The top five apps of the 2010s were all social media apps of some kind, and the fact that's not surprising to you says a lot. We may use them for other reasons here and there, but our phones are social media machines at their cores. The thing is, some make better machines than others.
If reaching up to access Camera controls like the flash, HDR, and timer wasn't bad enough, it's gotten a lot more tedious on recent iPhones like the X, XS, and 11 series thanks to their tall displays. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, however, you can easily fix this issue using a free tweak.
When it comes to filters, Snapchat is no slouch. The chat app's array of effects rivals even the fiercest competition from filter masters like Instagram. Now, the company has a new trick up its sleeve that adds depth to your selfies (and even more new filters), and that feature is called 3D Camera Mode, available for iPhone models with the TrueDepth camera used for Face ID.
XDA recently reported on a leaked version of the upcoming Pixel 4's camera app. By testing the app, they were able to find upcoming Pixel 4 features like a new Night Sight mode that can photograph stars. Well that leaked version has leaked itself, so now you can install it on your own Pixel phone.
The S Pen in the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ has improved to make remote usage even easier. Controlling your phone with just the stylus is no longer a party trick, as you can now move around and take actions in both first-party and third-party apps. One of the best examples of this is the Camera app.
Smartphones have put an end to camcorders. If you want to capture memorable moments in high quality, look no further than that technological marvel in your pocket. Recent Galaxy phones are shining examples of how far we've come — but the more capable a camera gets, the more complicated things can be.
Nowadays, our phones are capable of just more than 30 fps video. Phones like the Galaxy S10 can shoot 4K at 60 fps, even on the front camera. Slow motion functionality has recently started to appear on more and more devices — but as you may have noticed, the quality of the feature differs from phone to phone.
Samsung has stepped up its camera game with the Galaxy S10's dual- and triple-lens systems. But as impressive as the hardware is, the native Samsung Camera app still isn't as good with image processing and video stabilization as the Google Camera app for Pixel phones. Thankfully, you can get the best of both worlds.
Mobile augmented reality company Snapchat now has a special option for romantic message exchanging this Valentine's Day, a day which, incidentally, happens to be the first one in 116 years where Sweethearts, the original heart-shaped candy, will be unavailable for purchase.
If there's one company that is a fan of the TrueDepth camera on Apple's iPhone X devices, it's the popular eyeglasses retailer Warby Parker.
For the entirety of its existence, Snapchat has lived on mobile, but in its quest to lead the augmented reality industry, the company is now bringing those mobile AR experiences to desktops.
With iOS 12, your iPhone's Messages app has more features than ever to enhance iMessage and FaceTime. Included in these changes are the new camera effects, which allow users to add fun and unique customizations to their photos and videos with the in-app camera in Messages. Stickers, Memoji, and more await the photos you take and send in Messages. ...
It looks like the Huawei P20 Pro won't be the only phone with a triple camera for much longer. Rumors indicate the upcoming LG V40 ThinQ will share the same number of cameras. And just like with dual cameras, LG is showing that there is more than one way to arrange them.
Microsoft's Monday keynote introduced the fourth generation of the company's Kinect sensor during Build 2018 in Seattle.
Although more and more smartphones are introducing portrait modes with their cameras, there are still plenty of devices out there — especially devices older than one or two years — that do not. While your particular smartphone might not offer you that bokeh effect, Instagram can, as it gives all smartphones software-based portrait modes.
Apple's TrueDepth camera made its debut in the premium-priced iPhone X late last year, and since then, the reviews have been pretty positive. Now, Apple might be preparing to make the Animoji-friendly sensors available in more iPhones, as well as the iPad Pro, later this year.
Last year, OnePlus released not one but two excellent flagship devices with the OnePlus 5 and 5T. While the 5T released sooner than expected, it brought some worthwhile upgrades, such as a near bezel-less display and a much-needed camera enhancement. Now, that the OnePlus 6 has arrived, it's time to see what OnePlus has in store for 2018.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ have a new camera feature that Samsung is calling "Dual Aperture." On the surface, that may sound like your typical techno-jargon, but it actually has some significant implications for the future of smartphone photography.
Google's new AI-powered camera, Google Clips, seems to be targeted at parents of young children in its current form, but the idea itself has unique potential. Just set it up somewhere, then you'll never miss a moment trying to capture the moment — you'll have a robot photographer taking care of that stuff for you.
The Pixel 2's camera is one of the best you'll find on an Android phone. Among its standout features is the incredible Portrait Mode, which Google accomplished with some impressive software processing. Thanks to a few clever developers, you can now enjoy the Pixel 2's Portrait Mode on your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8.
Augmented reality is making many of our childhood dreams from Star Wars come true. A week after Lenovo gave us the ability to actually play Holochess, Apple has now made it possible to take live video of ourselves and layer on a (non-3D) hologram-like effect, closely resembling the famous Star Wars hologram scene featuring Princess Leia decades ago.
Whether you use VSCO to take all of your photos or you use it primarily to edit photos you take with others apps on your iOS or Android phone, you're at some point going to want your VSCO pics to end up in your Camera Roll or Gallery. VSCO doesn't add them there by default, but there's a couple of ways to get them there.
If you've spent countless hours scrolling through Instagram feeds full of selfies, then I'm sure you know that some are, well ... better than others. There are so many different things you can do to start taking better selfies to post on social media. One really easy way is to start shooting in VSCO.
YouTube's mobile live streaming feature is great for connecting with your audience in a more personal way than traditional videos provide. Audiences can view and respond to content in real time, and creators can do the same. While unfortunately not available to everyone — you need at least 100 subscribers — live streaming is possible, even with your smartphone.
The rumor that the iPhone 8 will ship with 3D camera system is not a new one, but a new analysis by Morgan Stanley's Charlie Chan lends credibility to the speculation. Now, it appears more likely than ever that Apple's next iPhone will ship with 3D capabilities, increasing potential for AR and VR integration in the future.
Apple announced their new iPhones today, and the 7 Plus features two camera lenses on its backside. That could push smartphone photography ahead in a major way. It may also serve as the basis for their foray into virtual, augmented, and mixed reality.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, a new smartphone manufacturer named Nextbit emerged, then released its first flagship device—the Nextbit Robin. The headlining feature of this colorful gadget is its cloud-based app storage, but the phone itself comes with a very polished and sophisticated suite of software.
The software released in the 2015 iterations of the Samsung Galaxy line of devices—the S6, S6 Active, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and Note 5—have some pretty neat camera features that give these devices arguably the best smartphone camera on the market today.
Not too long ago I showcased ReCam, a free app that lets you schedule recordings and use your Android device as a security or spy camera of sorts. While useful, this app required you to schedule when to record in advance, resulting in you possibly missing the footage you intended to record (assuming your scheduling wasn't as on-point as you wished).
With the Nexus 6, you get a very clean software experience with minimal bloat. While this is generally the main selling point for most Nexus fans, it can be a bit of a detraction for some.
While there isn't a "Camera Roll" anymore in iOS 8 for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the photos that were once in it are not missing—they're just not as convenient as they once were. In the upcoming iOS 8.1 update, Camera Roll will be making a comeback, but we've found something better that you can use right now—even after Camera Roll returns!
Love or hate them, selfies are here to stay, and because of their rise in popularity, developers are clamoring to jump on the bandwagon. Most companies offer ways to add filters and share them, but few aim at changing the way the are taken.
Google recently updated the camera software for the Nexus 5, and in doing so, made the app available to all devices running Android KitKat. This means that not only do we get a nice new camera interface on our phones, but we also get the benefit of an expanded development community.
Update: May 7, 2014: Google's Camera has seen its first update, with a small yet important addition baked into the app—the ability to take pictures while recording a video. Now, when in video mode, simply tap on the screen to take a picture, while your recording continues as normal. The update to version 2.1.042 is set to hit today, but if you haven't yet received it, apply it manually by downloading the apk here.
Lenovo brought out the big guns for CES 2014, with the Vibe Z showcased as the Chinese company's' first foray into the LTE smartphone space. Slated for a February release, the ultra-thin and extremely light smartphone will certainly be in the running for top smartphones of this very new year. Photo via CNET
There are a ton of cool things you can do with your iPhone's camera in iOS 7, from taking burst photos to bouncing the camera open and taking nice parallax-friendly wallpapers. However, nothing tops the camera's super secret hidden feature—turning you into a spy photographer.
We have all had buyer's remorse. It's an inevitable fact of life that we get things only to want another. For those of us with a Samsung Galaxy S3, some of those new Moto X features are probably looking pretty tempting.
Just like the HTC One Google Play Edition, the recently released Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition ditches the manufacturer's UI in favor of a pure Google experience, i.e. AOSP, but is also optimized specifically for the device's hardware.
You've seen security cameras everywhere in the public space. How many are there? Where are they? This is information that can be difficult to come by. It's not just criminals that are interested in information on this. It's your fundamental human right to be able to go about your daily life without being monitored and watched at every step. You might think that these cameras are for safety, and they can certainly help make people feel secure. Then it automatically follows that these people sh...
If you take your camera equipment with you on a pretty frequent basis, having a camera bag can help protect it and makes it much easier to keep everything in one place. A good camera bag can be pretty expensive, but with this tutorial by photographer Allen Mowery, you can turn a cheap canvas messenger bag into a nice looking DIY waxed camera bag for half the price. For this project, you'll need a canvas messenger bag, a camera insert, and some paraffin wax, which can be found in the canning a...
