Afterlight: Film Photo Editor Ratings and Reviews

great, but could be better

this app overall is amazing. most editing apps was disgusting destructive filters that looks horrible, but afterlight’s are actually pretty good. the interface is really easy to use, and is very user-friendly. this is a great app for both beginners and advanced editors. definitely recommend.

one thing i do suggest to change is fusion filters. with the current version, you have to start recording your filter before you even START editing the photo. i don’t like this, because sometimes i’m already done editing my photos before i realize, “hey, that was a pretty good edit, i wish i had made it a fusion filter.” i wish that there was an option to make your edits a fusion filter AFTER finishing editing your photo.

but overall, afterlight is great. it is definitely my #1 editing app, and i have tried a LOT. a much better deal than vsco or a color story and everything. definitely worth the $2.

Some feedback

I’ve been using afterlight for quite a while, it is definitely my #1 app that I use for editing. I love it so much so that I actually gifted my mom this app as well so she can have a simple, yet amazing app to edit her photos with. It is super easy to navigate! But there are a few things that I think the developers should put into consideration…

When using the app from the photos app on iPhone… It sometimes turns black, the photo disappears and it is starting to get a tad bit annoying at this point… I am unsure if this is just me or what, but if someone from the Afterlight Dev team sees this, I need you to try to do this… Go to the photos app, choose a photo, press “edit” on the top right of the photo, press the three dots (...) that is just left of the red “revert” button. If afterlight isn’t showing on the tab that popped up, then go to “more” on the very right, then toggle afterlight “on” , then press done, open afterlight from the photos app (don't go to the actual afterlight app), then try editing, mess around with different tools and see if the picture you’re editing randomly turns black or disappears, and if it does then can you guys please issue a fix for it? Either that or make it to where I can modify the original photo from the afterlight app so i don't have a duplicate.

Developer Response ,

We're working on a fix for this issue, thanks for the report and the kind words!

Initial thoughts

After using the 1st Afterlight app for a few years I couldn’t wait to get the newest creation. I absolutely loved the 1st Afterlight, using it over any other photo editing apps. That being said, the newest version of Afterlight is very much the same except for the new “Fusion” and “Double exposure” features. While the features are nice and provide an additional touch to your editing they aren’t enough for me to justify the cost to get this newer version of Afterlight. In my opinion, if you already have the 1st version of Afterlight then you don’t have a need for Afterlight 2. Afterlight 2 does have an updated look and layout which is extremely appealing and easy to use. Overall it is the same app minus a few newly added features, which I feel shouldn’t have been a qualification for a new app and should have been an update to the original Afterlight. FINAL THOUGHTS, I am an avid user of photo editing applications so I would absolutely purchase Afterlight 2 again due to the overall experience and quality of the app. Afterlight is in my opinion the best photo editing application available for your smart devices!

Well...

I’ve been a fan of Afterlight since its early debut. I was an early user back in 2012 or so. Afterlight stood out to me with its utility and photo customization, and it gave me what I needed and a little more with fun filters, photo flip options and some whacky frame shapes. I was really satisfied with the UI design, but I feel out of love with the app a few years ago as my interests in phone edits dwindled, then it became filler in my home screen.

Now, that I’m back on Instagram with a new phone, Afterlight seemed like the best fit for a one hit K.O. But at first I couldn’t download the app because Afterlight 2 had come out in the midst of my hiatus; which was only valid for the new 10, so AppStore didn’t recognize my previous purchase. The app is now free with a series of in app features that are accessible through expensive memberships (for apps). Although it’s a change that was probably better for the team I was surprised to see how much it was. Despite the price I truly appreciate the app and its utility.

From my experience this app works well.

SCAM

I was an Afterlight user for many many years and just wasn’t loving the new app like the previous one. Not happy either that they sent an in app message to basically make us delete the old app and move to this one… MOST of it behind a paywall… so definitely don’t try this app. (Very shady). I purchase the pro version after being on their new version since it was released, and here’s everything wrong with it. Filters are all stuck in 2016 Instagram days, the touch features don’t make a difference to the photo and ends up adding a bunch of grain to it, images take a while to load in at the start with the loading circle on it, then saving it, as many have complained below, you cannot pic the size of it and the file type of JPEG or PNG. For everyone paying that absolutely should be an added option at bare minimum if most of their app is behind a paywall now and they USED to have it as an option. Customer service doesn’t respond to anything I’ve sent to them. If I could give 0 stars I would. For the price of these items in Afterlight this is absolutely not worth it. Go to Lightroom or Canva (free or pro)

Breath of fresh air

Finally a developer recognizes that they can provide a revenue stream the old fashioned way - by building in new features and capabilities BEFORE reaching into their customers' pockets. The new Afterlight isn't a breakthrough product, but it assembles features that might otherwise require several separate apps. And it isn't just that convenience -- they are competently wrapped into a new shiny package.

If you have the original Afterlight, and found it useful, I recommend buying the upgrade for no more reason than as a tip to the developers for a job well done. If you never used the first version, I heartily recommend adding it to your post-photo session tool kit.

And to developers going out of their way to slice their apps up into half a dozen in-app purchases or even worse, subscriptions, Afterlight 2 shows that there is a more respectable way to make a living.

Great app. Practically flawless, could use a couple changes

I love this app. After manually editing digital photos the past 15 years, it’s nice to throw a photo in this app and run some quick adjustments for a great outcome. It’s now my go-to app when photo editing. So much so that it’s replaced my use with Lightroom and other apps with 90% of my images.

I do think there are a few opportunities, however. I wish the individual hue adjustments had negative value sliders in addition to positive value sliders. I often find it difficult to achieve the exact hue i’m looking for with certain colors because i can’t pull the slider backwards.

I wish the adjustments weren’t permanent after you apply them. For example, I add a filter, then i’ll add some individual adjustments. Then maybe i want to change the filter but keep the individual adjustments. There is no way to do this. The history tool only allows you to go back one action at a time. It would be nice to be able to remove a specific adjustments further back in history without having to sacrifice other adjustments that took place afterwards.

Also, I wish there was more dynamic RAW support. I feel the RAW data could be utilized better with exposure related adjustments.

Good

There’s so many photo editing apps you could fill an entire tablet with them. Afterlight 1& 2 are ones I keep and use regularly. They’re good but wouldn’t call them great. None of them are. All the apps I use have tons of features that overlap but each of them has that one or two special feature none of the others has. Or they have some great filters you just can’t cut out and add to one app to rule them all. Now that’s an app I’d love to have. One app that lets you use specific features from a bunch of different programs without having to get in and out of them. I also like they haven’t tried to make this program a subscription based. Who ever thought that is a good idea is fooling themselves. Who wants to pay $9.99 a month for ever? That’s $120 a year for an app you only use occasionally. They can screw off. I’ll keep supporting apps like afterlight who aren’t trying to get greedy.

Okay, was hoping for a different experience

First off, the good: nice UI, easy to navigate, and runs smoothly. No crashing, and interesting effects you can apply to photos and play with.

The bad: As with most apps nowadays it requires a subscription model to get the ‘meat’ of the app. I know they’ll likely reply to this & indicate how they need it to be profitable; however I already have Photoshop & Lightroom, which already does everything this app does and more. The only reason to use this is for “instant gratification”/ convenience where I can edit photos on my phone as opposed to uploading them to my laptop to edit. Why would I pay another annual/monthly subscription for the same thing, just for a small convenience? Probably not the only person in this scenario and it’s worth finding a solution for on the developers end, IMO.

Additionally, Snapseed already has some of the premium features of this app for free which makes it a hard sell; while this app does have unique and interesting features too, they all require a subscription to use outside a free trial period.

Personally, I don’t want anymore subscriptions and won’t have any interest in it, I’d rather either deal with unobtrusive banner ads or one time purchases.

Thank you and good luck with the app. 🙏🏻

GOOD UNTIL CRASH?

This app is awesome for photo editing for me. I was able to create my own preset and there are tons of great features to apply to projects.

The only critical feedback I have that I would REALLY like to see a solution to is that after a couple edit applications, the app freezes, and then crashes without warning sending me back to my home screen. If there was a feature to save a project in progress or have a studio of projects in the process of being edited (think VSCO gallery but with Afterlight) that would be incredibly beneficial. Getting really frustrated not being able to just apply four or five edits after my preset to my engagement photo and just have it in my camera roll. Resorted to applying an edit, saving... repeat until done. Which is lowering the quality I’m sure. Please fix this crashing issue. It is getting really bad.