App Review: My Favorite Free Android Camera Apps

I've been downloading and playing with quite a few android camera applications these days, and these are the few that I really enjoyed. They're relatively popular so you might have had downloaded it before already, but if you haven't, I think they're worth a shot.

Selfie App: MeituPic

link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mt.mtxx.mtxx&hl=en

The first photo was taken with the front camera so pardon the blurriness. MeituPic, better known as 美图秀秀 is an application that works specifically well for selfies. It has dozens of filters, the ability to sharpen and crop an image, as well as selfie-specific functions such as manually removing acne (similar to Photoshop healing brush), eyebags, enlarging eyes and a tool similar to Photoshop liquify.

There's also special effects such as bokeh and sparkle brushes as well, but you can't adjust the brush size like the rest of the tools so it's easy to overdo the effect like I have below.

My only complaint about the app is that it downsizes the photo when it's edited and every round of editing saves another copy of the image in the folder. Those who are familiar with jpegs would know that how the image quality would drop after many rounds of compression, so I wouldn't recommend this for people who want high-res quality photos. The Meitu FX camera isn't all that great compared to the default camera software provided in my phone either.

Film photography experience: VSCO Cam®

link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vsco.cam&hl=en 

Unfortunately, my phone is fairly old and lacks the technology to fully utilize the camera app. Mine doesn't even have white balance adjustment and the ability to select object for exposure settings. The UI of the app is wonderfully sleek and appeals to my graphic design aesthetics. Upon starting up, the app will automatically calibrate its settings to suit your phone model, and has geotagging function as well. It has its own publishing platform like instagram does, but is more popular with photographers: http://grid.vsco.co/.

The filters are all modeled after traditional film photography look, and are more subtle. It would work well for scenery and objects more than portraits I think, but they do provide a free downloadable tool preset for adjusting skin hue. I think this app works better with cameras that have better specs, but the filters alone is worth the download.

Stamps/ Purikura: DECOPIC

link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cfinc.decopic&hl=en

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❤ Domokie ❤ · Post

I personally don't really use stamps as much because they can be slightly tacky, but I think the decorations in DECOPIC is pretty cute. It resembles what you'll find in a purikura machine, perhaps even better. You can earn candies simply by logging in daily, and buy prettier decorations, but some of the best ones like the sanrio series can only be bought by cash.

However, like a game, they reward you with various decorations every time you complete certain 'tasks', and it's a rather fulfilling feeling. I'm not too sure how much storage this app would take up after a long while though, it does seem slow in loading compared to other apps. But it's worth a try if you like purikura.


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