Useful cell phone apps for photography

After many years of resisting, I have finally purchased my first cell phone. I opted for a Samsung smart phone and I'm now ready to join the modern era. What are your favorite apps that are handy for photography? I'm thinking of apps that use your GPS and tell you where and when the moon or sun will rise or set, views of the night sky from your location, etc. Would be great to be free or at least for a nominal cost. Thanks!

After many years of resisting, I have finally purchased my first cell phone. I opted for a Samsung smart phone and I'm now ready to join the modern era. What are your favorite apps that are handy for photography? I'm thinking of apps that use your GPS and tell you where and when the moon or sun will rise or set, views of the night sky from your location, etc. Would be great to be free or at least for a nominal cost. Thanks!

Sky Map is one of my favorite favorites!!!

There are many others for Android phones... I also have downloaded sketch camera, background eraser, cartoon camera and others, but I find I mostly use plain old LR &PS in subscription because of near Pro resulting edits on mobile and storage within the app. What you like to experiment with personally will dictate. In any case, have fun!

 

other than my LR/PS subscription, they’re all free.

Snapseed

'Photographer's Companion' - tons of useful calculators, free (ads).

 

But my most used two apps are Fujifilm Camera Remote and Instax Share.

 

So check the corresponding app for your system of choice. Remote control of all major settings, autofocus point selection and shutter release, with live view on your phone screen, is either absolutely priceless, or totally useless.

 

(But I find it very useful)

I've tried out various 'camera control' and mobile editing apps (like Pixlr) but I tend to use LR and Photoshop most, if at all. The current Android 'camera' app gives me all the control I need.

 

One app I've found useful is 'Photo and Picture resizer' though there are many other apps that do the same thing.

 

I'm not sure whether I ever explictly set my Android camera settings, but my photos now come out at 4032 x 1816 pixels. Depending on the photo, between 3MB and 5MB per photo. Mobile 'sharing' apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. automatically reduce the resolution (and file size) of photos when sharing. When sharing photos via e-mail however, the original resolution and file size (unless modified by an edit program like LR or PS) is included as an attachment.

 

So a mobile 'photo resizer' (independent of edit programs sometimes comes in handy when sharing photos with friends who deliberately just use their phones for calling and SMS. And do everything else via e-mail.

 

Another is the (wireless) combination of Droid Transfer on my Windows PC and 'Transfer Companion' on Android. When I first bought my Samsung 20, I didn't have a USB cable that fitted both ends. I'm sure I could have found a cable somewhere but the 'wireless transfer' solutiion was quick and easy to implement and was relatively cheap.

 

I found it so convenient and reliable to use that I've never bought a USB cable. One click on my Laptop, one on my phone, scan a QR code and I'm connected. I can select which phone photos (or other types of files) I want to transfer and into which (or new) Windows folder.

It works very much like my (USB-connected) Canon transfer program. Very different to the standard W10 message 'what do you want to do with this device?'

 

A final point, take the time to explore your 'settings' in the camera app. The 'PRO' settings gives you much more control. You can also choose your photo format.