The 10 Best Free Phone Apps for Photographers

In the exciting world of technology, phone apps are now allowing us to access and achieve things on-the-go which we previously thought were impossible.

Our phones seem to be the one item that we carry with us at almost every moment of every day, so why not make the most of them through installing helpful photography-related apps?

Thankfully, we’ve rounded-up the 10 best free phone apps for photographers which will assist you with everything from scouting locations for photo shoots, to determining the correct exposure, editing your images like a pro, and so much more.

Photo Tools

For a free app, Photo Tools is certainly a detailed one! This handy app has been labelled as one of the best tools for professional photographers and advanced amateurs.

It contains an impressive list of features and tools, but some of the standout ones include a Field Of View Calculator, Flash Exposure Calculator, Minimal Shutterspeed Calculator, Timer, Stopwatch, Light Meter (using Camera & EXIF), Blue & Golden Hour Calculator, Location Info, Weather Forecast, Image Histogram Viewer, Check Lists, Note Pad, Grid Overlay Camera, and a Gallery for Inspiration. The best bit? That’s not even half of what Photo Tools has to offer, truly making it the all-in-one application for those who are serious about their photography.

DSLR Remote

The developers behind this handy app have a good point when they explain: “Your smartphone is always with you, so why carry unnecessary stuff? Let your smartphone in combination with DSLR Remote be a remote control, a timer or a HDR controller for your digital reflex camera.”

Appropriately named DSLR Remote, this app is perfect for photographers on-the-go who may have forgotten their actual DSLR remote, or who simply didn’t own one previously.

More than just a remote, however, this app actually boasts several other features including (but not limited to): delayed shots, series of shots with fixed interval (e.g for time lapse), and the triggering of shots / start of timer / HDR sequences by the ambient light sensor on your smartphone.

Tutorials for Photoshop

This app has already had over 1.5 million downloads, proving that it certainly comes in handy for many smart phone-owning photographers! Tutorials for Photoshop provides an incredible array of step-by-step and easy-to-follow tutorials to teach you how to do a range of things in popular programs such as Photoshop, Photoshop CS4, Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS6. Now you can learn on-the-go!

Digi-Review – Cameras & Lenses

If you like to keep on top of the latest and greatest DSLR, mirrorless cameras, and lenses, then you’re sure to find the Digi-Review app to be very intriguing.

It provides technical specifications of hundreds of lenses and cameras, along with thousands of technical reviews from reputed sites such as dpreview, the-digital-picture, photozone.de, and more.

VSCO

You’ve probably already heard of VSCO by now, but this app is widely celebrated among the photography community. Not only does it provide users with pretty nifty photo editing tools (such as awesome filters) to help them perfect their phone photo editing workflow, but users can also interact with other photographers in the VSCO community, as well as follow their work via the app.

Pocket Light Meter

As a professional photographer, you’d find it handy to always have a light meter in your pocket, wouldn’t you? Not only is this Pocket Light Meter app perfect for on-the-go use, but it’s also free for the basic version (i.e. before you choose to make any in-app purchases, which are not necessary anyway).

Adobe Photoshop Express

If you’re familiar with using Photoshop to edit your images on your computer, then you’ll be pleased to hear that you can also get a free app version of the program on your phone. Adobe Photoshop Express lets you access images on your mobile device, Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Facebook, and now Google Photos. Many photographers boast about its fast, powerful, and advanced photo editing capabilities.

PhotoScan Scanner by Google

Have you heard of PhotoScan before? It’s a new app by Google Photos that lets you scan and save your favorite printed photos using your phone’s camera. Here’s the catch though: rather than simply taking a photo of a photo and having to deal with unsightly glare or blurriness, this app actually offers easy step-by-step capture flow, automatic cropping based on edge detection, and perspective correction.

For photographers, this is a great way to get your analogue / film photos onto your phone to easily share across your business’ social media.

Sun Seeker

This is a very interesting app which lets you view the optimal light conditions – a feature which is particularly helpful when planning photo shoots (and seeking that desired ‘golden hour’).

Sun Seeker provides everything from a flat view compass and an augmented reality camera 3D view showing the solar path, hour intervals, winter and summer solstice paths, rise and set times and more.

Google Earth / Google Street View

Technically these are two different apps, but they both have a lot in common. Google Earth and Google Street View are both ideal for helping you to scout the perfect locations for upcoming photo shoots…without even leaving your home!

You can simply click on places on the map or search for them in order to be able to view them in more detail. It gives you a great idea of various locations by placing you there in a realistic, 3D view.

There you have it – the 10 best free phone apps for photographers! Which ones will you be downloading to assist with your photography on-the-go?