Portrait photography is a popular genre among smartphone users, and the demand for high-quality portrait camera apps has been on the rise. With the plethora of options available on both Android and iOS platforms, choosing the best portrait camera app can be a daunting task. In this article, we will explore some of the top portrait camera apps available for both Android and iOS, highlighting their features and capabilities to help users make informed decisions when selecting an app for their photography needs.
We have compiled a list of 9 Best Portrait Camera Apps For Android & iOS for your consideration, which have undergone rigorous testing and evaluation by our team of experts.
Table of Contents
9 Best Portrait Camera Apps For Android & iOS
1. DSLR Camera
DSLR Camera is an app designed for taking high-quality photos and videos on iOS devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. With this app, users can access manual controls, advanced editing options, and over 200 professional filters. The app has been constantly updated since 2014 to improve its performance and has been downloaded by users in 30 countries. DSLR Camera offers three shooting modes: Auto, Manual, and P, making it suitable for both beginners and experts. The app also includes features such as RAW format, predictive filters, portrait pro bokeh, shot preview, AR assistant, Siri shortcuts, advanced focus, AFC, face tracking, selfie comparison, and advanced editor.
DSLR Camera enables users to capture and film their subjects with manual control over shooting time and ISO. Its controls are designed to be simple and complete. The app’s exclusive algorithm selects the most appropriate filters for photos after each shot, and it also offers features such as portrait pro bokeh and predictive filters. Users can preview their shots and edit them with the integrated editor, adjusting exposure, contrast, color temperature, and other features. The app also includes 184 exclusive photo filters and support for cinematic 4K videos.
DSLR Camera offers additional features such as multicam, drag and drop, iMessage app, and Apple Watch remote control. It includes support for 3D touch, night mode, anti-shake, timer, tone curves, advanced blur, advanced correction tools, text, splash, resize, crop, dual camera zoom, digital zoom, and selfie flash. The app is easy to use and is suitable for both beginners and experts looking to take high-quality photos and videos on their iOS devices.
2. Focos
Focos is a photo-editing app that utilizes computational photography and light-field camera technology to bring DSLR-like photography to iPhone and iPad Pro devices. This app enables users to create beautiful bokeh effects that are typically only achievable with expensive professional cameras. With computational photography, users can make unlimited changes to their photos, such as focusing after the fact and changing the aperture repeatedly, resulting in creative potential beyond any editing tools previously known.
According to The Verge, Focos is one of the most ambitious photo-editing apps on iOS, enabling users to turn any photo into a “portrait mode”-style image with fully adjustable depth of field, regardless of the type of camera used. Focos’ main features include the ability to take photos with shallow depth of field without manual selection, automatic calculation of depth of field for all photos using an AI engine, true 3D imaging, and the ability to simulate large apertures to create real bokeh effects.
Users can also import existing photos and customize the bokeh effect or re-focus portrait photos that have already been taken with a simple tap. Focos offers various simulated aperture diaphragms to generate different bokeh spot effects and professional options to simulate lens characteristics such as creamy, bilinear, swirly, and reflex effects. Users can visualize the depth of areas within their portrait photos in a 3D view and add depth filters intuitively, as well as add multiple lights in a 3D space and adjust the color, brightness, and more for each light.
Focos also features an augmented reality technique that enables users to check their portrait picture in the real world. For users with an iPad and Apple Pencil, it is possible to patch the depth map precisely. The app is intuitive and easy to use, with built-in video tutorials, making it an essential tool for all iPhones and iPads. Users can contact the Focos team for questions or suggestions via support@focos.me.
3. Portrait: Depth Mode Photos
Portrait is a mobile app that allows users to create depth effect photos quickly and easily on their iPhone. The app promises to make photos perfect within seconds, enabling users to create professional-looking portraits with ease. The app provides simple yet powerful depth-of-field editing tools that give users total control over the zoom and blur levels for precise editing. Additionally, the app offers a range of up to 50 filters to choose from and allows users to share their portraits on Instagram.
Portrait offers three auto-renewing subscription options to users: $7.99 per week, $14.99 per month, and $49.99 per year. These prices apply to customers in the United States. Pricing in other countries may vary, and actual charges may be converted to the user’s local currency depending on their country of residence.
Users should note that their Portrait app subscription will automatically renew at the end of each term, and their credit card will be charged through their iTunes account. While users can turn off auto-renew at any time from their iTunes account settings, refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term.
For more information on Portrait’s terms and conditions, users can visit the app’s website and review the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy at http://www.totoventures.com.
4. Pixtica: Camera and Editor
Pixtica is a camera app that offers a range of features for photography enthusiasts, filmmakers, and creative individuals. It has photo and video editors, a comprehensive gallery, and various creative tools. The app is designed to be fast and intuitive to ensure users never miss a moment.
The app has an intuitive design that allows users to unlock their creative potential and take perfect photos and videos, regardless of their level of experience with photography.
The major features of Pixtica include a selection of assets for creating unique creations, such as filters, stickers, and textures. The app also includes manual controls for devices that support them, allowing users to intuitively adjust the ISO, shutter speed, focus, exposure, and white balance. However, manual controls require that the device manufacturer allows apps to use them and not only the factory camera app.
Pixtica offers a portrait mode that enables users to take photos with a blurred background, apply blur areas to any photo, and even make bokeh effects. Users can also replace the photo’s background or remove it with a stage-light effect. The app also has a panorama feature for capturing breathtaking wide panoramas, as well as HDR for taking beautiful photos with multiple presets.
In addition, the app comes with a GIF recorder for creating GIF animations with different capture modes for unique loops, time-lapse and hyperlapse for recording accelerated events, and slow motion for recording videos in epic slow motion (when the device supports it). Pixtica also enables users to create little planets in real-time with live preview thanks to its advanced stereographic projection algorithm.
Other features include a photobooth for automatic photo collages ready to share, a document scanner for scanning any type of document to JPEG or even PDF, and a MEME editor with a large selection of high-quality stickers.
5. AfterFocus
AfterFocus is a product that allows users to create DSLR-style background blurred photos by selecting a focus area. It also includes various filter effects.
The developer encourages users to reach out via email for any bugs, suggestions or comments.
Thank you for your interest in AfterFocus.
6. Cymera – Photo Editor
Cymera Photo Editor is a free selfie camera application available for Android and iOS users. The application includes various tools and features such as real-time selfie filters, crop tool for YouTube thumbnail, Instagram, and Facebook cover, DSLR blur effect, lights and fireworks effects, text tool for photo-cards, selfie filter & beauty makeup tool, collage maker & poster tool, Insta 1:1 square & blur background for Instagram, and many more. The application supports various languages such as Korean, English, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Portuguese, Russian, Indonesian, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
The Cymera Photo Editor has recently added new effects and tools to its offering, specifically tailored for Thanksgiving celebrations. Users are encouraged to try out these ideas to bring the spirit of Thanksgiving to their selfies. The features include hundreds of amazing beauty filters and makeup effects, real-time beauty camera selfie effects & makeup camera, and perfect instant selfies using +150 filters.
Apart from the festive themes, the application offers a range of features to enhance selfies, such as body retouching, skin corrections using skin glow and concealer tool, and automatic face recognition including enlarge eyes, smile, and slim feature. The application also includes an option to organize photos by date, location, selfies, etc., and share them on social media or other instant chat platforms.
The Cymera Photo Editor is designed to make editing photos easy and fast. It includes various tools such as brightness, contrast, mosaic, rotate, and more, high-quality resolution for clean and clear photos, and red-eye removal function. The application also supports Bluetooth connection for selfie sticks with remote and silent mode to shoot wherever you want without disturbing others.
The application offers a variety of camera lenses, including seven different and fascinating camera lenses, anti-shake, timer, touch shooting, out-focusing options, and different types of grid to combine photos (up to 9 photos) into one.
7. Phocus: Portrait Mode Camera
Phocus is a photo editing app that specializes in creating depth and portrait lighting effects on any phone. The app’s simple design is paired with advanced person recognition technology that works in the background. In addition to offering portrait mode editing, Phocus also has many unique photo editing tools that can be applied professionally in just seconds with minimum effort. These tools include portrait mode, portrait lighting, color splash, and many other effects.
To use Phocus, all you need to do is choose a photo from the gallery on your phone or take a photo using the app’s built-in camera. Then, simply tap the magic wand for the automatic background blur process. Phocus detects the person in the photo and separates them from the background. You can then adjust the blur amount or edit any area.
Phocus also offers a portrait lighting feature that allows you to take studio-quality portrait photos. This feature provides a special light to the face while darkening the background. There are two options for portrait lighting: stage lighting and mono lighting. With stage lighting, you can choose your own colors, while mono lighting creates black and white photos.
If you want to add a more aesthetic feel to your photos, Phocus has a color splash tool that allows you to get cool photos with a grayscale background. The app also has a manual edit mode that allows for more detailed editing of the photo.
Phocus AI is available as a subscription service that provides automatic background detection. Subscriptions auto-renew at the cost of the chosen package, but can be cancelled 24-hours in advance prior to the end of the current period. Users can manage their subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to their Account Settings after purchase.
For support and feedback, users can visit rayinformatics.com/contact. More examples can be seen on Instagram @phocusapp. Phocus has a terms of use and privacy policy available on their website.
8. Snapseed
Snapseed is a photo editing software developed by Google. The software has 29 tools and filters that include healing, brush, structure, HDR, and perspective. Snapseed can open both JPG and RAW files. It allows users to save their personal looks and apply them to new photos later. Users can also use the selective filter brush to make adjustments on specific areas of the image. All styles in Snapseed can be adjusted with fine, precise control.
The software has several tools, filters, and face enhancements. Raw develop is a tool that allows users to open and tweak RAW DNG files, save non-destructively or export as JPG. Tune image is another tool that automatically or manually adjusts exposure and color with precise control. Details brings out surface structures in images, while crop can be used to crop images to standard sizes or freely. Rotate, on the other hand, rotates images by 90° or straightens a skewed horizon. Perspective is a tool that fixes skewed lines and perfects the geometry of horizons or buildings. White balance adjusts the colors of the image to make them look more natural.
Snapseed offers a selective tool that uses the renowned “Control Point” technology. The user can position up to 8 points on the image and assign enhancements, and the algorithm does the rest magically. Other tools include healing, which removes the uninvited neighbor from a group picture, and vignette, which adds a soft darkness around the corners like a wide-aperture. Text can be added in both stylized or plain form. Curves give precise control over the brightness levels in photos, while expand increases the size of the canvas and fills up the new space with content of the image.
Lens blur can be used to add a beautiful Bokeh to images (background softening), ideal for photographic portraits. Glamour glow adds a fine glow to images, great for fashion or portraits.
9. Manual Camera Lite
The Manual Camera DSLR Lite Version has all the features of the Pro Version, but its photo resolution is limited to 8MP, video resolution to 1080p, and maximum recording duration to 5 minutes. Despite these limitations, it provides manual control over ISO, shutter speed, exposure, and focus, among other features, making it possible to achieve professional-level mobile photography.
The main features of the Manual DSLR Camera HD Professional include exposure control, white balance control, manual ISO, manual focus, shutter speed control, RAW photo saving, real-time filter/color effect, 4K camera recording (on supported devices), timelapse/fast motion video, slow motion video, video frame rate and bit rate settings, intervalometer/interval shot, geotagging, and photo stamping, among others. To use some of these features, Android 5.0+ and Camera2API enabled by the phone manufacturer are required.
Additionally, the DSLR Camera HD Professional has burst camera mode with configurable delay to create stop motion or time lapse video, face detection/facial recognition, front and back camera selection, golden ratio grid, and various professional camera features such as scene mode, color effects, and manual exposure lock. It also offers 4K camera recording with optional audio recording, adjustable volume keys for quick operation, remote control with configurable delay and automatic repeat mode, manual focus distance, RAW (DNG) files on front and back manual camera, burst camera mode for interval shooting, and GPS location tagging.
All these features make the Manual Camera DSLR Lite Version and DSLR Camera HD Professional suitable for creating high-quality photos and videos using a compact and user-friendly interface. To ensure that all manual camera features work, Android 5.0+ and Camera2API enabled by the phone manufacturer are required.