Camera Plus was quite a popular app a while back but sadly, had an extensive period of time where it went without being updated very often. After the iOS 7 launch, it appears as if the developers have decided to breathe new life into the app, and fortunately for us, they've succeeded.
The first time I launched the newly designed Camera Plus app I knew it would quickly become one of my favorite photo management and editing apps again. The interface is gorgeous and intuitive. One of my favorite features is that when you're scrolling through photos in your Camera Roll or any album, the menu bar floats and stays at the top of the screen. This may seem like a little thing, but it's a big deal for folks who switch albums frequently and don't want to have to keep tapping the menu bar and backing out of screens. One tap and you've got access to all your albums.
In edit mode you find the usual suspects which include adjusting things such as saturation, contrast, exposure, and more. When taking a photo, you can even adjust the brightness with the Lumy slider off to the right. Tap on the plus sign next to the focus point to switch between normal, macro, and far modes. This is a feature I can see myself using often as I've never been particularly pleased with the way the stock Camera app for iPhone handles manual focusing.
Camera Plus also offers locked options so you can protect some of your photos from prying eyes. You can easily do this to any existing photo by tapping on the lock button. From the main Camera Roll view, just swipe to the left to access your locked photos.
The good
- Beautiful interface that's easy to use
- Great control over images with focus, macro, and far modes
- Locked mode for photos you don't want everyone seeing
- Direct share options to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, and more
The bad
- Aside from the great interface, it isn't incredibly different from other photo editing apps that have been around a good long while
- The app went without being updated for a long time, it's a gamble that it won't happen again
- No AirDrop support from what I can see
The bottom line
Camera Plus faded into the night at some point but it's great to see that the app, and the developers behind it, came back swinging. The interface is gorgeous and the feature set is a nice compromise between too much and too little. For those not experienced with photo editing, Camera Plus makes it easy to learn how. Let's hope the app is continually supported this time around though.
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