Life in LoFi: iPhoneography | iPhone Photo News, Showcases, App Reviews

UPDATE 02.03.12: After about a day in the App Store, Instagrunge has disappeared. No reasons were given in the dev’s Twitter stream and the app’s Facebook page is offline as well. There is a short explanation at the bottom of the Instagrunge website:

“But the app isn’t quite finished yet, so you will have to wait a little longer before you can start dirtying up your images. Stay tuned…”

New iPhone photo app Instagrunge recently hit the App Store. As the name implies, Instagrunge quickly and easily scuffs, fades, scratches, damages and stains your photo quickly and easily.

Currently, it’s free through February, making it fairly easy to download and try out. Even while free, though, it’s got a lot of problems, though, before it finds a place on my iPhone. >>>

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Fisheye Camera
Version reviewed: 2.8
Price: $0.99

Bottom Line: The image quality — or lack of — is reason enough to avoid Fisheye Camera.

The only reason I’m reviewing Fisheye Camera by Zhong is because it’s now number 23 in the Top Paid iPhone Photo apps. This is a horrible photo app that I wouldn’t ordinarily want to draw attention to, even negative. This is one of the worst apps I’ve ever reviewed and is only as high as it is on the charts because of possible App Store shill reviews.

I recommend that you avoid this app. Read past the jump to find out why. >>>

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AnalogColor is the new iPhone version to Pentacom’s popular desktop app for Mac and Windows, ToyCamera AnalogColor. It creates analog-like photos and simulates cross-processing.

The new iPhone version has hit the App Store with a resounding “meh.” It’s difficult for me to get excited about this app because of all that’s missing from it — basic features that are in the desktop version (and other iPhone photo apps) but not in the iPhone version. Even the developer hints that this 1.0 release was rushed out before it was really ready.

That’s too bad. The app has potential and could be pretty good in a few updates.

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It eventually happens to all of us. We’ll take a great shot, but when viewing later, we realize that it’s cropped just a little too tight. “If I only had a little more sky, this photo would be perfect,” we lament. Previously, on the iPhone, that involved using one or two (lesser) crop apps to add canvas and then cloning back in image. Some would call it a detailed process. I call it a PITA.

AntiCrop is a new photo app from Adva-Soft, the makers of the very good content-fill app TouchRetouch. In addition to standard crops, AntiCrop allows you to crop outside the edge of your photos, using fairly intelligent content fill to add image where there is none.

I like the app, but it’s not perfect. Read past the jump to find out how well it works.

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Mattebox
Version reviewed: 1.3
Price: $3.99

Bottom Line: I like the app. It’s like shooting with a traditional high-end point and shoot.

(UPDATED 01.19.12.)

Mattebox is a deceptively simple camera app which gives you advanced control over your image and helps you get the best photo possible in camera. It’s billed as “the Photographer’s mobile camera.” The interface is gorgeous. It’s modeled after the Konica Hexar, a classic and powerful point-and-shoot camera. It’s sleek and functional.

It’s pretty pricey for a camera app, but it has some very well-implemented features. I bought the app at its full initial price of $4.99. I don’t regret the purchase. It’s now $3.99. Mattebox is a very traditional camera-like app in a market of camera apps designed for the iPhone. It’s a simple yet powerful camera app.

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Magic Hour – Camera & Unlimited Filter
Version reviewed: 1.3.4
Price: $1.99, on sale through January 15 for $0.99

Bottom Line: I Like it. Both easy to use and powerful, Magic Hour should be great for a wide range of users.

iPhone photo app Magic Hour – Camera & Unlimited Filter by Kiwiple is on sale now for only $0.99 — that’s a savings of $1.00. This sale is for a limited time only — through January 15 — so grab it now.

We’ve never had a close look at Magic Hour here on LoFi. I thought this would be a good time to have a closer look at this fun, yet powerful photo app.

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SelectEffect was specifically designed to offer professional effects in a more user-friendly way. The app claims high-quality effects with just a few taps.

It’s at version 1.4 now. It’s got some good-looking effects and it’s very easy to use, but I don’t think it’s a must-have app yet.

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“PicYou is the perfect tool for instantly sharing your photos and daily life with friends, family and the world.”

PicYou is a new free social photo app with photo filters, a sharing network, and Facebook and Twitter connectivity. In other words, Instagram.

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While things are a little slow, I get to play catch-up. Here’s one from October that you may have missed the first time out.

Instacam bills itself as “Yet another Instagram camera with Live filters preview.” It dismisses itself too easily. This retro photo app is probably one of the more interesting Instagram companion apps in the store.

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Lensograf is a new free retro photo app with a cool name. Basically, it’s a Turkish Instagram clone, except that many of the filters are better than the current crop of Instagram filters.

It’s a low-res app, saving at 612×612. It has 13 filters, many of them look fine for one-click image processing. If you’ve got the room on your iPhone, they’re good as an alternative to the Brannens, Toasters, and Valencias that Instagram currently offers, but for little else.

I don’t recommend it, but if you get sucked in by the great name, then read on for important things I found about the app. >>>

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