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The iPhone App Store is filled with great free and paid photo editing apps. These applications can give your existing photographs a whole new look without spending hours navigating through menus to find the right setting.
Here, I’ve rounded up a list of 6 top picks for iOS users to edit photos on iPhones easily. Read on for the reviews and also check out these picture editors if you wish to edit something new!
Read more: 7 Best Free AI Apps for iPhone in 2024
6 Best Photo Editing Apps for iPhone (Free)
- 1. YouCam Perfect: Best for AI-Powered Photo Editing
- 2. Google Photos: Best for Easy Photo Editing
- 3. Lightroom: Most Recommended on Reddit & Quora
- 4. Darkroom: Best for Presets & Filters
- 5. Bazaart: Best for Photo Backgrounds and Template
- 6. Snapseed: 100% Free App Without Ads
1. YouCam Perfect: Best AI Photo Editing App for iPhone Users
My personal favorite for AI picture editing is YouCam Perfect, which equips tools that satisfy my needs to edit daily shots or enhance the visual appearance of portrait photos.
I always edit my travel shots using this app as the AI within can immediately remove unwanted objects, photobombers, and text without blurriness. This means I don't need to struggle to look for the best location when visiting popular tourist spots.
Not to mention using AI to fix face distortion when taking photos using the front camera of my iPhone. The Reshape tools under"Beautify" can achieve natural edits with popular features like "Chin Length," "Width," and "Cheekbone."
Pricing
Most functions are available for free; $9.99/month for full access
Download Link
2. Google Photos: 100% Free Picture Editor for Easy Photo Editing
Aside from the Apple Photos app already included in users’ iPhones, Google Photos is also a free picture editor highly suggested for image back-ups using its cloud storage across devices. The app is now more powerful than before for 3 main reasons: making people’s photos organized, searchable, and editable.
If you're desperate to find an old memory of yours, typing in the related keywords in "Search" could help easily navigate to the potential footage. Moreover, the AI within will help analyze your photo as you press "Edit," listing out suggestions to enhance your visuals or providing practical editing tools such as Magic Eraser (available for subscribers) and Filters.
Pricing
Most functions are available for free (15GB storage); plans start at $1.99/month (100GB)
Free Download Link
3. Lightroom: Free Photo Editing App Highly Recommended on Reddit & Quora
If you’re an Adobe subscriber already, Lightroom is considered one of the best picture editors recommended by users widely on Reddit and Quora. The app is an iconic industrial standard for professional photo editing. Users can achieve intricate adjustments on color grading, lighting, and lens correction.
As the picture editor supports users to edit images on iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS, I often edit high-quality landscape pictures using Lightroom for presets to make them more visually appealing before sharing them on socials.
Pricing
Most functions available for free; $9.99/month for full access
Free Download Links
4. Snapseed: Photo Editing App with No Subscription Required
The Google-owned picture editing app Snapseed has been recognized as the most convenient and lightweight app. Users don’t have to go through pop-up ads and struggle to ignore the subscription notification before editing pictures. It's 100% free, with no sign-ups and no subscription needed.
This free picture editing app has been my all-time favorite since I was a student. For portrait photos, I will recommend first using the filters under Looks or trying the "Vintage" feature under Tools for cohesive color tone. Then, press "Portrait" to adjust eye clarity and face spotlight. If you're editing selfies and wish to fix face distortion, I would recommend using "Head Pose" for basic adjustments including pupil size, smile, and focal length.
Pricing
All functions are available for free
Free Download Links
5. Darkroom: Free Photo Editing App for Presets & Filters
As a user who lives in the Apple ecosystem, picture editor like Darkroom also allows me to smoothly edit images between my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. The application also allows users to easily sync presets using Apple iCloud, saving time for users to locate their favorite features when editing across devices.
What I appreciate about this free photo editing app is its ability to save my edited photo as a project. Furthermore, it provides easy access to the user's editing history, allowing individuals to revisit previous steps. This feature is particularly convenient when creating similar photo effects after periods of not using the app.
Pricing
Most functions available for free; $6.99/month for full access
Free Download Links
6. Bazaart: Best Photo Editing App for Backgrounds and Templates
Sometimes, you just want to find an aesthetic template to make your Instagram stories and reels pop. This is when Bazaart comes in handy! You can easily turn your photos into videos, combine multiple snaps into one, and access customizable designs & templates in the design editing app.
Except for personal sharing on social media, Bazaart also provides templates for business use to design eye-catching product photos, gift cards, and sale promotion posts. What surprises me is the free animated backgrounds and in-app Music support features provided within (as it’s not commonly seen in most picture editors).
Pricing
Most functions available for free; $7.99/month for full access
Free Download Links
Why Choose YouCam Perfect for Photo Editing?
There are loads of photo editing apps available in the market, but here are 3 benefits to use YouCam Perfect to edit your picture.
#1 Easily Remove Unwanted Objects from Photo
One of the most popular photo editing features in YouCam Perfect is its "Object Removal" tool. You can use a brush to paint over objects, people, or even glass glare to remove them.
What's best is that you can try this feature unlimited times to see its effect before deciding whether to subscribe to the app. You can clean up your image in just a few taps.
#2 Fix Closed Eyes & Face using AI Tools
For some people, it's hard to get a perfect shot. You either blink at the wrong moment or just don't know what face you are making...
With YouCam Perfect, you can fix all that with an AI-powered tool called "AI Replace". It can do things like opening your closed eyes in photo, replace a straight face with a smile, and more.
#3 Beautiful Photo Filters to Try
If you want to create different vibes to your photo, YouCam Perfect provides all kinds of photo filters, including iconic B&W, old camera filter, vignette filter, rainbow filter, and color filters.
Try them out and see how it will transform your daily photo.
Best Free Photo Editing Apps for iPhone At a Glance
| Best Free Photo Editing Apps | Available Platforms | Free Option/AI-Powered |
| YouCam Perfect | iPhone, iPad | ✔️/✔️ |
| Google Photos | iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS | ✔️/✔️ |
| Lightroom | iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS | ✔️/✔️ |
| Darkroom | iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS | ✔️/✔️ |
| Bazaart | iPhone, iPad | ✔️/✔️ |
| Snapseed | iPhone, iPad | ✔️/❌ |
Read more: Top 10 Must-Have Photo Editing Apps for Android in 2024
FAQs
What Is the Best Way to Edit Photos on an iPhone?
Aside from using the pre-installed Apple Photos app on your iPhone, you can utilize easy-to-use picture editors to enhance your daily shots or travel photos without the previous learning curve.
If you're a budget user, you can try the Snapseed app for basic editing tools (100% free, no ads). As for people who live in the Apple ecosystem, we recommend using applications like Lightroom and Darkroom to edit images across Apple devices; plus, these picture editors have aesthetic presets to enhance your visuals.
How to Edit Pictures on iPhone?
To edit photos iPhone using a picture editor like YouCam Perfect:
First, tap "Photo Edit" and upload your image. Then, locate editing tools on the menu bar, for example:
- Tap Effects for 600+ filters and presets
- Tap AI Selfie for AI filters (portraits); AI Scene for AI landscape filters
- Tap Cutout to turn your pictures into personalized photo stickers
- Tap AI Removal to remove objects, people, and watermarks
- As you're satisfied, save and share your result
What Are the Best Free Picture Editing Apps for iPhone?
Here, we've researched and listed the top 6 commonly used and discussed picture editing apps for users to edit images on iPhone for free:
- YouCam Perfect: Best AI Picture Editing App for iPhone Users
- Google Photos: Free Picture Editor for Cloud Storage
- Lightroom: Best Free Apple Photo Editor Recommended on Reddit & Quora
- Snapseed: 100% Free Picture Editing App Without Ads
- Darkroom: Free Picture Editing App for Presets & Filters
- Bazaart: Best Design Editing App for iPhone
