As smartphones are becoming our go-to devices for capturing important and memorable events, it is pivotal to have a good camera app that can bring out the best in your phone’s camera and let your photos really shine.
Sometimes the default camera app just doesn’t cut it, and that’s why we have compiled this list of six other alternative apps that can replace the stock Android camera app and help you capture high quality shots on your device.
Related: 5 of the Best Alternative Camera Apps for Android
1. Camera 360 Ultimate
This is one of the most popular camera apps on the Google Play Store with over 100 million downloads and an excellent 4.3 average rating. Camera 360 Ultimate features two modes – a camera mode and a selfie mode which uses your device’s front camera. Once ready, you can tap the big yellow button to capture an image, or if you prefer, just tap anywhere on the screen to take a shot. (You have to turn on the function in the settings first.) All your photos are saved to the Camera album which you can access from the app’s main screen.
There are hundreds of built-in filters that you can apply to give your images a sharp or glossy effect. You can cycle through each filter and preview your changes by swiping and selecting each effect. Once you’ve applied a filter, you can save it to the gallery or share it to Instagram or any other service using Android’s share function.
Price: Free
Availability: Requires Android 4.0 and later
2. Camera Zoom FX
This app is another popular alternative to the stock Android camera with over 5 million users. It sports a busy interface with buttons on the top and bottom of the app which links to a host of features and settings. Much like Camera 360 Ultimate, it supports an array of filters that you can apply to your photo or you can download additional ones from the Play Store. You can also perform other editing actions such as cropping, rotating, flipping, adding frames or creating collages from within the app. You can also shoot videos with this app.
Price: Free / $2.99
Availability: Requires Android 1.6 and later.
3. Camera MX
Camera MX is another high-quality Android app that supports all devices sporting Android 2.3 and later. Its most outstanding feature is the “Shoot the Past” mode which allows you to go back several seconds before the shot to look through a buffer of images and save moments that happened before the actual photo. It’s best to use this feature in a bright and well-lit area, as your device’s flash will only work for the main photograph.
There are nineteen visual effects you can take advantage of, and you can also set different scenes for your photos such as selfie, sunlight, snow, etc. Finally, you get 500mb of space for your online album where you can save, view and share your images.
Price: Free
Availability: Android 2.3 and later.
4. Cymera
No list of the best Android camera apps would be complete without Cymera with its over 100 million users and a high 4.3 rating a testament to its awesomeness. Apart from the wealth of editing options included in this app, you get automatic face recognition as well as a choice of fifteen unique watermark design for your photos. There is a built-in “smart” gallery which can categorize your photos based on location or group all selfies together. Sharing your shots with friends is as easy as it gets with built-in sharing options for Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and more.
Price: Free
Availability: Varies with device.
5. Manual Camera
Manual Camera is a very different camera from the others on this list. While most third-party apps try to remove the complicated steps to ease the process of taking photos, Manual Camera provides full manual control of the camera on your Android device by taking advantage of the APIs included in Android Lollipop.
You get a range of features that other apps simply do not offer, such as manual shutter speed, manual ISO, manual exposure compensation, the ability to save images in lossless RAW format for further processing and much more. If complete control over every detail of photos taken on your smartphone appeals to you, Manual Camera should be your next purchase.
Price: $2.99
Availability: Requires Android 5.0 and later.
6. Pro Capture
ProCapture is another decent camera app that may fit your needs if you’re looking for something light, fast and flexible. Although it has not been updated since May 2014, it worked well enough for me to include it here. There are multiple modes for you to choose from, including a WideShot mode which links three photos to produce a high resolution wide image and a Panorama mode which can link up to twelve shots for a high quality panoramic image. Reduced noise mode can also help reduce the noise in your photos by up to 30%.
Price: Free / $3.99
Availability: Requires Android 2.2 and later.
Conclusion
With the huge number of quality third-party Android camera apps available, there is no reason for you to be stuck with the stock Camera app with a feature set that is hardly inspiring. Most of the apps here are free, so you can download them and test them outright now. Don’t forget to let us know which one worked best for you or if you have any other recommendations by posting in the comments below.
Republished with permission from MakeTechEasier. Read the original.
