos; Twist pack (filters included: Popsicle, Citron, TokTok) applies extreme color shifts to images.

qbro by Jellybus for iPhone
BackLight and TokTok filters.

Unfortunately, the overall value of qbro hasn’t changed since our previous review. Developers seem to prefer to add new features and gimmicks, rather than taking care of actual issues of their app.

 

PicFrame Review

PicFrame for iPhone allows mixing together your photos for creating funny and original montages. Compared to Diptic, its better known rival, PicFrame lacks some flexibility in photo management and editing (no built-in camera, no control over the look of your photos), but it makes up for it with a few additional border features.

Main Features

  • Full resolution available;
  • 4 image formats (1:1, 3:2, 4:3, 3:4);
  • 16 templates;
  • 12 border patterns;
  • Set border color;
  • Set corner angle;
  • Move, resize, mirror and rotate;
  • Send via email or share on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr.

Appotography Opinion

In PicFrame, you start your creation by picking a format for your final image and select one among the many frame templates, ranging from single to four panels.

PicFrame for iPhoneTo add photos to the frame panels, you simply tap on the desired panel and choose one of the photos from your device. You can adjust the photos individually to fit better by moving them around (sliders are also provided to expand and contract each panel’s area), by pinching to enlarge and shrink them, by tapping and holding to activate mirror and rotate functions.

The border of each frame is customizable: not only you can determine its thickness, make its corners more rounded and apply a plain color to it by adjusting color sliders, you can also pick one of the available patterns that come with the app, including geometric, stripy and textured designs.

Picframe for iPhone

ActiveDevelopment’s app is not the first, nor it will be the last of its kind. Nevertheless, PicFrame is an easy and fun way to achieve fancy visual mishmash on your iPhone. The app manages to keep everything clean and simple, so that even less than experienced users will enjoy creating images with it.

Picframe for iPhone

The only complaint I have about PicFrame concerns the tap and hold feature to activate rotation and mirroring: while trying to adjust the photos inside the frame, especially in instances where you need a lot of precision, it takes nothing to exercise the required pressure to prompt the rotate and mirror buttons, even when they’re not needed. It’s not a big issue, of course, but still it can get in the way.

Edit: the developer promptly pointed out that from iPhone Settings there is an option to switch from tap and hold to double tap to activate the mirror and rotate functions. My bad, I hadn’t seen it. So yes, tap and hold is the default, but you can switch to double tap mode and this definitely solves the aforementioned problem.

Overall

Name: PicFrame
Developer: ActiveDevelopment
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 3.2.2 or later.
Price: £0.59||$0.99||€0.79
Vote: 4/5

PicFrame - ActiveDevelopment

Photo Toaster Review

You maybe like your bread toasted well and quickly. And maybe you like your photos edited well and quickly as well. Photo Toaster is a newly released iPhone photo app, allowing at the same time fast and efficient photo editing: for newbies or casual users looking for the right look without having to sweat over it and also for those wanting quick results without forgetting about a certain degree of customization.

Main Features

  • Full resolution available;
  • 13 adjustable lighting scenes;
  • 16 adjustable effects;
  • 14 adjustable vignetting styles;
  • 17 borders;
  • 38 presets;
  • In-app guide;
  • Zoom in/out;
  • Shake to random effects;
  • Crop;
  • Undo/redo;
  • Send via email and SMS or share on Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter.

Appotography Opinion

Photo Toaster works both with built-in camera and with photos stored in your Camera Roll. From the main work area, you can access all the necessary tools controlling the photo editing process: Global Settings, Lighting, FX, Vignette and Borders at the bottom of the screen, plus Crop and share options on top.

Photo Toaster for iPhone

Global Settings contains a collection of ready-to-use presets, particularly useful when you need one-tap editing. The presets are arranged into groups (Basic, Deluxe and Supreme) and they cover a variety of styles, from simple black and white to Lomo. You can also add all the presets you create in a new category.

Differently from Global Settings, the categories Lighting, FX, Vignette and Borders offer more specialized instruments to adjust individual parameters. For each category, you can choose the degree and type of effects applied by scrolling a thumbnail list; if you need more control, you can switch to Full Control mode, which relies on adjustment sliders.

Lighting controls exposure, brightness and contrast, temperature and tint of your photo. With FX you can sharpen, control general saturation  of the image or add colored filters. There are also special features to apply cross process and technicolor effects.Vignetting is also customizable: you can set size, brightness and softness. Unlike vignetting, borders are not adjustable. It’s also possible to crop images according to different standard formats. The crop tool is not very flexible though.

By combining together all the different elements, you can create a fair collection of personalized presets to use on your photos.

Photo Toaster is especially good for quick edit. The UI is polished enough and it works smoothly. Processing times are also great. However, one thing I don’t get is the “fresh approach to mobile photo edit” aspect that was clearly emphasized by developers as a huge point in favor to the app. As far as I know, many other apps give you a combination of presets and more specific tools to use during the editing process. Not only this. Several apps grant the ability to restore the original photo or undo during editing. Some apps plainly offer more tools and customization and have more sophisticated features than Photo Toaster, like PhotoForge2 with its History feature or King Camera with its the Photo Desk, just to name a couple of excellent examples. I don’t get why some developers, even when they have good material, should not resist the temptation to spoil everything with misleading or inaccurate descriptions. Photo Toaster gives iPhone users nothing new, fresh or groundbreaking: the app is good and it does its work well and this alone can suffice to justify the purchase.

Overall

Name: Photo Toaster
Developer: East Coast Pixels, Inc.
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad. iOS 4.0 or later.
Price: £1.19||$1.99||€1.59
Vote: 4/5

PhotoToaster - East Coast Pixels, Inc.