Every video shooter knows the sinking feeling. You've nailed the shot, the light was perfect, the subject was in full flow, and then someone asks: "But did you get it vertical?" The answer, inevitably, is no. Because you can't be in two orientations at once, and the world of social video has spent the last five years stubbornly refusing to agree on which way round a phone should be held.

The 9:16 versus 16:9 stand-off is one of the defining creative headaches of the smartphone era. TikTok, Facebook Shorts and Instagram Reels want portrait. YouTube, broadcast TV and most professional contexts want landscape.

Shooting everything twice is both impractical and artistically unsatisfying: the second take is never quite the same as the first. And if you're covering a wedding, a sporting moment or anything that simply won't happen again, the question of which format to prioritise becomes a genuine creative gamble.

The problem it solves

The problem is not new, and workarounds have been in existence for a while, ranging from Heath Robinson approaches to more technical ones. Cameras with open-gate recording, which capture the full sensor area and therefore facilitating crops to any aspect ratio in post, offer a high-quality solution, but they're typically found on higher-end video cameras rather than everyday kit. Some dual-camera apps have allowed simultaneous recording from two lenses, but the output has usually been a single picture-in-picture file rather than two clean, independently framed videos.

That's precisely the gap that DualShot Recorder sets out to fill. Developed by Derrick Downey Jr., a viral wildlife creator, the app captures simultaneous portrait (9:16) and landscape (16:9) video from your iPhone's dual rear cameras in a single take. Hit record once, and two perfectly synced files land in your Photos library, independently framed and ready for their respective platforms.

The app launched at the end of March 2026 and reached number one in the App Store's paid Photo and Video chart almost immediately, which suggests the content creator community has been eagerly waiting for a solution like this.

The technical setup uses the wide and ultra-wide rear cameras simultaneously, though a single-lens mode is also available with front and back camera support. Resolution runs to 4K and 1080p at 24, 30 or 60fps, with MOV and MP4 output. There's a real-time storage estimator so you don't discover the hard way that you've run out of space mid-shoot, and torch control for low-light situations.

Why it's popular

Perhaps as important as the recording functionality is what the app doesn't do. There are no ads, no tracking, no account creation and no subscription: it's a one-time purchase at $6.99 / £9.99, and your footage stays entirely on your device.

In 2026, that's a genuinely unusual proposition in the app space, and it almost certainly explains much of the enthusiasm in comments and reviews. People are weary of handing over data and committing to recurring charges for tools they use occasionally.

For any shooter who regularly stresses over which way to hold the phone, DualShot Recorder is a direct and unglamorous answer to a very real problem. It requires an iPhone XS or newer for dual-lens mode, and an Android version is reportedly in development.

In the last 20 minutes, I’ve had ads on Instagram for Prequel, Most, and Luminar; apps that promise to transform your digital photos into film-esque shots. This style of image is everywhere: billboards, magazines, websites, my Insta feed. At first, I thought it was just another photography trend, but I’ve realized our addiction to sharing film-esque photos runs deeper than aesthetics; it’s about connection.

It started in the early 2020s. There was a sudden, unexpected demand for more authentic content, and Gen Z, being the hyper-connected, socially conscious creators they are, were more than willing to provide an antidote. People started creating and sharing images that completely contradicted the hyper-sharp, hyper-detailed photos being pumped out by AI. By incorporating grain, light leaks, and motion blur - artifacts once deemed imperfections in film photography - it was easy to create images that oozed warmth and sincerity.

Photo editing apps not only made it easy but also cheap. While most offer a free version with limited use, almost all photo editing apps offer extensive editing tools if you choose to subscribe. Some of the more advanced editing apps, such as Prequel, even allow users to select a film theme based on trends such as “1960s Glam” or “Twin Peaks,” nodding to the color grade of the popular series.

It wasn’t just content creators jumping on the trend either. Big-name high street brands such as Nike and All Saints, alongside luxury fashion labels, wedding photographers, and travel companies, started to say goodbye to perfectly in-focus airbrushed shots and hello to photos with hazy film textures, bright flash, and movement.

‘Blurry’ has since become a common term on Pinterest; brides coined 2024 “the year of the blurry wedding photo,” while “candid camera roll” is set to be a graphic design trend in 2026.

I’m not generally one to lean into photography trends, but I love this one. It’s made me think differently about how I take photos, how I edit photos, and how I can make my photos feel more like storytelling. I’m learning to bend the “rules” of photography, and as someone who has never strived for perfection, this fits right into my wheelhouse.

Instagram has irrevocably changed how we consume content, but it’s influenced how we shoot, edit, and share it too. Content creators now work almost solely in portrait mode, the standard for what makes a good image is more relaxed, and despite some of the best mirrorless cameras boasting super-high megapixel sensors, we are choosing to post low-quality looking images.

In a world where it’s so easy for AI to create soulless, polished images, it’s refreshing to see people turn to grain, movement, and classic color grades to create images that speak to our emotions. It’s a touching reminder that no matter how far we go with AI, humans will always try to find a deeper and more meaningful way to connect with art. Even if it means editing images to look like they were shot when AI was nothing more than a sci-fi fantasy.

Halide, an iOS photography app packed with features from manual mode to Anti-AI settings, is embroiled in a legal battle between the company’s two founders. But, while the lawsuit isn’t aimed against Apple, the case itself has a few behind-the-scenes hints that improving the built-in camera app is “a top priority” for Apple.

A new legal battle came to light this week between the two co-founders of Lux Optics, the company behind apps like Halide and Kino. Co-Founder and CEO Ben Sandofsky has levied allegations against fellow co-founder Sebastiann de With, including claims of improperly using company funds for personal expenses, as well as taking confidential materials with him when he took a new job at Apple in January.

But, the lawsuit reveals more than just trouble between the co-founders of one of the best iPhone photography apps. The lawsuit also revealed that Apple was interested in potentially acquiring the software company. Apple has purchased other small photo-based software platforms before, such as Pixelmator, but the company’s interest in the Halide app hints at Apple’s priorities.

According to the lawsuit, “The acquisition of Lux, whose Halide app gives users more precise manual control over the iPhone camera’s hardware, could have helped Apple accelerate its efforts to improve its built-in camera app, a top priority for the company right now.”

The lawsuit continues to hint that pro-grade features are a priority for future iPhones and that the talks were to help give the built-in iOS camera app a boost with advanced tools.

While it’s unclear if improving the camera app is still a priority for the company, the lawsuit and Apple’s hiring of de With seem to hint in that direction. Halide is known for its advanced settings, such as manual mode. Lux Optics also owns two previous Apple App of the Year programs, including the advanced video shooting app Kino and the long exposure app Spectre Pro.

But, in recent updates, the app has also introduced Zero Processing, a sort of anti-AI mode that limits the edits that happen behind-the-scenes when the iPhone takes a photo and leaves users instead with unprocessed camera data. The mode is designed to give users more control in a time when some complain that the camera’s images are overly processed.

Recent changes to smartphone photography software seem to focus on computational photography and AI, at the same time that compact cameras are making a comeback. To me, that makes the talks of buying an app that has manual controls and less processing all the more interesting.

It’s unclear if those pro controls are still part of Apple’s focus for upcoming launches, but Halide Mark II is available from the App Store with a one-time purchase or subscription options.

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A key component of location scouting for photography is pinpointing when the location will have the best light – but mountains and buildings can throw off even the most well-laid plans. The sun-planning app Sun Quest, however, has just added a 3D mapping feature that helps photographers see where the shadows from buildings and mountains will fall.

Sun Quest is an Apple-compatible app – with an Android version in the works – that illustrates the path of the sun on any given day, used for tasks from planning a garden to timing a photo shoot. The indie app’s February update, however, adds a major feature: 3D Terrain Shadows.

By mixing the astrological path of the sun with a 3D map of the area’s buildings and hills, Sun Quest can now help predict where the shadows will fall, a tool that may come in handy for several different photography scenarios.

First, mountains and other structures can alter when Golden Hour happens, that hour before sunset (or after sunrise) that photographers love for its softer, warmer light. Scheduling a photo shoot an hour before the sun sets in a mountainous region may mean missing the golden hour if the mountain blocks the path of the sun.

While shadows during Golden Hour mean a missed opportunity, during mid-day, shadows mean soft light. Photographers working with a mid-day time frame could use the app to plan where to find readily available soft light and which sunny areas to avoid for portraits.

Planning for the shadows could also help landscape photographers plan out shots for the best light by visualizing where the shadows will fall and pinpointing the time when the sun will line up with a structure like a building or mountain.

Sun Quest is an app launched by Indie developer, solo creator, and mountain enthusiast Nicolas Marty. The app launched last summer to predict and visualize the path of the sun at certain times of the day. Since the launch, the app has gained more than 100,000 users and a 4.8-star average rating.

The Sun Quest app is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but developer notes that an Android version is in the works. The app is free to download, with some premium features requiring a subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase.

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Several favorite creative Apple apps are adding a subscription-based model. On Tuesday, January 13, Apple unveiled Creator Studio, a subscription that bundles Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro, and several other apps into one subscription-based model.

Video editor Final Cut Pro and photo editor Pixelmator Pro are popular Premiere Pro and Photoshop alternatives for the subscription-averse, but both programs will be part of the new Apple Creative Studio, which launches on January 28 (January 29 if you're in Australia).

However, unlike Adobe’s move to a subscription model, Apple says that Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro will remain available as a one-time purchase. Some “premium content” will be only for subscribers, however, which includes a new Warp tool inside Pixelmator.

In the US, the subscription will be available for $129 a year or $12.99 a month. The UK subscription will cost £12.99 a month or £129 a year. In Canada, the price is expected to be CA$12.99 a month or CA$129.99 a year. For Australia, the price is AU$19.99 per month or AU$199 a year.

The subscription includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on both Mac and iPad, along with Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac. The subscription will also include premium content for Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, though free versions without the premium content will remain available for those apps.

In comparison, a one-time purchase of Final Cut Pro is $299 / £299 / AU$499 / CA$399 for Mac, with a separate subscription for the iPad version. A one-time purchase of Pixelmator Pro is $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$79.99 / CA$69.99.

The subscription announcement comes along with a slew of new tools for the creative apps, including the first iPad version for Pixelmator and several AI-enhanced tools for Final Cut Pro.

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Photo editing giant VSCO is giving creators the ability to add more resolution without drastic pixelization. On Thursday, December 11, VSCO added AI Upscale to the photo editor’s AI Lab.

The tool uses AI to upscale images by as much as 4x, the company said. According to VSCO, the update “sharpens detail, reduces pixelization, and keeps your composition intact.”

The tool is designed to help creators crop tighter, give new life to old photos, and make larger prints. Users can choose between a 2x, 3x, or 4x upscale.

The tool is part of VSCO’s new AI Lab, which uses Flux.1 Kontext model mixed with VSCO’s “proprietary, purpose-built technology.”

VSCO launched the AI Lab in October, launching first with an AI-powered remove tool and promising more features in the future. Now, AI upscaling has joined the list of tools.

AI Labs is part of VSCO’s paid membership, but the company notes that users can try it out for free without a trial. The AI Lab is currently only part of the VSCO app on iPhone and isn’t yet available on desktop or Android.

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Skylum Luminar Mobile – Luminar: Photo Editor as it appears on Google Play – has received the Google Play Best of 2024 Award for Best Multi-Device App. This mobile version of Skylum’s popular photo editing software, Luminar Neo, is available on both Android and ChromeOS (as well as iOS), so Google users are well catered for, whether they edit on a camera phone, tablet, or Chromebook. According to Skylum, Google Play praised the apps’ cross-device workflow, with users able to begin a project on one device and “seamlessly” move onto another.

VP of Growth at Skylum, Kostiantyn Tymoschuk, said: “We are very honored to have won the Google Play Award for Best Multi-Device App. This recognizes our team’s years of effort to make Luminar not only powerful, but truly universal. It is a tribute to the thoughtful design and our users, who inspire us every day with their use of Luminar.”

Skylum’s triumph comes soon after the desktop software’s fall update (available on Windows and macOS), which debuted the Luminar Ecosystem, designed to enable cross-platform editing for the first time. This has introduced a new mobile-to-desktop workflow, so creatives can begin a project out in the field, on the app, and seamlessly transition to their computer when required. The fall update has also introduced several new AI-infused tools, including an impressive dimensional lighting tool as well as photo colorization and restoration in just a few clicks.

You can currently get up to 77% off Luminar Neo plans in Skylum’s mega Black Friday sale. And if you’re looking for deals in general, make sure you keep tabs on the best Black Friday camera deals.

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Is your image library a mess? Take a look at the best photo organizing software. If you want the latest and greatest hardware, check out the best MacBooks for photo editing or the best photo-editing laptops.

As the iPhone has become increasingly better at using computational photography to boost image quality, the photos take on an overly modern look – but the remake of a popular manual photography and filmmaking app has a new natural processing mode designed to create more film-like images.

Moment has rebuilt its popular manual camera app from the ground up to unlock more capabilities and customizations. The Moment Pro Camera II brings new features like natural processing and Open Gate, while continuing features that previously earned top App Store status in the photo and video category.

One of the key updates is natural processing. When the iPhone snaps a photo, it applies Apple algorithms to the image to improve the image quality – but many agree that leaves photos with a modern, over-processed look. Moments says that the new natural processing mode takes out all the Apple processing and is designed to create a softer, more film-like look.

Because Natural processing is a processing mode, it’s applied to JPEGs and HEIFs, not the RAW file, but the setting can be used when shooting both RAW and HEIF simultaneously, allowing photographers to have one to share quickly and one to edit.

LUTs are also part of how the app helps mobile photographers and filmmakers create their own looks. These editing presets can be applied to the footage (or still photos), or just the preview so creators can get an idea of the final shot but still retain that full editing control.

Like the original, manual camera controls are a key part of the Moment Pro Camera II, including full manual exposure. But now the app takes on a more traditional take on some manual modes with shutter priority and ISO priority. (Because the iPhone has fixed-aperture lenses, there’s no aperture mode.) The app also allows creators to limit the auto ISO to a specific range, so the camera still automatically adjusts the exposure but doesn’t get too noisy.

For filmmakers, the app supports a long list of features, including Apple Log, Open Gate, ProRes, and 10-bit recording. That list also includes subsampling to adjust the resolution, color space, frame rate, and more.

But as an app that’s designed for both still photography and video, there are a lot of different controls – which is one of the reasons the company decided to totally redesign the app. Moment says the newly designed app has an interface that adapts to how you shoot. The interface is designed to be used one-handed, including a mode for lefties. Quick actions help give creators access to most-used tools.

While the new app is only a few days old, Moment is already sharing plans for future updates. That includes custom camera skins and a store coming before the end of the year, and in 2026 and beyond, more color controls and film simulations.

The Moment Pro Camera II is an iOS-only app. It’s available in the App Store for a one-time purchase of $9.99 / £9.99 / AU$14.99 / CA$12.99.

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Between computational photography and new tech to squeeze cameras into tiny devices, smartphone cameras inch closer to “perfect” with every launch. But here’s the thing: Sometimes, perfect is boring. That’s why lately, when I don’t have my camera close enough to snap a photo, I find myself tapping on a disposable camera app instead of opening my iPhone’s native camera app.

Huji Cam is a free app on iOS and Android that mimics a 1990s disposable camera, down to composing the photo in a tiny “viewfinder” and pressing an oversized shutter release button to snap the photo. Photos can even have that iconic orange date stamp added automatically.

But the real reason that I love the Huji Cam app is that the results are wildly unpredictable. Yes, I know that sounds like a bad thing, but it’s actually not, at least, not if you’re looking for a film-like experience from a digital camera. The photo albums from my 90s childhood are full of images that have light leaks, bright flash, and unusual colors.

Unpredictability is part of the magic of film. The Huji Cam app has a random light effects option that adds light leaks to your photos. I never really know what to expect, and both the unpredictability and the light leaks themselves make the digital photos feel more like film.

I’ve used a variety of film cameras, from disposables to instant film to 35mm SLRs, and no digital camera is going to fully replicate that experience. But the Huji Cam app does a fantastic job trying to replicate that feeling, without having to pay to develop the film.

Not every image will have a light leak effect on it – part of the randomness is some images not having a light leak at all – but the colors are a bit more wild, a bit more saturated than the photos from the native camera app on my iPhone as well. Sometimes, the app even adds some dust and scratches to the images.

The app has some of the limitations of a disposable film camera as well. The biggest one? There's no zoom. You can, however, switch to the selfie camera if you use the larger viewfinder mode.

The “development” time is only a few seconds, not the weeks that you often wait when finishing up the remaining shots on a disposable film camera and sending it in for development.

The app has a few ways to customize the experience – you can turn off those light leaks if you want. The date stamp can also be turned on and off. And if you don’t like the small viewfinder shooting experience, you can toggle the “viewfinder touch mode” on in the settings, then double-tap the viewfinder for a larger view of what you are about to take a photo of.

I still use my mirrorless camera more than my iPhone, but I often photograph my kids' daily antics with my iPhone since that’s the closest camera on hand. With the Huji Cam app, the photos that I’m capturing of my family feel a bit more like the photos of growing up in the 90s.

The Huji Cam is a free app on iOS and Android. Shooting and downloading photos are part of the free app, while fans can unlock the ability to edit existing photos with an in-app purchase.

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Want the real film experience? Browse the best disposable cameras, the best film cameras, or the best 35mm film. Or, for more digital cameras that feel like disposable film, look at the Camp Snap or the Flashback One35 V2.

LUTs are the color magic sauce that applies color edits as you shoot, whether that’s stills or video – and a new app is using AI to create new color profiles from existing photographs. An update coming to the Lumix Lab App in the next few days is poised to bring Magic LUTs built from an existing inspiration photo – and the feature works beyond images taken with Lumix cameras.

LUTs or Look Up Tables are color profiles that were first popularized on cinema cameras. LUTs were most commonly used as color profiles for video editing, but now several cameras support LUTs in-camera, which means you can apply color profiles as you take the images (or video) in the camera.

Panasonic has been pushing in-camera LUTs, even launching cameras with dedicated controls for LUTs. Now, Panasonic is updating the Lumix Labs App with Magic LUT, a feature that uses an existing photograph and AI to create a custom LUT.

Magic LUT is a new feature inside the app that allows users to upload an existing image as a reference, then AI takes that image and builds a custom LUT that mimics the inspiration photo’s colors, tones, and mood.

The tool works with JPEG and HEIF still photos, and the reference image does not need to be taken with a Lumix camera.

After the AI generates the LUT, users can use the app to fine-tune the results before saving them as an LUT. The Lumix Lab app can be used to automatically transfer LUTs to supported cameras, but those profiles can also be downloaded as .cube files.

Panasonic says the goal of Magic LUTs is to make LUTs accessible to everyone by creating a simple way to create a profile from an inspiration image.

LUTs are among my favorite features on Panasonic's cameras because they help create fantastic colors in the camera, without editing. I'm curious to try the new Magic Labs feature – and especially curious to see if it works with photos like scanned film and some of my favorite edits from digital cameras.

The update to Lumix Labs will roll out on October 19 at 9 AM ET in app stores as well as on the Lumix website.

The Magic LUTs launch alongside an update to Lumix Flow and new firmware for the Lumix S5 II, S9, GH7, G9 II, and several lenses.

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Mobile editing powerhouse VSCO made a name for itself with film-inspired mobile presets – but iPhone photographers no longer need to wait until after taking the shot to get the film-like look. VSCO Capture is a new iOS app that applies presets before you shoot, giving photographers manual exposure controls and even dials in the glow and halation of old film lenses.

VSCO previously teased the Capture app with a slow launch, releasing the app in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. But on July 22, VSCO began rolling out the Capture app worldwide on iOS.

Unlike the longstanding VSCO app, VSCO Capture is designed not for editing photos but for shooting them. The filters that VSCO is known for are applied before the shot, allowing mobile photographers to see the effect as they frame the shot on the screen. At launch, the app includes more than 50 live filter presets.

But the film-inspired presets aren’t the only way Capture aims to bring an analog look to iPhones. The app allows photographers to apply Bloom and Halation in real-time before shooting. Bloom and halation are terms for a glowing effect around the brightest parts of an image, a look that was common from old film lenses and can be mimicked on modern glass with a diffusion filter.

Both tools in Capture create a glow around light sources, but Halation comes with a tint control to also adjust the color of that bloom of light, where the Bloom tool does not.

Inside the VSCO Capture app, creators can adjust the strength, size, and range of both the bloom and halation effects. The company says that it gives users the ability to create anything from a subtle glow to a bold halo.

The app opens to a live camera view, including the same controls found on the native iPhone app, like switching the lens and using the selfie camera. But besides the presets and halation tools, Capture also includes manual exposure controls, including shutter speed for creating motion blur. From the settings menu, creators can also toggle on a level and Rule of Thirds grid to aid in composition.

While VSCO Capture’s presets are applied as the image is taken, a toggle in the app’s settings allows users to save both an original and an edited image, useful for changing the filter later, particularly when RAW mode is also turned on instead of JPEG. HEVC and ProRAW are also available from the app’s settings menu on phones that support those file types.

VSCO Capture is a free app available on the App Store for iOS devices.

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Much as I love the Ricoh GR III, it has been missing one major thing since it launched all those years ago: a dedicated smartphone app.

Yes, I know, you can connect it to Ricoh's Image Sync app – but Image Sync is terrible. The connection is unstable, handshaking is frequently hit and miss (not just with the Ricoh GR III, but I could never get it to consistently connect to the K-1 Mark II), and because it's a generic app for all Ricoh cameras, it just doesn't feel very "GR-y".

I always thought that the Ricoh GR III is such a special product that it deserved a proper app all of its own – and now it has one: GR World.

It takes all the good bits and best intentions of Image Sync and packages them in a new app that, first and foremost, fits the feel and aesthetic of the Ricoh GR III: sleek grey menus with a smooth interface befitting one of the slickest street cameras.

I love that you can register and name your camera on the app – which is particularly cool if you own more than one GR. The app is compatible with the Ricoh GR III / GR III HDF (using the latest V2.00 firmware, just launched), the Ricoh GR IIIx / GR IIIx HDF (via the latest V1.50 firmware) as well as the Ricoh GR II (V1.10 or later).

It's also compatible with special editions, like the Ricoh GR III Diary Edition, so long as they are running the latest firmware (and Ricoh is keen to point out that the special edition graphic screens will remain intact).

You can import your JPEG, RAW and movie files, but the interface for doing so has been dramatically improved. You can filter your files by type, shooting date and transfer status (transferred / not transferred) to make life immeasurably easier when dealing with big batches. Or of course, you can just check the thumbnails you want to import.

The GR World app enables you to shoot remotely and also transmits location information to the camera when connected. Helpfully, you can toggle the "Background location information transmission" setting so that the app always sends GPS data – even when your phone is asleep or other apps are being used.

There's also a potentially fun Widget function, which displays your imported images on the phone's home screen a bit like a digital photo frame.

I don't think every camera necessarily needs a bespoke app, but the Ricoh GR III just feels so weird with Image Sync (if you can even get it to work) that I'm thrilled we now have GR World.

The app will be available for download from July 23 – and again, it requires the latest firmware to work with your camera.

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See where the Ricoh GR III ranks among the best compact cameras as well as the best cameras for street photography.

After launching a free smartphone variant of Photoshop for iOS earlier this year, Adobe has now expanded the app’s reach to Android devices. On Tuesday, June 3, Adobe announced that the Adobe Photoshop mobile beta app is now available on Google Play for Android phones and tablets.

The free smartphone-ready Photoshop app isn’t as fully-fledged as Photoshop variants for desktop, but the new mobile Photoshop app offers far more similarities than earlier options like Photoshop Express. While the new app offers more similarities to the longstanding photo editor, like Photoshop Express, the mobile Photoshop app is free.

On the new Android Photoshop app, creatives can use longstanding Photoshop favorites like selections, layers, and masks to merge multiple images and graphic elements into one. The list of tools also includes the Healing Brush, Remove, and Clone Stamp tools to remove distractions from an image. The Tap Select, Object Select, and Magic Wand tools are also available on mobile to select a portion of the image rather than applying edits to the whole file.

Adobe Firefly, the brand’s AI, is also integrated into the app, including Generative Fill. The tool can add elements to a graphic or can be used to fill in gaps left by removing something from an image.

The Photoshop mobile app is still in beta on Android, but is now widely available to download. The app requires Android 11 or later and at least 6GB of RAM, although 8GB or more of RAM is recommended for the best performance.

Adobe says that, as a beta version, the Photoshop Android app offers all features for free. The iOS version, which is out of beta testing, is also a free app, but some premium features require a subscription.

The Android version of Photoshop is available from Google Play.

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Remote camera apps enable creatives to trigger a camera using a smartphone – but these apps are often littered with connectivity issues and limited features.

I’ve lost count of the times that the various remote camera apps that I’ve tried have failed to connect, crashed, or taken longer than they should for a simple task.

These native smartphone apps are getting better – I’ve personally had far fewer issues with the newer Fujifilm XApp than the earlier Fujifilm Camera Remote.

Similarly, the more recent reviews of apps like Canon Camera Connect, Nikon SnapBridge and Sony Creators’ App seem to be more positive than early reviews – although they make it clear that there’s still room for improvement.

But the handful of times that I need to use the smartphone remote often still leave me frustrated, which is why I decided to see if a third-party app could offer more features or fewer connectivity issues after reading an article about Shutter Camera Remote.

(I tried the Fujifilm version, but the developer also has versions for Canon and Sony.)

I don’t use the remote app on my Fujifilm camera very often, but I use it occasionally to transfer photos to print on my Instax Mini Link printer, to upgrade my camera’s firmware, or to take selfies with my mirrorless camera.

The latter is by far the most frustrating experience, although that’s in part because I prefer being behind the camera rather than in front of it.

Regardless, I hadn’t taken updated self-portraits in more than a year, and the cherry blossoms were blooming, so I decided to drag out the tripod and try the Shutter app rather than the native XApp.

(And yes, I’m going to call them self-portraits rather than selfies because using studio lights and a mirrorless camera feels like it deserves a more dignified nomenclature than an iPhone selfie.)

I very quickly fell in love with a feature that my usual remote camera app didn’t have: an intervalometer. Using the Shutter app, I could take several shots in a row with one press of the button on the remote.

This felt much more efficient than pulling out the app, triggering a shot with a two-second delay, hiding the phone out of the shot, smiling, then pulling the app out to do it all over again. To help conserve smartphone battery, it continued to work in the background while my iPhone was sleeping.

The intervalometer meant I could take several shots in a row with one tap, adjusting the pose slightly each time, rather than taking one at a time. When I’m behind the camera, it’s easy to adjust the pose to get it just right, or to use burst to make sure I don’t get a blink.

That’s harder to do when I’m in front of the camera, but triggering a series of shots instead of one at a time eased some of that pain. The intervalometer worked particularly well when I switched from self-portraits of just me to family self-portraits.

My camera itself has a built-in intervalometer, so I could technically arrange my family, set the focus, start an interval recording and jump in a few shots.

But the XApp doesn’t appear to have the option to trigger a series of shots from the app itself, where I have the ability to tap and focus and make sure that I’m framed properly before triggering the shots.

The intervalometer was by far my favorite part of using a third-party app instead of the native app, but Shutter had a few other features that I couldn’t currently find on XApp.

Shutter supports exposure bracketing as well as that intervalometer. The app’s live view can display a histogram as you shoot. It can also rotate the live view when you shoot vertical shots, without having to rotate the phone. There are also multiple options for different aspect ratios and composition guide overlays.

Shutter also supports Apple Watch, enabling photographers and videographers to trigger a shot from the wrist. Sadly it needs Watch OS 9 to work, and my ancient Apple Watch still works just as well as the day it came out of the box, so I haven't seen the need to upgrade, which means I didn’t have the ability to test the Watch version.

The XApp does, however, win out in a few areas. The XApp supports updating the firmware wirelessly, a feature that I use often since downloading the firmware to an SD card instead is annoying. (Firmware should always be downloaded directly from the source so, even if Shutter had this feature, I wouldn’t use it.)

The XApp has the option to turn the flash on and off remotely, and while the Shutter app connects quickly it requires going into the camera menu – whereas the XApp can initiate the connection from the smartphone without the menu, as long as the wireless communication is already on.

Perhaps the biggest downside to using a third-party app is that, unlike the native apps that come from the camera brand itself, the Shutter app isn’t free.

The $3.49 / £2.99 / AU$5.99 monthly and $24.99 / £24.99 / AU$39.99 annual subscriptions aren’t terrible, and there’s an option to buy a lifetime license for $65 / £69 / AU$99. But I think photographers are getting tired of subscriptions (And Adobe’s price increases aren’t helping).

If I took self-portraits more than once or twice a year, though, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a subscription. The intervalometer feature took out enough frustration that I think it’s worth the cost. But, for firmware updates and transferring existing images to my smartphone, I’m keeping the native XApp around.

The Shutter Camera Remote is available on iOS for compatible Canon, Fujifilm, and Sony cameras.

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The Blackmagic Camera App is a serious tool for mobile filmmaking, offering a level of control and quality that was once reserved for high-end cinema cameras.

I’ve just started using it, as I’ve been incorporating my phone more into my video content, and I can already see how powerful it is. Designed for serious content creators, the Blackmagic Camera App is free and transforms your smartphone into a professional filmmaking tool, providing precision and flexibility like few other options.

Unlike standard camera apps, which focus on simplicity, the Blackmagic Camera App puts full manual control at your fingertips. You can adjust shutter angle, white balance, ISO, frame rate and focus, just as you would on a professional camera. Whether you're shooting for social media, documentaries or short films, this level of customization enables you to achieve the exact look you want.

The app also includes advanced monitoring and audio tools essential for filmmakers. You can rely on focus peaking, zebras, false color and waveform monitoring to fine-tune exposure and focus.

On the audio side, the Blackmagic Camera App enables you to monitor levels in real-time with professional-grade VU meters and connect external microphones for clearer, more controlled sound.

Above: A video introduction to the Blackmagic Camera App

One of the app’s standout features is its seamless workflow with DaVinci Resolve and Blackmagic Cloud. You can shoot, upload directly to the cloud, and begin editing without needing to transfer files manually. This is especially beneficial for creators working in fast-paced environments where time is of the essence such as travel.

Initially exclusive to iPhones, the app has now expanded to select Android devices, broadening its accessibility to a wider audience and making high-quality mobile filmmaking more achievable than ever. Blackmagic is also regularly updating the app, meaning that more features are continuously being introduced to keep up with the technological advancements of camera phones.

Whether you're a filmmaker, content creator, or journalist, the Blackmagic Camera App offers professional-grade tools at no cost as it's free to download from the App Store. Its advanced controls, monitoring features, and cloud integration make it a must-have for anyone serious about elevating their mobile video production.

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Adobe has tried to compress some of the features of the long-standing editing standard Photoshop into smartphone apps before, but apps like Photoshop Express never really felt like the real thing. But that changed when Adobe launched Photoshop for iPhone, along with sharing that an Android version is in the works. Even more intriguing is that the pricey editing app comes with a free version on mobile. But, of course Adobe’s announcement begs a few key questions. Is the Photoshop iPhone app any good? What does the desktop Photoshop have that the mobile app doesn’t? Can you really get Photoshop for free?

I’ve been using Photoshop for around 20 years now, so I decided to try out the new Photoshop for iPhone and see how the mobile app compares to the real thing. The new Photoshop mobile app feels far closer to the real thing than earlier attempts like Photoshop Express. But, mobile photographers should note some key features that are missing from the mobile app, and others that are available but require a subscription.

Here’s what features remain intact on the free Photoshop for iPhone, the features you need to pay for, and the reasons many will still stick to the desktop version.

What's free on the Photoshop iPhone app?

The number of features inside the Photoshop iPhone app is impressive compared to other mobile editors, despite having a significant gap between the desktop version. These are the Photoshop-y things that you can still do on an iPhone.

• Work with Layers. Layers are a key feature of the full version of Photoshop. Many of the layer-based features remain intact on the mobile app. This includes non-desctructive adjustment layers as well as empty layers, fill layers, type layers, and image layers. However, this does not include most of the layer blend modes. Only the normal, screen and multiple blend modes are intact on the free version, the other options remain locked behind that subscription.
• Making selections to edit a specific part of the image. Photoshop for iPhone allows mobile users to adjust only a specific part of the image by selecting only part of the image. Free app features include tap to select, a quick select brush, a lasso, and a rectangular and ellipse shape tools.
• Limited retouching. The free version of the Photoshop mobile app is limited in retouching tools. Spot healing, which can be used to do things like remove acne or a distracting garbage can from the background, is temporarily free as a teaser and all other retouching tools require a paid subscription.
• Painting. Most of the tools for painting or hand drawing on an image appear to be intact without requiring a paid plan. You can doodle on the app, including adjusting the brush. The free version also includes the eyedropper, which allows you to match the color of your paintbrush to another color in the image.
• Crop and rotate. The crop and rotate tools are free, including the ability to choose an aspect ratio or even choose a social network so you can choose the right ratio for where the image is headed.
• Generative expand and generate image. Surprisingly, some AI is included. Generative Expand is part of the free version of Photoshop for iPhone. This tool essentially “uncrops” the photo, using AI to fill in the blanks and get a wider shot. However, the free version only includes 10 generative credits per month, which means you can use that Generative Expand only ten times a month. (And yes, regenerating when the first attempt didn’t look right counts against those credits too).
• A mobile Camera RAW. The desktop Photoshop uses an accompanying software called Adobe Camera RAW to process RAW images. But, I used the RAW photography mode on my iPhone 15 Pro and I was still able to open it on the mobile Photoshop app, including the sliders and tools that I expect from Adobe Camera RAW.
• 5 GB of cloud storage. While limited, this space allows you to save your works in progress in the cloud.
• Quick export as a PNG. The free version of Photoshop for iPhone only supports the PNG file type. For more formats, a subscription is required.

What do you get with a Photoshop mobile subscription?

Several features on the mobile Photoshop app require a subscription. Naturally, subscribers gain access to some of the biggest features, which includes:

• Layer blend modes. The free version only includes three blend modes, which customizes how your layers blend together and are a necessary tool for many types of composites. A subscription will unlock the dissolve, darken, color burn, linear burn, darker color, lighten, color dodge, linear dodge, lighter color, overlay, soft light, hard light, vivid light, linear light, pin light, hard mix, difference, exclusion, subtract, divide, hue, saturation, color, and luminosity blend modes.
• Some selection tools. While the free version allows users to make selections, the object select tool and magic wand both require the subscription.
• Retouching. If you were hoping to retouch a photo with the free version, you’ll probably be disappointed. The retouching tools to tackle tasks like zapping zits or cleaning up distractions largely require the subscription. The spot heal tool is free temporarily to give users a taste of what it can do. But longstanding desktop tool favorites like the clone stamp needs a subscription. Light and dark is included in mobile for subscribers (although on the desktop version, it’s actually called dodge and burn).
• More than 10 generative AI tasks. Using anything that involves generative AI requires what Adobe calls generative credits. With the free version, you can only use the AI tools ten times in one month. With a subscription, that limit is upped to 100 per month with the Photoshop Mobile subscription, or 500 with the Creative Cloud Photography 1TB plan.
• Cloud storage. The free version only includes 5 GB of cloud storage. The paid storage increases far beyond that, but this depends on what plan you choose. For example, Photography Plan subscribers, which includes the desktop version of Photoshop as well as the mobile, get 1TB while the Creative Cloud All Apps plan includes 100GB.
• Auto save and exporting multiple file types. The free version only exports PNG files, so if you want more file options, you’ll need a subscription to save JPEG, PSD, and TIFF files, as well as choosing the file size. Subscribers also get a save now button.

What features are exclusive to the desktop version of Photoshop?

If you don’t see the feature you are looking for listed above, the odds are that it’s not part of the mobile app at launch. Adobe is working with a much smaller screen and more limited hardware to bring the longstanding desktop tool to an iPhone screen and longtime desktop users will likely be miffed by more than just the tiny screen size.

Listing everything that’s in the real Photoshop would be a nearly impossible task, so I will list a few of my personal favorite tools that I can’t find in the app with the warning that this isn’t a complete list of what’s missing.

• Content Aware. Content Aware is a tool that fills in spaces based on the pixels around it. It’s an excellent tool for removing something from a photo. Content Aware technology winds up in a few desktop tools, including Content Aware Move and Content Aware Fill.
• Filters. The mobile Photoshop app doesn’t have that toolbar at the top, which is where many of the missing features are. That means the mobile Photoshop doesn’t have that filters menu, which includes tools like neural filters, blur, sharpen, and more.
• Liquify. Another victim of the lacking filters menu is Liquify, the Photoshop tool that can be used to change the shape of something in an image, including fixing clothing wrinkles and double chins.
• Most of those side workspaces, like history and histogram. On that small screen, there’s no space for the side workspaces that have long been standard in the desktop Photoshop. That means that, while there’s an undo and redo button, there’s no history panel. A layer panel is included, but it’s one of the few of these extra workspaces that are part of the mobile app.
• Features like Select Subject and Select Sky. The mobile Photoshop app actually has a number of impressive selection tools, but while you can select objects automatically with features like tap select, there’s no option like Select Sky or Select and Mask.
• Many graphic design tools. I’m a photographer, not a graphic designer, so I’m not the best person to point out the design tools missing from the mobile app. But the list includes things like the pen and path selection tools, and the CMYK Color Mode.
• Working with many different file types. Even the paid version of Photoshop mobile only has JPEG, PNG, PSD and TIFF. If you want the long list of different graphic files, you'll need the desktop version.

Is the Photoshop for iPhone app worth it?

I have to admit, while you won’t pry my laptop out of my fingers anytime soon, I was a bit impressed with everything that Adobe managed to fit onto my tiny iPhone screen. Am I dropping my subscription for the free iPhone app? No way. But I could see myself using the app while away from home when I have some time to kill, like in a waiting room.

I can also see the iPhone Photoshop app being the so-called “gateway drug” to the real Photoshop. It’s a hearty mobile editing app. But editing on a tiny screen is limited – not to mention probably poor for posture – so I can see new users falling in love with it and migrating to the desktop app, or at least the iPad version.

The most annoying aspect of the Photoshop mobile app for me personally is that, if I sit my phone down for a moment, I’m back to the start screen of Photoshop when I reopen the app. The app’s cloud nature also means that there may be delays when working in an area with slower connectivity speeds.

Either way, the Photoshop for iPhone is the only way to legally get Photoshop for free outside of Adobe’s week-long free trial.

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Hate the idea of a subscription? Browse the best Photoshop alternatives which, yes, include software that offers a one-time payment option. Or, dig into the different subscription options in the guide to the cost of Photoshop.

The highly anticipated new Lumix flagship is here – but along with the launch of the Panasonic S1R II, the company has also launched a new app. The strange part? Videographers don’t need the S1R II – or even a Panasonic branded camera – to use it. The Lumix Flow app is designed to help videographers manage their workflow, from storyboarding to tracking shot lists. It even includes a mode designed for planning, shooting and editing all from a smartphone.

As the name suggests, Lumix Flow is all about workflow. The app is designed to help videographers plan and shoot footage for a large project. Some features will be reserved for supported cameras. For example, the app can turn a smartphone into an external monitor. But, Panasonic explains that many of the features, like the storyboarding and shot lists, can be used with any camera.

To start, the Flow app allows creatives to plan out the shot using figurines to ideate how the shot should be composed. Producers can also write out the script on the mobile app. A shot list tool allows videographers to double check that they’ve shot everything before leaving the scene.

A smartphone mode will even allow mobile creators to plan, shoot, then edit all from the Lumix Flow app. That mode also works with Android tablets, with iPad support expected in the future.

With a compatible camera such as the S1R II, the Flow app can become an external monitor with a wired USB-C connection to the smartphone. Using that feature, videographers can also rate each shot as they shot, automatically flagging the bad takes and the good ones. When the images are imported to a supported software like Davinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere Pro, those initial ratings remain intact.

While the app launches with the S1R II, Panasonic says the app will be compatible with the S5 II, S5 IIX, and GH7 at a later date. The mobile app supports iOS 15.4 or higher and Android 10.0 or higher; a device with a USB-C port is recommended but older iPhones can also be used with an Apple USB-C to Lightning adapter.

The Lumix Flow app is poised to launch just before the S1R II begins shipping, so videographers can find Lumix Flow in the Apple App Store or Google Play in March of 2025. A Panasonic representative estimated the app will be available in approximately three weeks.

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Canon has launched a new app for iOS devices that enables streamers to switch between multiple camera feeds from iPhones and iPads.

Usually when Canon releases new software, it's to interface with its own cameras. However, the new Live Switcher Mobile app is designed for streamers and content creators using Apple devices as their primary cameras – making multi-angle feeds easier than ever.

The app cuts out the middleman when it comes to multiple camera angles. Rather than having to feed your various feeds through a PC or laptop and use software on big bulky hardware, the Live Switcher Mobile app is installed directly to your iPhones and iPads.

A simple tap of the screen enables you to quickly switch between your different camera feeds, or you can set the app to automatically switch to another camera after a set interval (8, 12, 16 or 20 seconds) – meaning that even solo creators can benefit from dynamic feeds.

ABOVE: See Live Switcher Mobile in action

This is particularly useful for creators who produce things like cooking tutorials or product reviews, where frequent switching between camera angles is a challenge without an assistant or producer.

Picture-in-picture is on offer, too, which is a must for gamers and Let's Play streams when simultaneous footage of the presenter and the gameplay are required.

The app also enables you to add text and graphic overlays onto live footage, in addition to monitoring comments as they appear on YouTube or Facebook.

Canon's Live Switcher Mobile app is available now for Apple devices using iOS 16/17/18 and iPadOS 16/17/18. The free version enables streaming in HD, with a "Made by Live Switcher Mobile" watermark on the bottom-right.

Paying for the full version (pricing to be confirmed) enables FullHD streaming, without a watermark, as well as adding more controls and framing and placement options.

You can find out more and download the app here.

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Popular smartphone photography app Halide could get a major overhaul next year. Developers Lux Camera shared a teaser of all the features they are looking to bring to Halide Mark III, a laundry list of updates from color adjustments to a new user interface. Topping the list is one-tap color grading, a feature that the company says has been the number one request among users.

The developers – a two-person team – said that a 2025 launch for Halide III felt doable. But, after noting surprises and how new iOS developments affect the process, the team did not commit to a specific launch date.

One-tap color grading sits at the top of the list of upcoming features. The feature will carryover from Kino, the developer’s video app that received Apple’s App of the Year for 2024. The developers said that they want Mark III to come bundled with one-tap film looks. But, the company notes that they also want to allow users to import other looks developed by other Halide users.

The second key feature the developers expect to launch is “a thoughtful and nuanced HDR look.” Earlier this year, the company launched a Process Zero format, a custom RAW file that skips over the iPhone’s artificial intelligence and aims for more natural film-like colors. But, Process Zero doesn’t yet support HDR.

The company says they hope to bring HDR to Process Zero, noting that they aren’t rushing the process because they want a look that’s not as “obnoxious” as some HDR images can be. Support for Adaptive HDR in iOS 18 will help, the company notes.

Finally, Lux Camera notes that Halide Mark III will feature a redesigned user interface. The developers describe the update as “gorgeous in both form and function” but have not yet shared a look at what the new design may look like.

Current subscribers and those who bought a one-time purchase to Mark II will have access to Mark III. Subscribers will get early access to Mark III as the developers finalize testing the update.

Halide is available for iOS and iPadOS from the App Store, with plans starting at $2.99 / £2.49 / AU$4.49 a month, or a $59.99 / £59.99 / AU$99.99 one-time purchase.

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OK, it's easy for me to say this from across the Atlantic, but, hey, "Calm down, America!" We in the UK went through a drone scare and, you know what, it was fine. In fact – after the more shouty news sites and our legendary tabloid newspapers settled down – we had to accept that it might not have happened at all.

It didn't stop it from ruining 140,000 people's travel plans in the run-up to Christmas and costing over £20 million ($25m USD) between flight compensation, the on-the-day costs to the airport, and the cost of installing all kinds of drone countermeasures in the aftermath.

All this for a drone no one is entirely sure they actually saw.

In the UK drone users need to follow the Drone Code, rules set out by the CAA, the British equivalent to the FAA. The rules people need to follow are very similar, including (you won't be surprised to learn) not flying near airports, yet someone reported seeing a drone near Gatwick in 2018 and – better safe than sorry – the world's busiest single-runway airport immediately ground to a halt.

At an airport with around 800 flight movements per day, 5 days before Christmas, that very quickly puts extreme pressure on the system. Flights very quickly need to be diverted to London's other airports, most of which are also operating close to capacity. Think Die Hard 2 without the snow, or the terrorists, or Bruce Willis. Just no planes going to or from anywhere from the UK's second busiest airport.

As you can imagine, a lot of people wanted someone to blame.

Someone was arrested, but there was no evidence that they were responsible save for the ownership of a drone. That ended up costing the police £200,000 when the Sussex police eventually settled out of court, acknowledging wrongful arrest and false imprisonment.

This despite the fact that Sussex police said at the time the investigation included 129 separate sightings of drone activity (109 of these from credible witnesses). I can't help but wonder who felt the need to mention the 20 incredible witnesses. Are we talking livestock? Perhaps just who might have had a few to drink?

The point is that the solution wasn't to ban drones.

There was a look at the size of the Flight Restriction Zones around major airports, and the move toward ADS-B (self-identifying beacons in drones), but all of this common sense and tech has been arriving in the US too.

The US, also, has reasonably sensible rules about overflying civilian areas and indeed airbases, on the FAA's Where can I fly page.

The addition of a temporary drone ban in New Jersey (until mid January) might also have been a smart move to calm tensions.

The key lesson, though, is that things can get overheated fast. In the UK, the police picked an individual. Sitting here, writing an opinion piece, I'm really hoping that – in the season of goodwill to all – America can find itself not to blame too many individuals or, worse still, a whole nation based on little or no evidence.

All I'm saying is it'd be a very silly thing to start a war over, especially if it turned out to be an American flying diet pills to another American. (And I say that as a Briton – someone from a country that was technically war with America, in 1859, over fertile land for pigs on San Juan Island. It was called the Pig War. (Look it up on Wikipedia if you don't believe me). In that war, incidentally, German arbitrators sided with America. To be fair, neither London nor Washington wanted that war. Let's hope things in DC are as relaxed today!

Anyway, perhaps it's just early sleigh sightings?

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DJI drones are not banned in the USA (for now), so pick up the best beginner drone or best camera drone feeling safer! (On the other hand, there is a temporary Drone Ban in NJ).

Reddit user mariam717 has created an iPhone camera app that may well give the best AI image generators a run for their money. Lentil AI: Photo Art Generator uses artificial intelligence to transform photos into various fantasy-themed art styles, from glorious hand-drawn watercolors à la Studio Ghibli to blocky creations inspired by Minecraft and Lego.

Remarkably, posts on Reddit suggest that the young developer/entrepreneur who created the app is still in school. Talk about a bright future! The AI image generator/camera app allows you to capture a photo and then choose from a selection of AI filters or simply use existing photos as the basis for your AI creations.

What makes the software even cooler is the ability to switch between the original, unedited photo and the AI-generated image at will, by simply tilting your camera phone. Lentil is only available on iOS so you'll need an iPhone or one of the best iPhones for photography to make use of it.

The resemblance to lenticular imagery certainly isn't lost on mariam717, hence the name 'Lentil'. As the Redditor puts it: "One thing I’m very excited about: when you tilt your phone, the image switches between the original photo and the AI version, like one of those lenticular cards from back in the day."

I had a blast using the app in the office, turning my colleagues into perturbing-looking creations that bear more than a passing resemblance to Lego Minifigures or characters from a Tim Burton stop-motion movie, think Coraline or Corpse Bride.

I was particularly impressed by how the app handles more challenging subjects, like the view from Digital Camera World HQ. It turned the rather boring car park on a gray day into what looked like an awesome scene from The Lego Movie.

As is to be expected from AI tech, things don't always go to plan. The image of my colleague Adam Waring and I looks creepily Tim Burton-esque, but on closer inspection, our hands seem to have melded together and Adam has grown a third arm…

But mariam717 makes light of instances like this, stating: "You can also mix different styles together to see what happens. Some of the results are pretty cool, others are just... unexpected, so it's really fun to mess around with."

Lentil AI: Photo Art Generator is available to download from the Apple App Store.

Think Lego and photography is the perfect match? Check out the best LEGO figures with cameras. And if you're hoping to pick up a new phone, check out the best camera phone.

Meta-owned WhatsApp is continuing to evolve its messaging service, with an exciting update to its new potential video feature. 

WhatsApp has been working on a feature that enables users to share videos across conversations. The function is currently available for selected beta users on Android, who have installed the Android 2.24.14.14 beta update, and is rolling out gradually to iOS beta users as well.

Introduced just over a year ago, video notes are fairly self-explanatory: like voice messages, but with the added power of video, they enable you to instantly record and share up to 60-second video notes directly into the chat. 

The new video note mode update has been designed to further simplify the workflow process by enabling videos to be recorded straight from the camera. As WABetaInfo explains: 

"This feature was designed to enhance the process of recording and sharing video notes by allowing users to capture video messages directly within the camera interface."

While WABetaInfo notes that the feature will eliminate the need to record the same video note again and again across conversations, WhatsApp has addressed privacy concerns:

"Your video notes are private. Only you can forward your own video notes. No one else can forward your video note to another WhatsApp chat. It's not possible to save your video notes."

In addition to these updates, WhatsApp is also exploring new ways to integrate with Meta AI, with an aim to make the service more personal.

The AI feature will enable users to generate AI-powered images of themselves. After providing a set of initial images, users can create personalized images that "accurately" represent their appearance. 

Importantly, especially after the recent Adobe scandal, users will maintain full control over their setup photos, with an option to delete them at any time available. 

Take a look at our guide to the best AI image generators. We've also got guides to the best camera phone for photography, and the best iPhone for photography. 

Blackmagic launched the Blackmagic Camera app for iPhone late last year, now the App comes to all Android users for FREE and I think this is a great move from Blackmagic!

The app leverages the same operating system found in Blackmagic’s professional cameras, providing Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel smartphone users with tools typically reserved for feature films, television, and documentaries. Additionally, Blackmagic Camera integrates with Blackmagic Cloud, facilitating instant collaboration and media sharing with editors and colorists worldwide.

Blackmagic Camera app can harness the power of smartphones by incorporating digital cinema camera controls and advanced operating systems into your smartphone. Users can achieve a cinematic look akin to Hollywood films, thanks to the intuitive and user-friendly interface similar to that of Blackmagic’s professional cameras. 

The app allows for seamless adjustments of settings like frame rate, shutter angle, white balance, and ISO with a single tap. Users can also record directly to Blackmagic Cloud in industry-standard formats up to 8K. 

With Blackmagic Camera, users have access to all the essential controls needed to quickly set up and begin shooting. The interface is interactive, allowing users to tap on any item to change settings instantly, avoiding cumbersome menu navigation.

The heads-up display (HUD) provides quick access to status indicators, recording parameters, histograms, focus peaking, levels, and frame guides. Users can show or hide the HUD by swiping up or down and can utilize touch-to-focus for pinpoint accuracy. 

The app supports various aspect ratios, including 16:9 and vertical, and allows discrete vertical shooting for unobtrusive filming. It also offers tabs for media management, uploading to Blackmagic Cloud, chatting, and accessing advanced settings.

Blackmagic Camera can be downloaded for free now from the Google Play app for Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices.

The introduction of the Blackmagic Camera app to Android revolutionizes mobile filmmaking. Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel users can now access professional digital cinema features directly on their smartphones, enabling cinematic quality and creative control previously exclusive to high-end cameras. 

This advancement democratizes filmmaking, offering seamless collaboration via Blackmagic Cloud, and makes high-quality film production more accessible and efficient for all content creators worldwide.

Back when the super-thin 2024 iPads were launched, a Live Multicam feature was demonstrated whereby Final Cut Pro on an iPad Pro could switch between live footage from up to four iPhones.

Now, finally, the app which makes that possible – Final Cut Camera – has been released into the App Store as a free download. This enables, in Apple's words, the user to "Capture professional footage with full manual control" and "Preview, record, and sync up to four devices with Live Multicam in Final Cut Pro for iPad."

You might ask why this is separate from the standard camera app. It does, after all, have features you'd recognise, like pull focus. When you see the features you'll understand why Apple has chosen to ring-fence more deliberate users into an app which offers easy access to settings including shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and manual focus as well as choosing resolution, frame rate and color space.

Other pro features are Focus peaking and overexposure indicators, though these require more recent iPhones (A13 Bionic or newer). To be fair, that means the iPhone 11 and onward. There are also overlays like grids and aspect ratios.

Preview media is automatically synced and instantly available for edit with FCP, and the app allows you to see your available audio recording time as well as levels.

The app is compatible with all iPhones with iOS 17.2 and up, but one especially useful feature – the ability to record video files directly to an external recording device – does (as the USB-C socket might suggest) require an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Perhaps more financially significant, if you're headed down this route, is that Final Cut Pro for iPad requires a subscription. At £49/$49 per year or £4.99/$4.99 per month, it's also Apple's first subscription app.

While this feature might now provide a much better reason for some creators to make that investment – immediately synchronising content and doing an on-the-fly edit can save a lot of time – it is still a choice which will weigh a little more on the wallet than a traditional set-up.

If you're planning on using a few iPhones for an event, check our guide to the best iPhone camera grips.

Leica cameras and lenses have produced some of the most iconic imagery throughout history, hallmarked by their distinctive ‘Leica Look’. 

Unfortunately, Leica cameras are prohibitively expensive for most people, meaning many out there will never experience first-hand the unique look of shooting through a Leica lens. However, Leica is making that experience a little more accessible with the launch of its latest app – Leica Lux.

The Leica Lux app aims to put the uniqueness of a Leica camera directly in your iPhone, enabling you to experience Leica lenses and distinctive Leica Looks through the phone’s native camera. 

For me, the most exciting sounding feature in the Lux app is the ability to replicate the look of Leica lenses. The app's 'Aperture Mode' uses Leica's image engine alongside machine learning to replicate the rendering, bokeh and other characteristics exhibited by Leica lenses such as the Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 Asph and the Noctilux-M 50mm f/1.2 Asph. 

This appears similar to the portrait mode already featured on iPhones – but with a Leica twist.

Like Apple itself, Leica has its own color science for its cameras – which refers to how Leica chooses to interpret colors in an image for accuracy or artistic expression. However, Leica’s colors are especially idolized by many in the photography community for their distinctive look. 

The Leica Lux app has been developed for the iPhone camera to apply those same iconic colors, including Leica Standard, Leica Classic, Leica Contemporary and Leica Black-and-White to iPhone shots, displaying colors and contrast differently than the native iPhone camera.

For those who prefer fine-grained control over their images, the Lux app also comes with a Manual Mode that enables you to control aspects like aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, to generate a photo that is unique to your vision. There are already plenty of manual camera apps available for the iPhone, but Lux's Manual Mode, plus Leica’s Looks and lenses, can offer a different iPhone camera experience.

The Leica Lux app is free to download and includes access to Automatic Photo mode and Aperture Mode, as well as emulation of the Leica Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 Asph and five Leica Looks. There is an additional premium subscription, called Leica Lux Pro, that offers up to 11 Leica Looks and 5 Leica lenses for £6.99 per month. 

The Leica LUX app is available to download now from the App Store for iPhone and is compatible with all iPhone models running iOS 17.1 or later.

For more on getting the best out of your images check out our guide for the best photo editing software.

In a move that came out of nowhere, online visual communication platform Canva has announced its acquisition of Affinity – one of the leading Photoshop alternatives in the photo-editing software space.

This marks the second industry-shaking acquisition this month, following the news that Nikon has acquired Red. 

"The acquisition significantly bolsters Canva’s vision to build the world’s most comprehensive suite of visual communication tools," reads the official announcement. 

"While the last decade has seen rapid growth for Canva amongst the 99% of knowledge workers without design training, the integration of Affinity’s professional design software now unlocks the full spectrum of designers at every level and stage of the design journey."

For his part, Canva COO Cliff Obrecht was quite non-specific in what this means for Affinity users. "The Affinity team comes with an incredible caliber of talent and technology and we're delighted to welcome them to Canva as we enter our next phase together."

However, Affinity CEO Ashley Hewson was much more verbose, and released his official statement in the form of a video – you can watch this below, with a full transcript beneath it. 

There's sure to be plenty more fallout from this story, so we'll keep you updated as we hear more.

Hi well it's an incredibly exciting day for us today as we announce that we have just been acquired by Canva. 

Now, I'm sure many of you know who Canva are; they produce a great online design and collaboration platform for all kinds of visual communications ranging from presentations to documents to whiteboards and social media graphics, that type of thing. 

They're an Australian company based in Sydney, and their mission really right from the start was to empower the world to design – and they've been incredibly successful. Actually they have over 175 million, I think, active users of the Canva platform now, which is just pretty astonishing. 

But the one thing that Canva don't do is actually produce any tools for creative professionals – and that's really why they ended up contacting us now. Believe it or not it was only two months ago when we had that first contact from Canva to talk about ways in which we could work together, and I think it was very clear from the start that in Canva we have found somewhat of a kindred spirit. 

A lot of the the values that Canva hold dearly to them are very very similar to ours. Our mission always was to enable anyone to have access to professional creative tools, and of course we've achieved that through predominantly being incredibly affordable – and that just fits really nicely with what Canva's looking to achieve. And we really do believe bringing these two things together, our professional creative tools alongside Canva's online design platform, is going to be an incredibly strong combination moving forward. 

Now I know many of you are going to be wondering, well, what does this mean for for my Affinity apps? And the great thing with this is that really nothing changes. All of our team is still here, there's no layoffs or changes in that regard whatsoever, and we're more focused than ever I think to deliver some incredible updates and improvements to our apps moving forward. 

Our apps are still available on our website, the V2 app is still available as a one-off purchase, and everyone who's bought our apps previously of course can still use them in perpetuity moving forward. We've got some great updates lined up for V2 all to be delivered free of charge of course so nothing changes in that regard. 

I think if anything, actually now we've got an opportunity really to lean on some of Canva's resources to actually even accelerate the development of our apps even further. So I think there's lots of things to kind of look forward to for you all. 

I do want to take this opportunity to extend my thanks and gratitude to all of you, all of our customers and the Affinity community. The support that you've shown us over the last ten years since releasing Affinity has just been incredible. We know most of our sales come from word of mouth and recommendations, and it's you guys that have been doing that for us. 

We love listening to your feedback, to your comments, to your requests that we make in the apps, and we're more focused than ever to be delivering the features and the updates and improvements that you want to see in your Affinity apps. 

I also want to take an opportunity to thank the Affinity team. I believe what we've achieved as a team here – there's only 90 of us working out of Nottingham – and what we've done in the last ten years with such a small team has  just been utterly incredible. 

So look, we'll be sending some information I think in the next few days about a Q&A session that we'll be doing in a few weeks time where we can answer any more of your queries on this. We're obviously here to listen to any comments and questions that you have, and we'll be trying to answer all of them in due course. But the main message really for me is that I really now believe with Canva behind us this is going to be the most exciting period in our history – and the future is seriously bright. Thank you.

You might also be interested in the best photo-editing laptops and the best monitors for photo editing. 

If you ever need to design things like promotions for social media or banners for websites but you're NOT a designer, Adobe Express has been made with you in mind. Its USP is that it makes it quick and easy to make professional looking content using easy-to-use templates and clever AI features. 

To provide added value, last year Adobe added generative AI smarts to Adobe Express, followed by an Adobe Express web app you can use without downloading anything. And all that must have gone well, because today, they're launching Adobe Express apps for iOS and Android in beta. 

Available as a free download, Adobe Express will give users access to generative AI capabilities at no extra cost during the testing period. 

These include Text to Image, which enables you to quickly create a new look for a project with Firefly generative AI. You just type in a text prompt and Adobe Express will generate the art for you. 

There's also Generative Fill, which allows you to insert, remove or replace people, objects and more, again with simple text prompts. And thirdly there's Text Effects, which enables you to make attention-grabbing headlines, copy and messages with text stylings using generative AI.

These AI tools, powered by Adobe's Firefly software, enable users to generate imagery from text prompts or expand existing visuals across an entire canvas. (If you're suspicious of this kind of tech, though, read our guide to How to make Firefly work for you, not against you).

Once the app exits beta, the generative AI features will become part of Adobe's paid Express subscription plans starting at $9.99 per month. However, the core Adobe Express app will remain free for basic design and editing tasks.

A key aim of the launch is to improve collaborative workflows between Adobe Express users, by providing real-time co-editing and smooth review and commenting capabilities, to speed up the creation process.

Key features of the new apps also include: 

• Stock content: Access thousands of video and multipage templates, more than 25,000 Adobe Fonts and hundreds of thousands of Adobe Stock videos, music tracks and image and design assets.
• Quick Actions: Edit photos and videos, remove background and resize images in just one click.
• Content Scheduler: Plan, preview, schedule and publish to social media channels like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
• Video features: Use video templates, combine video clips, images and music, add animations, and generate real-time captions in 100+ languages. There's also a video timeline tool, layer timing and support for 4K.
• Brand kits: Upload and share brand assets and easily use brand fonts, colors and logos on your design.

“Millions of users around the world are turning to Adobe Express to create more content than ever before – more than doubling the number of creations ever made in just the last year,” said Govind Balakrishnan, senior vice president, Adobe Express and Digital Media Services at Adobe. “The new Adobe Express mobile app puts Firefly – our generative AI models – front and center, giving users unprecedented ways to create videos, designs, photos and images that stand out." 

Camera companion apps on phones have for a long time been notoriously bad with poor features and slow clumsy connections. Last year Fujifilm addressed the issue of its own languishing Fujifilm Camera Remote app with the launch of the new Fujifilm XApp. Hot off the heels of that, Fujifilm has already prepared an app version 2.0 with some big new features - which were revealed at yesterday's X-Summit, alongside news of the new Fujifilm X100VI camera.

The XApp went a long way to solving the majority of the major gripes that Fujifilm users had about previous apps, and the overall experience of the new app is pretty solid, with many more features, and a (usually) very stable connection in my personal experience, but there is definitely room for improvement, so it is great to see this is a priority for Fujifilm with a major update coming so soon.

There are some major improvements to the activity page, currently, the page displays how many images you have taken with each camera, lens, and film simulation linked to the app, although that was about the limit. With the new version, the app will allow you to filter the view to show only the images taken with each camera, lens, or film simulation to make finding specific images much faster and make it much easier to compare images.

Also added to the XApp ver 2.0 will be a new equipment page. This will keep you up to date with the general health of your equipment, displaying the total number of mechanical shutter actuations, battery charge cycles, battery health, and the number of days since the sensor was last cleaned. This will make it easier to maintain your equipment and know when it is time to replace parts or upgrade the system.

The new app version will also allow background downloads of firmware updates for the latest Series 5 cameras from Fujifilm (GFX 100 II, X100VI, X-H2S, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20). There is not much more information to go on for the time being, but anything that makes the tedious process of updating firmware that little bit faster is a win.

The renewed activity page and new equipment page will be compatible with more Fujifilm models, although a specific list is not available at this time, although I would be surprised if any cameras were removed from the current list of compatible models.

Interestingly, although billed as a single 2.0 update, it looks like the renewed activity page will be coming first, with the equipment page and background downloads billed for a later unspecified date.

You can download the current 1.3 version of the XApp for iOS or for Android now to get familiar before the next big update.

For more on Fujifilm, check out our choices of the best Fujifilm camera, as well as our top picks for the best Fujifilm lenses and best Fujifilm GF lenses.

Google is adding several new camera enhancements specifically for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The latest version of the Pixel Camera app (version 9.2) enables you to record longer videos using Google's Night Sight Time Lapse feature: five minutes of 1080p video or 20 minutes of 4K video will now result in a timelapse video of 10 seconds in Night Sight mode. This compares well to the previous version of Night Sight, which was limited to just one second of output footage.

Pixel Camera 9.2 also includes a dedicated switch in the advanced camera settings for enabling Ultra HDR; a more extreme version of Google's HDR algorithm, which produces extra color vibrancy over and above Google's standard HDR+ processing.

Another clever Pixel Camera feature, Palm Timer, which allows you to take a photo by simply flashing your palm at the camera, also receives an upgrade. Until now this trick was only possible by setting a timer, but now it can be set to be always active.

What's more, upon close examination of Pixel Camera 9.2's source code, it's also possible that some other features might be primed for release in future app versions. The first could concern the Pixel Fold, with the code mentioning the rear/outer display showing a subject preview while the inner button can be pressed to snap a shot. The second function hinted at by the code could be some sort of merging of the current Top Shot feature - where the user can select the best still from a motion photo - and Best Take, where you can take the best facial expression from one shot and superimpose it onto a different image.

Google is now rolling out v9.2 of the Pixel Camera app, or you can head to the Play Store to download it manually for your supported Pixel device.

The Expert RAW camera app found on Samsung Galaxy flagship phones has just got even better thanks to an udate that allows users to shoot with a digital neutral density filter. 

We already consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra as one of the best camera phones you can buy and this latest update makes it even more appealing to those looking for professional features in a smartphone.  The Expert RAW app already enables users to have complete manual control when shooting as well as the ability to save images in RAW making it easier to change the exposure and color grade in a photo editing app.

• The best Black Friday deals are already here - we round up the best offers on cameras, mobiles, laptops, lenses and more!

Neutral Density filters are commonly used by landscape photographers when they want to capture long exposures of moving objects such as clouds or water. They create a beautiful, dreamy effect that can make the sea appear completely still or give waterfalls a flowing hazy effect. When shooting long exposures with a mirrorless camera or DSLR you usually need a tripod so that the slow shutter speed doesn't create blurriness in the areas that need to be sharp but some phones have good enough image stabilization you don't even need one. 

To use the ND filters you will need to install the latest version of Expert RAW from the Galaxy Store. You can select the “strength” (we usually talk about neutral density filters in stops so 1000 for example would be 10 stop) of the neutral density filter in the settings menu - the higher the number the darker the neutral density filter will appear and the brighter the conditions you can shoot in.

We can’t wait to test out this new feature and compare it to what you can achieve with a “proper” camera. It will also be interesting to see whether you need a phone tripod or whether you can shoot handheld - if the latter is true shooting long exposures in bright delay just got heck of a lot simpler. 

I firmly believe that a phone camera will never be able to replace the real thing but with so many advanced features now available on a device that fits in your pocket, I can easily understand why people would rather invest in a smartphone than a camera. Take the Google Pixel 8 Pro for example, with its new AI magic editor you can now remove an object, merge images to create a perfect group photo or remove motion blur in just a few clicks. It’s hard not to be impressed by the capabilities of smartphones these days and it seems like the sky really is the limit.

Can't quite afford a brand-new smartphone? The best budget camera phones can still take amazing photos they just lack the more advanced features

In a move that shouldn't really be anything close to a shock, Google has quietly renamed its Google Camera app to Pixel Camera. Although the former branding was clear and concise, the fact that only Google-branded phones were officially supported by the Google Camera app, it makes total sense to rebrand the app as Pixel Camera, thereby making it totally clear that the app is only for Pixel phones. Prior to the rebrand, it was plausible to assume Google Camera would work on any Android device with a built-in camera, but this was not the case.

The newly-labelled app has also been given a fresh description in the Play Store, to better reflect the features it can now unlock in current and recent Pixel devices:

Never miss a moment with the fully redesigned Pixel Camera, and take fantastic photos and videos using features like Portrait, Night Sight, Time Lapse and Cinematic Blur.

Pixel Camera is available for Pixel phones running Android 14 and above, though only the latest Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are eligible for the latest version 9.1 of the app. Prior devices like the Pixel 7 range, Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet are limited to version 9.0.

Alongside the Pixel Camera rebrand, Google has also streamlined the photo sharing process within the Google Photos app. Now when the share icon is clicked, a 'Sharing image' sheet pops up, including a 'Modify' option in the top right of the sheet which enables the sharing of multiple images. The new sharing sheet also includes an image preview of the photo to be shared, with the preview containing a pencil icon that can be used to launch the Mark-up tool. The new share sheet is included in version 5.65 of Google Photos, but like the Pixel Camera app, you'll need to be running Android 14 on a Pixel device to access the latest app version.

Read more:

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The latest AI trend turns your selfies into high school-style yearbook photos. If you’re active on Instagram, chances are you would have seen a selection of different versions of your friends wearing Nineties-inspired outfits ranging from preppy to punk rock – but what you might not know is that those images have been paid for. 

Now I’ll admit, in the past, I have paid to have AI-generated images of myself created in the name of research – not just because curiosity got the better of me. Yes I’m lucky to have a job where I can buy into that kind of trend for “work purposes”, but I quickly grew concerned that I was paying to sell my data to companies without fully knowing what they might do with it. After all, who has time to read all the terms and conditions?

• Check out the best AI image generators and start creating your own fantastical artwork using text prompts

Sitting at number three in the app store chart, Epik has shot up in popularity over the last few days thanks to another viral TikTok / Instagram trend. For about 5 bucks you can generate 60 alternative versions of yourself, "shot" as if you're having your high school photo taken. 

I have to admit, the results are very impressive. They do actually pass as real photos and if they appeared in a yearbook from the Nineties I'd assume they were real photos. But like all AI images, they seem to conform to stereotypical beauty standards. 

This isn't the first time an AI image-generating app has gone viral; when Lensa first added an AI avatar feature, everyone was downloading it to see what they would look like as an anime character or Disney princess. I did it, too! But I was shocked when I discovered how sexualized many of the images were, as if AI has an obsession with boobs. 

Luckily Epik doesn't seem to overly sexualize images, but it does airbrush your skin, make your facial features perfectly proportioned and take away all your individual quirks that make you, you. 

I'm not gonna lie, it's taken a huge amount of self-control to not just throw caution to the wind and pay for the pictures. I want to see what I would look like as a glam rock high schooler or a pom-pom-wielding cheerleader, but alas I must settle for enjoying the actual images my friends have shared (and I'm glad they have). 

This recent obsession of seeing alternate versions of yourself has only been made possible through the ever-advancing capabilities of AI, and it's getting to the point where it is scarily realistic. Just a few days ago, the winner of the very first AI art award was announced for a submission that looked like a vintage film photo. Yes, AI can be entertaining, it can be an incredibly helpful tool, but I think it is getting to the stage now where we need to be transparent about when and how we are using it. 

Although companies such as Epik and Lensa claim to not use your images for any other purpose than to generate your photos, I can't help but be a little bit worried that my face could be used to train computers to generate realistic images of digital people in the future and I'd be none the wiser. 

Big thanks to my friend Vicaas Hussain for allowing me to use his Epik-generated images!

Want to take real portraiture? Take a look at the best cameras for portraits and the best lenses for portraits, and check out our portrait photography tips. 

Have you ever thought about what a "smart camera" might look like? Cameras are expensive enough already, without the ability to support custom apps, but it would be pretty cool. We already have firmware updates for cameras (and lenses), plus the option to connect them to our phones, so why not?

The idea of a camera with its own app-supported operating system actually goes as far back as 1998, and many early digital cameras were equipped with technology known as the FlashPoint DigitaOS operating system. In more recent years, big brands such as Samsung actually attempted Android-compatible mirrorless cameras – and the world barely noticed.

• Here's the next best thing – the best Android phones

Did you know that Android was originally designed for digital cameras? Well, it's true. A YouTuber video has delved into the origins of camera operating systems and revealed how the industry, even the world, could have changed if the idea had truly taken off. 

The video above explains how, in the late Nineties, 11 camera models emerged with DigitaOS. Different brands were involved, and custom scripts could be used across them. The first was the Kodak DC220 in 1998, but by 2001 – after Pentax and HP had also joined the fun – DigitaOS was discontinued.

This, even though DigitaOS could be programmed for complete custom control of settings and functionality – and even the ability to play games, including Doom! This operating system could be thought of as the early implementation of apps on digital cameras.

Classic digital camera enthusiast James, of YouTube channel snappiness , shared this video that offers an insight into how close cameras came to having apps. He goes on to highlight the Samsung Galaxy NX APS-C camera, released in 2013 and equipped with, you guessed it, apps. 

The Samsung Galaxy NX never made waves in the photography community but as James demonstrates in the video, it offers photographers the option to edit images using advanced software in-camera, as well as uploading images directly to social media apps or to cloud storage services. How was this not a complete game-changer?

The perfect mix of smartphone and professional camera would be the dream, but no doubt an expensive dream. The Samsung Galaxy NX camera retailed for $1,600 / £1,200 (around AU$1,540) back in 2013, and even then it was held back by app compatibility issues. 

While the idea of being able to shoot, edit, and upload an image all with the same device is a highly soughtafter concept, it might not be as easy or practical as we hope. 

To some, this idea might even seem a bit pointless, and as James states, "Maybe we don't want smart cameras after all." Cameras, after all, tend to live a long life, while phones – especially with fixed operating systems – are, at best, passed on sooner. At worst they end up in landfill.

Would you consider purchasing an Android-based professional camera for the right price? Well, after Samsung abandoned cameras in 2016, we had the Zeiss ZX1 in 2018 – another Android-powered camera, this time with Lightroom built into it. Alas,  it was barely available anywhere (Zeiss never even sent us one to review) and was quietly discontinued in February this year.

Samsung has decided that phones are where the money and innovation is, so perhaps look to the best Samsung phones to find your ideal app-powered photography. Not forgetting the best iPhones for photography, either. 

The Alfred Camera app's philosophy was simple; why buy a new smart security camera when you can use an old phone. That approach earned it 70 million users, but now it has announced a new product, AlfredCam, which puts it firmly in the hardware battle against big names like Blink, Ring and Google's Nest.

The Alfred Camera app is available on both the App Store and Google Play, and can use any other phone, or webcam, as a camera. This enables you to build a monitoring system, like any other smart home security setup, but from any spare phones you have lying around. Inevitably this created waves thanks to its flexibility and low initial cost compared to alternatives.

• Read more about the best indoor security cameras on the market right now

Phones have their limitations, however (and Alfred Systems has a significant installed base), so after a protracted roll-out, the second wave of AlfredCams are now shipping in the US. The indoor camera can be connected to the Alfred Camera app in more-or-less the same way a phone can, but comes with infra-red night vision (as you'd expect) and a microSD card for storage (not a given in this category, but a plus). It weighs 68g and stands at 4.13 inches / 105mm.

Like longstanding hardware companies, the Alfred system offers premium features for a subscription fee. A $5.99 monthly (approximately £4.90 / AU$9.00) or $29.99 yearly (£24.50 / AU$45.00) subscription grants HD viewing and recording, zooming, AI person detection, zones, longer clip recording, scheduling and ad removal. You heard right – the free app has ads. Because Alfred is account, rather than device, based, this fee applies across all connected devices, so compares well with other brands.

Interestingly, in keeping with the character of the scrappy Alfred Camera app brand, the company's website has approached the device in a manner that many in marketing might question. It shares very convincing 'reviews' – which we can't imagine are entirely impartial – but dows list positive and negative features for its own devices. Mostly positive, though!

If this article was of interest, you might like to check out the best cheap security cameras and the best CCTV cameras – or perhaps even just best fake security cameras if you simply want a visual deterrent. 

If you’re on Instagram, it's very likely that you’ve already heard of Lensa. In the last few days, the app has become a viral sensation, with thousands of people downloading and generating their own personal magic avatars. Lensa currently sits at the number one spot in both the Apple and Android app charts, ahead of TikTok, Tesco, and CapCut. 

Like most AI-powered tools, there is some controversy surrounding Lensa, but that hasn’t stopped people from letting curiosity get the better of them. Lensa makes it so easy and cheap to generate your AI avatars; all you need to do is upload 15-20 photos of yourself then give the app 15-20 minutes to let it work its magic. 

When you next open the app, all your generated avatars will be stored in the Magic Avatars section reading for you to view. You can also save your favorite avatars either in standard resolution or in 4K.

It’s quite overwhelming seeing so many different versions of yourself – some flawless and some the stuff of nightmares. All avatars are created as squares and there are lots of different styles to choose from, including cosmic, fantasy, fairy princess, anime, and iridescent. But as fun as Lensa is, there is a dark side to it, and unsurprisingly, a lot of controversy surrounding it.

One of the issues people have with Lensa’s Magic Avatars tool is that it learns the various styles using real-life artists' work who are not credited and don’t make any money from it. There is concern that as Lensa is so cheap to use, it could take jobs away from artists and illustrators who create digital art for a living. 

By signing up for a week's free trial of the Lensa app (just remember to cancel otherwise you’ll be charged £36.99 for the year), you can generate your magic avatars for half price – 50 will cost you £1.79, 100 will cost you £2.49 or 200 will cost £3.49 – hardly breaking the bank. 

Whether or not you agree with using Lensa, there’s no denying that what it creates is amazing and terrifying in equal doses. To be able to generate 200 versions of yourself for less than the price of a Meal Deal at a touch of a button is a testament to how clever AI systems are. But it also begs the question, will it ever be good enough to replace real art? Now that’s a debate for an opinion piece…

Lensa isn't necessarily the first AI generator, and my colleague recently tried a similar thing with the MyHeritage AI image generator. Scroll down to see some good examples and bad examples of my Lensa AI Magic Avatars...

Check out the best camera phone and the best budget camera phones for creating your Lensa avatars on.

The new Tamron app can make adjustment to Tamron lens settings out in the field and follows on from the Tamron Lens Utility for computers that was released back in October 2021. It uses the Tamron USB-C Connection cable to hook an Android device up to a Tamron lens for configuration. 

The Tamron Lens Utility app was first announced back in August 2022, but it is now officially available on the Google Play Store. However, it is still under development.

One feature already available is an A-B Focus function that can shift focus smoothly from one point to another, so a little like a remote follow focus system but driven by the lens’s AF motors rather than gears and belts. Tamron says the functions can be expanded in the future.

The app also makes it possible to choose a set focus position and then move the focus to that point using the app’s Remote Set Button. These focus features sound especially useful for videographers using manual focus shifts. 

Tamron lenses might not normally figure in our guide to the best lenses for vlogging or best cine lenses, but this might change things! Tamron does, however, make some of the best Sony lenses to get right now.

Other app tools can control the way the lens operates, switching from AF to manual focus, for example, or changing the direction of the manual focus ring.

What the app cannot do is install Tamron lens firmware updates. This must still be done via the Tamron Utility computer software. There is also no iOS version at this time.

Not every lens is compatible, either. Here’s the list right now:

• Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 (model A063)
• Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (model A058)
• Tamron 20-40mm F/2.8 Di III VXD (Model A062)

Tamron is keen to stress that the Tamron Lens Utility app is still under development and that features are subject to change without notice. You can download the app right now, though, from the Google Play store.

Apple has announced its new safety service; Emergency SOS via satellite, which is now available to iPhone 14 customers in the US and Canada. Working on all models in the iPhone 14 line-up, the technology enables users to message the emergency services while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. The service will come to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK in December, cementing the iPhone 14 family as the best iPhone device to date.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, explained that "Emergency SOS via satellite is a breakthrough service available only on the iPhone 14 lineup, and a new innovation that we hope will provide our customers some peace of mind. Some of the most popular places to travel are off the beaten path and simply lack cellular coverage. With Emergency SOS via satellite, the iPhone 14 lineup provides an indispensable tool that can get users the help they need while they are off the grid.

“Our teams worked tirelessly to tackle a new set of technical challenges to bring this service to life, in addition to building a reliable on-the-ground infrastructure."

How Emergency SOS via satellite works 

All iPhone 14 models, including the iPhone 14 Pro can connect directly to a satellite through a combination of components and integrated software – Emergency SOS via satellite builds on existing iPhone features including Emergency SOS, Medical ID, emergency contacts, and Find My location sharing, allowing all iPhone 14 models to connect directly to a satellite through a combination of components and integrated software.

The new feature allows Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), or emergency services call centers, to connect to users in emergency situations, and requires no additional software at their end. Those using the service will be connected directly to emergency services that are equipped to receive text messages or to relay centers with Apple-trained emergency specialists who will contact on users' behalf when text messages can’t be received.

“Providing Emergency SOS via satellite is an important breakthrough that will save lives. The critical work being done by Apple to create innovative new solutions to support 911 providers and first responders is a huge step forward in protecting Californians and the broader public during an emergency situation,” said Mark Ghilarducci, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services director. 

In order to make Emergency SOS via satellite a reality, Apple designed and built custom components and software that allow iPhone 14 devices to connect to a satellite’s unique frequencies without a bulky antenna. “A text compression algorithm was also developed to reduce the average size of messages by 300 percent, making the experience as fast as possible. With Emergency SOS via satellite, users can send and receive messages in as little as 15 seconds in clear conditions,” explains Apple in a press release. 

This is impressive because satellites are located thousands of miles away from Earth, move rapidly, and have low bandwidth, it can take a few minutes for messages to be received.

How to use Emergency SOS via Satellite

iPhone 14 users who need to call emergency services but have no cellular coverage or Wi-Fi coverage available will be able to use Emergency SOS via satellite. An interface will appear on the iPhone with a short questionnaire to help the user answer vital questions with a few simple taps. This information is transmitted to dispatchers in the initial message, so they can quickly get an insight into a user’s situation and location.

Following the on-screen questionnaire, Emergency SOS via Satellite guides the user needing help as to where to point their iPhone in order to connect to the satellite and then sends the initial message.  

This initial message includes the user’s questionnaire responses; location, including altitude; iPhone battery level; and where enabled Medical ID. The questionnaire and follow-up messages are relayed directly via satellite to dispatchers or relay centers where Apple‑trained specialists will call for help on the user’s behalf. 

The transcript can also be shared with the user’s emergency contacts to keep them informed - up to 10 emergency contacts using iOS 16.1 and iMessage will see the user’s location, type of emergency, and a live transcript of their conversation with emergency services. If emergency contacts aren’t on an Apple iPhone or are on an iPhone not using iOS 16.1 or iMessage, they will see the user’s location and type of emergency only. Service users can stop sharing their information with an emergency contact at any point.

Handily, iPhone 14 users will be able to familiarize themselves with the service, using the built-in Emergency SOS via satellite demo. This demo allows users to test satellite connectivity on their iPhone by connecting to a real satellite in range, but without calling emergency services. 

Another great feature, but not related to emergency situations, is that the new service also allows users traveling off-grid to tell friends and family of their whereabouts by opening the Find My app and sharing their location via satellite.

What Emergency SOS via Satellite doesn't do 

It’s important to note that while we think the new feature is brilliant and will save many lives, it does not make the iPhone 14 a satellite phone – satellite phones allow you to place a call (rather than a message) when you are far away from ordinary phone coverage – be that just in the wilderness with no coverage or out at sea.

Another important consideration if choosing between a satellite phone or an iPhone 14 because of this feature, is that users will need a clear view of the sky and a clear horizon to use Emergency SOS via satellite – so there’s nothing blocking the satellite signal. “In ideal conditions with a direct view of the sky and the horizon, a message might take 15 seconds to send, and over a minute to send under trees with light or medium foliage. If you're under heavy foliage or surrounded by other obstructions, you might not be able to connect to a satellite,” Apple has stated previously.

Want to know the latest speculations when it comes to camera phones? Check out our phone rumorshub, which is updated regularly as new intel comes in.

These are the best camera phones and best budget camera phones if you're on the lookout for a new device.

Skylum’s new imgmi mobile app is clearly pitched at social content creators who want to create images with maximum impact with minimum effort.

Although it’s not part of the Luminar Neo ecosystem, imgmi uses much of the AI tech developed for Skylum’s desktop photo editor. Describing it as a “secret shortcut” to a boosted social media following, Skylum says it’s ideal for photographers on the move who don’t carry expensive gear, don’t have time for desktop editing and need results fast.

Features include ‘insta filters’, an Enhance AI tool for content-aware image optimization, the Remove Powerlines feature already seen in Luminar Neo and an Erase tool for removing unwanted objects – these could include unwanted tourists cluttering up your travel shots, trash cans or spots from dust on the camera sensor.

The imgmi app also offers sky replacement (a Skylum favorite) with its Select a Sky feature. This can detect and select skies automatically and then offer a selection of replacements from clear blue skies to storm clouds and sunsets. 

It doesn’t look as if imgmi has any connection with the Luminar desktop app apart from using many of the same AI technologies and targeting perhaps a similar audience. Luminar Neo users should carry on using the Luminar Share mobile app for sharing images created using the desktop software.

The only thing we don’t know is how to pronounce ‘imgmi’ – “image-me”, maybe?

Skylum imgmi is paid/subscription software (a multitude of options are available) but is available as a free 7-day trial from both the Google Play Store and the Apple App store.

Read more:

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BeReal, the French photo sharing platform that's been labelled by some as the "Anti-Instagram" app, has recently hit the number one spot in the social networking section of the App Store.

BeReal was launched at the beginning of 2020, as a simple, stripped-back approach to photo sharing and life sharing. The concept of the app is simple: every day at a different time it will prompt you all to take a photo simultaneously – and you've got two minutes to do so.

If you've never heard of BeReal before, don't worry. I hadn't either, until a friend of mine stopped halfway through a cycle the other day, whipped out her phone, and took a frenzied snap on the app before the two minute timer was up. I was a bit perplexed, but then later on, curious enough to download the app myself.

Our writer Hannah was hooked on BeReal when she tried it earlier this year (way more on-trend than me), and felt that the new photo-sharing app demands authenticity. What I'm interested in now is why the platform has suddenly gone viral in the last few weeks. Is it genuinely an alternative to Instagram? It is a backlash to Instagram in its current state? Is BeReal here to stay?

Social networks will always rise and fall in popularity throughout their life cycle, as generations change, technology improves and new updates please or annoy users. Photo sharing platforms like sites like Flickr or 500px don't feel as popular as they once did and despite the best camera phones making it easier than ever to share photos, we know that Instagram is also having a pretty – to put it lightly – tough time with its image.

I've already written about why Instagram is no longer for photographers, and Make Instagram Instagram again is the latest movement to circle the platform and complain about the changes. Many users are unhappy that Instagram has become more about reels, videos and suggested posts from strangers rather than interacting with your friends and the people you do know and choose to follow.

Interestingly, against all this negative press, BeReal has emerged. BeReal, with the tag line "Your Friends for Real." is hoping to change the way that you interact with friends and get a glimpse into their lives.

What is BeReal and how do you use it?

BeReal markets itself as a photo sharing app, even though it sits in the Social Networking section of the Apple Store. In fact, the official Apple Store description reads "the simplest photo sharing app to share once a day your real life in photo with friends."

Unlike Instagram, which allows seemingly endless uploads, BeReal prompts you to post a photo every day – just once. The idea is that you capture an image wherever you are, and then post it in time to discover what your friends are up to.

Instagram has long come under fire with critics, who say that it represents a highlights reel of life, rather than a representation of reality. Posted photos are often planned and executed carefully, or can be posted from years ago. 

By springing a photo opportunity upon its users, BeReal is seemingly encouraging a more authentic way to capture life and share it with others.

When you're prompted to take a photo, the BeReal app takes both a selfie and a photo from the front camera simultaneously, so you get two images.

BeReal is still a social networking app, and therefore you'll find many predictable social features on the app too. There are daily challenges, and you can comment and react to your friends BeReal profile (that's if you have any friends on the platform, as I don't currently know anyone on it).

BeReal tops the App store

At the time of writing this article, BeReal is at the number one spot among free Social Networking apps on the App Store, ahead of WhatsApp and Facebook.

But let's not forget that it's been out since the beginning of 2020. Developed by Alexis Barreyat, who has previously worked at GoPro, the app looks like it could have gained popularity with Gen Z users earlier this year, a spread that was perhaps helped by a paid ambassador program on college campuses.

According to data shared by Fast Company, BeReal has now been downloaded over 20 million times, and is worth an estimated $600 million.

Does BeReal have a future?

The makers of BeReal seem to have a comedic side, and they've post "warnings" at the bottom of their Apple Store listing for those using the app:

/!\ WARNING /!\

• BeReal won't make you waste time.
• BeReal is life, Real life, and this life is without filters.
• BeReal will challenge your creativity.
• BeReal is your chance to show your friends who you really are, for once.
• BeReal can be addictive.
• BeReal might frustrate you.
• BeReal won't make you famous. If you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram.

Like all fledgling social networking apps, there are still plenty of glitches that need ironing out. The BeReal interface is smart, but currently very basic, and the makers are welcoming feedback and ideas from users.

Despite this, it's going to be exciting to see if the BeReal app continues to fly, or like some emerging social trends, flop before it really gets going. We've reached out to BeReal for a comment and will update this post if we hear more.

Expected to launch later this year, Tamron has announced the development of its new Lens Utility Mobile app for smartphones and tablet devices that run Android operating systems (specifically compatible with OS Android 6-12) and will only be compatible with Android devices that are fitted with USB Type-C ports. 

The application, previously launched as PC software, will enable users to customize various different functions of select Tamron lenses, and allow settings optimized to match both the video and unique still photography style choices of the user.

• Have you ever wondered What are firmware updates, and do I really need to install them?

Camera and lens customization apps have been around for a fair few years now, but not many people are aware of them. Usually most camera manufacturers will have their own branded remote control or image transfer app that they encourage users with compatible cameras to download. 

For example, Sony A7 Series users might be familiar with the "Imaging Edge" app, and for Canon users there's the "Camera Connect" app. Nikon has its own Wireless Mobile Utility app and SnapBridge.

The latest Tamron Lens Utility Mobile app is designed to provide users with a convenient  experience of making adjustments to image setups and lens customizations in the field, while expanding the possibilities of what can be achieved through video and still photography captured using Tamron lenses.

Originally the application started out as PC software that was developed in-house by the team at Tamron, eventually released in October 2021, and has earned itself praise from many Tamron lens owners since its launch. 

Having received valuable feedback from customers on how convenience could be improved, especially from those wishing to make lens function customizations when shooting in the field, Tamron decided to employ these features in the format of a smartphone app with use by Android smart devices.

The Tamron Lens Utility app will require an Android smart device to be connected to a lens using the Tamron Connection Cable (USB type-C), to easily configure lens customizations and settings without the need for a computer. However, performing firmware updates will still require the Tamron Utility PC software, and cannot be completed using the app. 

Initially upon launch, only the following Tamron lenses will be compatible with the new Tamron Lens Utility Mobile: the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 (Model A063) and the Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD (Model A058) lenses.

Some of the many functions of the Tamron Lens Utility Mobile app will include a tethered remote control, customization of the Custom Switch and Focus Set Buttons (the A-B Focus function will smoothly shift the focus from one selected subject to another, and can be setup without touching the lens), and customization of the Focus Ring, switching from auto to manual focus. 

 • These are the best photo apps right now

There is expected to be an eventual expansion of these functions in the near future, as it becomes possible to make users even more comfortable and encouraged to try out their skills in video production. 

The Tamron Lens Utility Mobile is expected to launch later this year, though unfortunately iOS will not be supported at this time.

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For the first time ever, the image editing software Capture One is now available as a standalone app for the iPad. The company had originally planned for this iPad version to be released in early 2022 so we've had a bit of a wait, but was it worth it?

There's no doubt that Capture One is in with the best photo editing software on a desktop, but what can this new mobile platform version offer photographers at just $4.99 a month?

Capture One for iPad brings Capture One’s RAW converter to a fully mobile device for the first time, and the program's designed has been completely streamlined to take advantage of the iPad workflow. This means that touch interactions and intuitive gestures should play a part in the user interface when editing. For example, a long press on the screen brings up the before and after of your edited photo.

Features on the new iPad app include batch editing, film grain and the opportunity to import Styles. Disappointingly it looks like key desktop features such as tethering, masking and layers aren't available yet, but Capture One does state that these are coming in the future. "To not delay the release of Capture One for iPad, we have chosen to launch it with a reduced set of features. The first version is not the final version, but it is a version that we think will bring a lot of value to our community of photographers."

The Cloud File Transfer means that photographers can edit their work from anywhere, and easily switch between the iPad and desktop versions of the software. This isn't quite the same as full image synchronization, as users have to upload the RAW images with their adjustments from their iPad to the cloud and then import those images from the cloud into Capture One Pro for desktop when they get home.

Capture One for iPad is a completely standalone application, meaning that it is sold separately from Capture One Pro. Rather than just creating a pared-down version of its desktop program, Capture One says that the iPad app is a completely new experience – one that will appeal to new users as well as existing fans. 

“It was important for the team to make it immediately familiar to Capture One users and general iPad users, so it’s both capable and tactile" explains Rafael Orta, CEO at Capture One. "The distinct feature layout brings order to capability and sets an intuitive flow for new users, making this not only the most affordable way to enjoy Capture One, but the simplest.”

Capture One vs Lightroom

Capture One is developed by Phase One, and although it's similar to Lightroom in the sense that it can be used to import and store files and process raw images, the way that it processes images is very different. You'd think that every program would handle RAW files in the same way, but many photographers note that the same RAW files in Capture One appear punchier and more vivid than in Lightroom.

Capture One also looks quite expensive when compared to Lightroom, but its strength lies in the quality of its raw processing and editing tools. The software might not be not for everyone, but for those photographers who already enjoy the Capture One workflow and algorithms, the addition of a fully-featured iPad app to enable editing on the go will come as great news.

Pricing and availability

Capture One for iPad is available now on a subscription of $4.99/£4.49 a month, which includes Cloud File Transfer storage of up to 1000 photos at a time.

Capture One Pro 22 – arguably the professional Lightroom rival – is also available with a one-off license ($299) or subscription ($20 per month).

The app is available for the iPad Pro (third generation and newer), iPad (eighth generation and newer), iPad Mini (sixth generation and newer) and iPad Air (fourth generation and newer), and you'll need to make sure your iPad is running on iOS15 or a more recent version to use the app. 

You'll find a complete list of all the Capture One products and licensing options on the official Capture One website. 

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When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the world changed rapidly. New terms and phrases started being used in everyday conversation – unprecedented, self-isolating, lockdown – and we were suddenly forced to conduct our business meetings from our front rooms and chat to our family over screens using Zoom. 

A Zoom meeting wasn't something that many people had heard of before 2020, but it's gone from being a niche tech service to one the biggest virtual meeting services of our time, and the way that people communicate about everything.

Whether you love or hate virtual meetings, it's impossible to deny how handy they are when it comes to catching up with a colleague or relative remotely, or attending an online event that you can't make it to in-person. 

While the best webcam for home working and best lights for Zoom calls can really improve the Zoom experience, some of us don't want to be visible on a Zoom call at all – and I get that. Perhaps you want to watch a community event like a talk or conference but don't want to actively participate, or, if you're like me and have recently brought home a young puppy, you don't want everyone on an external group call to see said puppy chewing everything in the background.

Whatever your reason is for wanting to disable your camera on a Zoom call (no judgement) it's very easy to do. It's probably best to turn off your video by default when joining a Zoom meeting, especially if you're joining late.

Just remember that you'll need to manually enable your video again to turn it back on when you do want to grace other people with your face. Here's how...

Turn off your video when you join a meeting

To enable the feature Turn off my video when joining meeting:

You can also disable audio or video before joining a meeting by selecting the following options after clicking Join. To disable audio or video before joining a meeting:

Stop sharing your camera with ALT+V

We can't plan for everything in life, and if disaster strikes (the kids are playing up or your housemate walks through the room half naked) you might need to stop sharing your camera immediately. 

You can disable the video camera on a Zoom meeting straightaway by hitting ALT+V on the keyboard or by tapping the “Stop Video” camera icon.

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As part of the keynote delivered by Apple at their annual developer conference, WWDC 2022, the tech giant announced iOS 16, which brings a whole host of new features with it including a new privacy tool called Safety Check. Apple has designed Safety Check to help those suffering from domestic violence and we think it's the best new iOS feature of the lot as it will go on to help save lives. 

Apple has stated it has been working with domestic violence organizations, which include National Network to End Domestic Violence, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and WESNET, to design Safety Check. The new privacy tool will help users who are victims of domestic violence by quickly removing all access they’ve granted to others. 

In iOS 16, Safety Check allows users to perform an emergency reset that helps users easily sign out of iCloud on all their other devices, reset privacy permissions, and limit messaging to just the device in their hand. Importantly, it disables location tracking permissions that they may have given to a domestic or intimate partner. Safety Check will also help iPhone and Apple device users understand and manage which people and apps they’ve given access to. 

“In times of crisis, for many survivors, it’s important to know who has their information and location. Safety Check helps give control back to survivors,” said the National Centre for Victims of Crime. 

Security Check will ship with iOS 16 and also iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura, when it’s rolled out in the Autumn.

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At WWDC 2022, Apple's annual developer conference - on now until June 10 – the tech giant announced iOS 16, which brings a plethora of new features with it, including a buy now pay later service. Apple Pay Later, a new feature in Apple Pay, will be available to iPhone and Apple device users in the US, allowing them to spread the cost of a purchase into four payments over six weeks, with no fees or interest. Its Apple’s entry into the huge buy now pay later market. 

Apple Pay Later: Where you can use it 

You can use Apple Pay later is everywhere that Apple Pay is accepted, as it’s a feature in Apple Pay. Apple Pay is a part of Wallet – the app where can store digital versions of your debit and credit cards – allowing you to check out with Apple Pay and with iOS 16, Apple Pay Later, too. Users can make payments in both physical shops and online via websites and apps, assuming they allow Apple's contactless payment system. 

Apple has said that Apple Pay Later requires no integration for merchants – it will just work using the standard Apple Pay implementation – so Apple Pay Later looks to be widely available in the US. 

Apple Pay Later: How to use it

Apple Pay Later will be super simple to use – users will authenticate their identity on their device via Touch ID or Face ID, then once verified be prompted to either pay in full or use Pay Later. When Apple Pay Later is chosen, users will then see how much is due immediately and what the payments will be every fortnight. 

Subsequent payments from using Apple Pay Later will be tracked and managed through the Apple Wallet app – you can see what’s due and when. Apple Pay also offers order tracking, which lets shops provide customers with receipt and tracking information within Apple Wallet, which will make it easy to keep tabs on purchases. 

Apple Pay Later: Charges and fees 

Apple has confirmed that there are no charges or fees for customers using Apple Pay Later, so it’s basically a 0% interest short-term loan from Apple. 

Apple Pay Later will only be available in the US initially and come into use when iOS 16 is launched – the public beta of the free software update is due this summer, with the official rollout due in the autumn. 

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At the latest Apple event for developers, Apple WWDC 2022, the tech giant launched multiple new editions to their hardware and software line-ups, but one thing that stood out to me in the Keynote was this: "we are continuing to make iPad more capable with desktop-class apps."

This is obviously a great advantage to many who use an iPad as their everyday, always with you device, leaving the laptop or desktop in the office. But, while it's nice to have Keynote, Pages and many other apps that can sync from your iPad to your other Apple devices... where is the Final Cut Pro app for iPad?!

Many professional cinematographers and content creators use iPad to currently edit their videos on the go with Luma Fusion, which handles 4K footage with ease, thanks to the iPad's M1 chip, but why not have the native Final Cut Pro X app for Apple, have it be able to edit video but also create a proxy so it can use less power on your iPad and allow you to make quick changes on the fly before you get back to your home office and more powerful Mac Studio. Or better yet, just have it able to edit all your videos, 1080p or 4K and have a file save as a proxy backup in the cloud, which you could access on your other devices.

Read more: best video editing software

I mean, Apple has already announced Reference Color, allowing you to use your iPad as either a standalone device or as a second display using Apple SideCar on your pro devices and act as a reference color monitor to make sure your color grade is just how you want it... Fantastic, but add the app to iPad! Why do we always have to use some weird workaround, when the answer is staring Apple in the face. 

Put Final Cut Pro X on the iPad. The M1 chip is more than capable of powering it and editing your footage – all the creatives using Luma Fusion are already proving that – so why is Apple being so lazy?

It has been noted that maybe Apple think that the iMovie app would be more suited to those that would be taking videos on the iPad, such as parents or grandparents, which I can see to a certain extent. However, Apple knows their market and they always go on about adding professional features or useful additions from MacOS system to professionals in the field.

For instance, if you are a professional photographer you already have many integrations on iPad that can help you, not to mention that Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom is already compatible on the iPad and used everyday in a photography minimalist setup, so why do the Photographers get all the features and not the cinematographers? I reckon it's all to do with wanting video creators to buy the more expensive and slightly less portable MacBooks, thus making more money in the process. That might sound rather cynical, but I think I've hit the nail on the head.

If you were to edit all your video on an iPad with a native app and have that app back up to your cloud and other Apple computers, iPad would be in the hands of so many more filmmakers, which some only need the M1 chip in the iPad, and not the new M2 chips or the more expensive hardware.

For those that want a solutions now, Luma Fusion is your only option, still a fantastic option and it works great for many types of projects, but it would just be nice for Apple to include all the creative crowd, instead of leaving all the integration for photographers and artists.

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Sometimes it's really useful to be able to record what's happening on your iPhone's screen, whether you want to show other people or if you're a photography journalist who needs to show a process or an app on the iPhone.

Most of us know how to take a still snapshot of our iPhone’s screen by pressing the Side and Volume Up Buttons at the same time and then releasing them. However, you may not know that your iPhone has a dedicated Screen Recording app that records absolutely everything that you see on screen in real time, enabling you to play it all back as QuickTime movie. 

This is useful if you want to demonstrate how to perform a technique with a particular app (such as using Portait mode in Photos) and then share the video to friends or family members. 

Because the Screen Recording app also records audio, you can capture the banter in a FaceTime or Zoom meeting.

We’ve ringed key areas below so you can follow our step-by-step screen grabs more easily.

So the first thing to check is whether the screen recording function is already enabled. To do this, swipe down from the top right of your iPhone's screen to show the Control Center.

Look for the Screen Recorder app's circular icon – this looks like the generic disc-within-a-circle record icon you see on cameras and devices everywhere. If you don't see this, you need to add it, so here's how.

How to enable iPhone screen recording

1. Go to Settings > Control Centre. In Control Centre (above) you’ll see a list of Included Controls such as Torch app (indicated by a red circular label with a - icon).

2. Scroll down to the More Controls section. Tap on the green + icon next to the Screen Recording app.

3. The Screen Recording app will now appear in the Included Controls section of the Control Centre Settings menu.

4. Swipe down from the top right to access the Control Centre. Here you’ll see the Screen Recording app’s circular icon.

How to use iPhone screen recording

5. Tap the Screen recording app’s icon. A 3-second countdown will appear. 

6. A red recording icon will then appear at the top left of the screen. Anything you look at onscreen is now being recorded. 

7. Tap the top left recording icon to stop recording the screen.

8. The resulting movie will be saved in the Photos app’s Screen Recordings album. Tap to play a Screen Recording movie.

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Have you ever had dreams of throwing in the towel at your day job and writing "YouTuber" on your tax returns? A fascinating new European study has revealed how many YouTube views are required to earn the average salary, giving you the financial security to quit your job.

The study reveals that if you live in the United Kingdom, for example, where the national average net salary is $36,245 / £26,636 / AU$50,046, you would need 9.1 million views on YouTube in order to make the same amount of money.

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Interestingly, the UK only has the ninth highest average salary among European countries. The highest, by far, is Liechtenstein, with a net average $66,494 / £48,853 / AU$91,759 – which in turn means that 16,692,251 views on YouTube would be needed to equal the national salary.

At the other end of the 43 countries that were part of the study, commissioned by Reboot Online Marketing and examining data from Lickd, the lowest annual salary belongs to Armenia – whose $3,392 / £2,488 / AU$4,673 average would require just 850,611 YouTube views to generate.

Perhaps surprising, given their size, global significance and native languages, are three countries that fell outside the top ten. In 12th-ranked France the average salary is $30,318 / £22,232 / AU$41,767, which would be matched by 7,598,684 views on the social media platform.

In Spain, ranked 16th, where the national salary is $24,311 / £17,825 / AU$33,490, you could earn the same amount of money by racking up 6,093,169 views. And in 18th- ranked Italy, which has an average salary of $23,560 / £17,275 / AU$32,462, a YouTuber could quit their job by getting 5,907,430 views.

Between the changing landscape of media consumption and, no doubt, the transformative effects of the global pandemic, more people are considering YouTube as a legitimate career option than ever before. 

According to Ahrefs, terms like "How to create a YouTube channel?" and "How to make money on YouTube?" are receiving an average of 182,900 and 85,500 global searches per month respectively. So if you're getting the itch to start a career in content creation, you're not alone…

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Adobe has launched a "new" free app called Creative Cloud Express. For anyone who's balked at the cost of Creative Cloud – the software suite that includes Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and more – that will sound quite enticing. 

However, despite the name, don't get too excited. This is not a cut-down version of the Creative Cloud apps (wouldn't that be nice?). Instead, it's simply a rebranding, and slight tweaking, of a free app that already existed: Adobe Spark. 

Creative Cloud Express is a direct replacement for this ageing app, yet for some reason Adobe failed to mention this in either its pre-launch briefing, press release or official blog post. Cue lots of confusion from the tech media, and a lot of frantic updating of its stories, which had been pre-written in advance of an agreed embargo. 

Some blogs, meanwhile, just left their posts as-is, leaving the internet full of news stories that make it sound like Creative Cloud Express is a wholly new app. Ignore them. It's an update.

Never heard of Adobe Spark? Well, many people hadn't, and we guess that's kind of the point of Adobe renaming it. So let us explain what it was, and what's changed in the new version.

What was Adobe Spark?

Launched in 2016, Adobe Spark was aimed at people who didn't have the time or inclination to learn complex software like Photoshop, Illustrator or Premiere Pro. Instead, it allowed you to create graphics, web pages, and short videos for social media, easily and quickly, via royalty-free templates, photos, images, fonts and icons. 

Aimed at marketing professionals, social media managers, and anyone else who wanted to create stuff to share on Facebook, Instagram and the like, Adobe Spark filled the gap when it came to quick and easy content creation. It could be used on desktop, tablet and mobile.

What's changed in Creative Cloud Express?

So other than the name, what's changed? Well, as well as adding extra templates, Adobe has brought in some new intuitive features.

Known as Quick Actions, these draw on Adobe's AI tech, which it calls Adobe Sensei, to let you remove background features from photos, trim and merge videos, turn videos into GIFs and convert and export PDFs, with "a few magical clicks". We've already seen these features in its flagship tools such as Photoshop and Acrobat, so it makes perfect sense to bring them in here too.

Creative Cloud Express is available at adobe.com/express, as a free app from the Microsoft Store, Google Play Store and Apple App Store, as part of Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, and most single-app Adobe subscriptions. Free users get access to up to 1 million images and other assets, thousands of templates, dozens of fonts and 2GB of storage.

There's also a premium plan for $9.99 per month, which gives you access to the entire collection of 160 million Adobe Stock photos, over 20,000 licensed fonts, 100GB of storage, and premium features including refine cutout, resize, and graphic groups. You also get two extra apps: Photoshop Express and Premiere Rush.

Other Adobe products to download:
Download Photoshop
Download Premiere Pro
Download Adobe Stock
Download After Effects
Download Adobe Audition
Download Lightroom

Exposure Software has been around for a long time, but it was previously called Alien Skin and was well known for its popular Photoshop plugins including Eye Candy, which is still going strong today. Since 2005, the company transformed the Exposure plugin into standalone editing software called Exposure X, which is essentially an analog effects tool and all-round image editor combined.

Exposure X7 is the latest version and, like previous incarnations, it works as a standalone program or as a plugin for both Lightroom and Photoshop. But while this allows you to enjoy the benefits of the software within an existing Adobe-based workflow, Exposure X7 with its interesting, and in some cases unique features, is ideal to use as standalone editing software, with editing controls for global and localised adjustments alongside presets, LUTs, creative overlays, a wide range of preset analog film effects and a powerful yet easy-to-use masking tool – just a few of the features it has to offer.

Over the last decade or so many software developers have moved to a subscription-based model where, as a consumer, you might feel that you’re constantly having to pay fees. But thanks to a perpetual license, this Mac and Windows compatible software can be purchased for just $129, $89 for an upgrade from any previous version or $149 for the Exposure X7 Bundle that also includes the Snap Art and Blow Up plugins, representing a substantial saving overall.

Key features

Exposure X7 Provides an easy-to-use image viewer where images are viewed from their location after being ‘bookmarked’ in the file tree on the left. This is a much better approach than showing all folders on your computer because it keeps things tidy and images are easier to find, rate, organise and edit.

In terms of editing controls, X7 provides almost everything you’d need and expect from raw processing software, and even the Auto options within some sections such as Basic (adjustments) can work well. While advanced users of the software wouldn’t require Auto adjustments, this function provides a quick edit for beginners who can then see how the software has handled image processing.

Beyond standard raw processing controls and global adjustments, there are localised adjustments that are applied as masks that can be targeted to parts of the image based on colour, luminance and saturation. The graduated filters are fiddly to use and would perhaps be better as dedicated tools rather than masks, but you do get used to how they work – and, being masks, they can be used on adjustment layers for blending in any of Exposure X7’s adjustments or preset effects. Speaking of presets, the hundreds of presets included provide a huge range of effects that can be applied at the click of a button. 

In this latest version of Exposure, there are several new features including a masking tool that makes it incredibly easy to select elements within images thanks to an intelligent algorithm; the crop and transform panels have been combined along with the addition of compositional guides within the crop tool overlay; different workspaces are available for performing various tasks as well as the ability to create custom workspaces and save your own presets; then there’s improved colour with DNG files and defective pixel removal for raw files.

Interface and usability

The Exposure X7 interface follows what you might call the standard editing software layout with image folders and presets on the left, a main image window in the centre, thumbnails along the bottom (or in the main window area) and editing controls on the righthand side.

The software is generally easy to use with image viewing and editing taking place in the same interface area, so no moving around from one tab to another. This certainly keeps things nice and simple, and while you may be thinking it would be cumbersome viewing images and editing them in the same space, it works well because you can easily change the viewing mode of the main image area. Not to mention when viewing and working on a single image, a filmstrip appears at the bottom of the interface so you’re never too far from the image folder you’re working from. 

In terms of the main adjustments, these are tucked away neatly in panels on the righthand side of the interface and can be expanded to show their controls or left minimised to keep the interface looking neat, tidy and less intimidating for beginners. The controls available are easy to use and provide the level of control required for editing raw files, carrying out out everyday enhancements like tone and color adjustments, retouching and sharpening. This is also where you’ll find Exposure X7’s analog effects tools and overlays, including bokeh blur, vignettes, light leaks, LUTs and more.

All of Exposure X7’s adjustments and effects are non-destructive when you’re using it in standalone mode. You can create any number of virtual copies of an image to try out different looks, and you can even ‘audition’ up to six presets at a time to see and select the one you prefer.

Quality of results

The image quality possible from Exposure X7 can’t be faulted when using the manual controls, though it doesn't always match the detail and noise control of Lightroom and Capture One when you're working with raw files. Some controls behave slightly differently to those i Adobe Lightroom, for instance, but that doesn’t have a negative effect on editing. It does, however, mean that if you’re used to other software, you’ll need to experiment with the sliders in the Basic panel to see how they function and identify those that behave differently from what you’re used to.

For regular raw processing and image enhancement, Exposure X7 performs well enough, but its real strength is its analog tools and presets, which offer a range of effects wider than those you can achieve in Lightroom or Capture One, and are only equalled by ON1 Photo RAW. 

Like any software offering presets, some are better and indeed more useful than others and with so many available it’s worth favoriting the ones you use the most to make them easier to locate in the future.

Verdict

The regular editing controls available in Exposure X7 are most suited to beginners and enthusiasts, but the presets provide a wide range of evocative one-click analog effects with control over opacity and cover everything from basic adjustments to film-style effects and more.

Overall, Exposure X7 is impressive software that delivers most, but not all of the features and functionality required by photographers; the lack of HDR and the ability to merge panoramic images is a shame, so Exposure a step behind competitors if these are important features for you.

Exposure X7 is a little outside the norm for photo editors. It’s not designed solely as a photo cataloguing and editing tool, but also as an easily customized source of photo looks and analog film effects. You can download a fully-functioning 30-day trial from the Exposure Software website to find out of Exposure X7's unique approach to editing and its evocative film effects are what you're looking for.

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While the new iPhone 13 Pro models boast a dedicated (and very good) Macro mode, an updated version of the Halide Mark II app promises to deliver macro photography to all iPhones. The question is, how well does it work? 

The Macro mode on the iPhone 13 Pro and Max is very impressive, but none of Apple's other phone feature this ability in the native camera app. So we updated Halide Mark II (an excellent app, which we always have installed anyway) on the iPhone 13 Mini to see just how well the third-party feature performs.

• Read more: iPhone 12 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro

First of all, we needed a small subject – though not too small because, however good software-driven macro might be, it's never going to be as powerful as a true macro lens. So in stepped a pint-sized pro wrestler. 

The Halide Mark II app – available via a rolling subscription or a one-off purchase – is superficially similar to the native Apple Camera app, with a familiar interface and control layout. 

However, it offers full manual control over ISO, shutter speed and focus, along with additional tools such focus peaking and histograms. 

By tapping the 'flower' icon, after hitting the AF button to switch to manual focus, the app's Macro mode is engaged. The app automatically detects which of your cameras (presuming your iPhone has more than one) can focus the closest and selects it. Using the focus gauge will display focus peaking so that you can see exactly what is going to be sharp.

If you're using an iPhone 8 or above, Halide makes use of the handset's Neural Engine to intelligently upscale images. By tapping the 'x2' icon you can switch to x3 magnification, to push in even closer to your subject.

So, for reference, below is the closest that our iPhone 13 Mini would focus – and the largest that the subject would be recorded in the frame – using the regular Apple camera app: 

With the phone at the same distance, using Halide Mark II to shoot at 3x macro, the below show is the greatest magnification we could achieve.

While hard details such as the figure's outline and the text across its stomach have been rendered pretty sharply, textures and details in the mask and mouth have been lost:

The results are okay, and Halide's magnification at least is impressive. However, the app wasn't able to provide the best macro results. 

Instead, below we were able to achieve greater magnification and greater image quality using the native Apple Camera app, from the same distance, using the 5x optical zoom:

And again for reference, below is a true macro photograph of the same subject using one of the best macro lenses on a traditional camera – the Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro on the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III. 

Here you can see that the 1:1 reproduction ratio of a dedicated macro lens makes the subject's head almost fill the frame, and retains every fleck of paint, texture and detail in the mask.

So, while the Halide Mark II app does give non-iPhone 13 Pros the ability to shoot macro images, if your handset has optical zoom you can actually achieve superior magnification using the native Apple Camera app. 

And obviously, an interchangeable lens camera with a true macro lens will achieve both superior magnification and superior quality to both options. 

We'd still recommend Halide as the best option for fully manual photography on your iPhone, but in our experience it's not actually the best option for shooting macro images. The app has a free seven-day trial, so give it a go for yourself. 

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