A Color Story: Photo + Video 4+

as close to perfect as you can get.

Aside from the apps that came with my phone—text, email, weather, etc—this and Instagram are the only apps I have on my phone and use. And they go together perfectly. I have tried a number of photo editing apps in the past but ended up deleting them because this one is as close to perfect as you can get for a photo editing program on a phone. There’s a huge number of filters and new packs are released periodically. Always on trend colors and looks for your pictures, and with a wealth of classics, too. The filter packs are usually done as collaborations with well-known artists who have very specific styles, and so you end up being able to elevate own iPhone photos into works of art themselves. I use filters from every single pack and enjoy that you can create your own folder of favorites, which makes accessing them quick and easy. There are comprehensive editing tools as well like sharpen and brighten and temp editing. I appreciate that you can edit videos with the filters, too, because Instagram’s app is sorely lacking with video editing tools. I’m a dedicated fan of this app for life.

Used to be perfect!

I’m a longtime user of this app and have purchased several packs over the years, meaning the switch to a subscription only model really irritates me. Sure, I can continue using the packs I already paid for, but I regularly have to “restore purchases” in order for them to show as being owned, and the entire app is now one giant ad for the subscription. I already paid for the presets I use, I’m not going to continue paying MORE than what I’ve already paid, every month, for ones I don’t/won’t. I now see that they took away framing entirely and made it a subscription only feature, which is also frustrating, especially since crop and straighten are such basic features, but I suppose I can use the native photos app to do this post-edits. All of that disgruntlement aside, my real complaint that is starting to become a dealbreaker, is how buggy the app has gotten since the major update. There’s a significant lag when selecting photos or returning back to the grid, and sometimes the app crashes or freezes. I’m sure the developers of this great app want to keep it running and make the most money possible off of it, but I fear it’s been ruined for me by the freemium subscription model and bugs. If I’m going to pay monthly for an editing app, it’s going to be Lightroom (which I do already pay for), which is leagues ahead of ACS in features/capability, and pricewise, about the same if you breakdown the photography package with photoshop.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for being a long time user! The subscription model should not have taken away any access you previously had. The framing tools are NOT part of the subscription and are free for all to use. Please be aware that we have a lot of exciting things planned for the app for this year including some features that will be added non subscribers. You can let support know about any issues you have with the app and they will work hard to make it right.

Update is Meh.

I loved this app until the most recent update. It was always my go to and now I’m a bit disappointed. I think the update isn't as user friendly. Not really a fan of the the new visual icon set up for the filters and effects. The color text box really interferes with seeing the filter effect icon preview. Not a huge issue, but something i noticed immediately.

Locating “saved” and “recent” edits takes a bit of getting use to, but what has really shattered my heart is actually using the Saved/Recent edits. Before the update i could easily scroll through my saved edits at the bottom the bottom of my image, click any one I’d like and see a preview of how my image would look. I could keep previewing other saved edits before i decided which one id like to use.

Now i actually have to click “use” from the pop up without actually previewing my image with that saved edit. And after i click the use button and realize i don’t actually like that edit with my photo, i then have to go through and undo every single filter layered in the saved edit. I have to start the process all over again hoping the next saved edit i choose will work for my image. If not, the undo process begins again. This is really disappointing and makes the saved edit feature almost useless.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for sending in your feedback about our saved + recent editing function! We’ve created a new update that enables you to preview these before applying the edit. The user experience is much stronger, and we hope you love it! Thanks again for letting us know how we can improve the app for your use. You can download 4.0.2 now in the App Store! 💛