Technologies

Best free and paid photo editing apps for iPhone and Android

These apps can make your images look incredible.

With phones like the iPhone 13 Pro, Pixel 6 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra packing cameras that can give DSLRs a run for their money, it’s no wonder we take so many photos using just our phones. But when we get back from our day trip in the hills or our walk around town, it’s easy to just forget the images we’ve taken that day and let them gather dust further and further down our phone galleries.

Doing some creative photo editing can be a great way to get more out of your photography. And it doesn’t even matter if you have the latest, greatest phone with the best camera setup on the back or an older, cheaper phone; the iPhone App Store and Google Play Store on Android are jam-packed with great free and paid photo editing apps that can give your existing shots a whole new look, all from the comfort of your favorite squashy armchair.

I’ve rounded up a selection of my top picks, so have a read, make a cup of tea and settle down for an evening editing session. You can even turn your favorite shots into a photo book.

You can also check out these creative ideas to flex your photography muscles at home if you want to shoot and edit something new.

1. Snapseed

Free on iOS and Android.

Google-owned Snapseed offers a wide range of exposure and color tools to make tweaks to your images, but also has plenty of filter options, from vintage styles to modern, punchy HDR looks. You can layer the effects up to create some interesting edits on your image. And best of all, it’s totally free.

2. Adobe Lightroom

iOS and Android, some functions available for free, or $5 per month for full access.

Adobe Lightroom remains an industry standard for professional photographers and the mobile version is much the same. You’ll find no stickers, animations or emoji here, but you will get fine grain control over your image and the same set of tools you’d find in Lightroom on desktop. It’s the app I use the most to edit my own images on my iPhone and iPad, not least because the images sync in the cloud, letting me start on one device, and continue on another.

3. Adobe Photoshop Express

Free on iOS and Android.

Photoshop Express has many of the same features you’d find in Lightroom, including exposure, contrast and color editing options, but strips out some of the pro tools and cloud syncing and, crucially, ditches the subscription fee. It’s a great tool for tweaking your images to bring out their best, but you’ll also find a decent selection of filters and overlay textures, as well as tools for making cool collages from your images.

It’s not as open to wild creativity as other options on this list, but it’s a solid editing app at a price that’s hard to argue with.

4. Prisma

iOS and Android, $8 a month or $30 a year.

Prisma doesn’t deal with subtle filters and basic image corrections. Instead, its trippy filters will transform your images into often bizarre artistic creations. The results have a painterly effect and indeed many filters are inspired by artists such as Salvador Dali and Picasso. The filters are strong, and while you can tweak them, not every filter will work with every image. I found some to be more suited to portraits while other filters worked best with landscapes.

But it’s great fun to experiment with and when you find a photo that works, it really works.

5. Bazaart

iOS only, $8 a month or $48 a year.

Bazaart’s montage and collage tools let you combine multiple different elements — from photos, to text, to graphics — and layer them all up to create a finished work of art. It has tools that let you instantly erase the background from behind a portrait subject (I was amazed at how well it worked!) in order to put in a new background or layer up multiple effects. It also has a huge variety of templates to create gorgeous collages for Instagram stories too.

There are so many different ways you could try and composite different images together that the only boundary will come down to how creative you’re feeling. Head over to Bazaart’s Instagram page for some inspiration.

6. Photofox

iOS only.

Like Bazaart, Photofox has powerful tools for removing subjects from background that let you composite in new backgrounds, or apply awesome effects. I particularly like Photofox’s dispersion effect, which makes it look like your subject is bursting into particles (trust me, it’s cool), as well as the glitch effects and the double exposure that overlays two images on top of each other.

As with Bazaart, there are endless possibilities of what you can do by layering and compositing different types of images and applying different effects to each.

7. VSCO

iOS and Android, limited functions for free, or $20 a year with a seven-day free trial.

VSCO began life making color grading presets for Lightroom and its roots are clear in the app today. Rather than offer stickers and animated GIFs for Snapchat enthusiasts, VSCO is all about the more artful filmic color filters. The app has a huge range of presets available, including looks designed to emulate classic rolls of film from Fujifilm, Kodak and Ilford.

It’s got a great selection of black-and-white filters too, making it a great choice to experiment with if you’re into your moody monochrome shots.

8. PicsArt

iOS and Android, limited functions for free or $48 a year for the whole suite.

PicsArt has a huge range of editing tools available to you, from basic adjustments like exposure and contrast, through to cinematic color grading and dramatic filters that transform your images into painting-like pieces of art. There are loads of options for both the tone and shape of your face in selfies — I won’t go into the ethics of using these tools for «beauty» purposes, but I had fun in using the tools to intentionally transform my features into bizarre proportions.

There’s a whole Instagram-style social sharing element to PicsArt as well, if you’re interested in that. Personally I was mostly interested in the editing options.

Make sure to check out my guide on creative at-home photo projects, see our whole catalog of awesome tips and tricks for better phone photos.

Technologies

Magic Cue Might Be Pixel 10’s Most Helpful Feature. Here’s How To Use It.

With AI, Magic Cue can instantly pull up flight information, reservation details and photos in calls and texts, so you don’t have to dig for them.

You might be sick of hearing about all the AI features loaded on your phone. But if you have a Pixel 10, there’s one key capability that may be worth tapping into.

Magic Cue is one of Google’s latest AI flexes. It can surface information related to what’s on your phone’s screen, so you don’t have to dig for it yourself. For example, if you’re calling your airline, Magic Cue will automatically show your upcoming flight information on the call screen. Or if your friend texts to ask about what time dinner is, those details will appear within Messages without you having to look for them.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The Pixel 10 series is loaded with other impressive AI features, like a Voice Translate feature that can mimic the sound of a caller’s voice while translating what they’re saying. AI can also sharpen your zoomed-in photos and help you take better pictures with Camera Coach. And Circle to Search remains one of my favorite mobile tools. But Magic Cue is one of the few capabilities that succinctly delivers on the promise of AI to simplify tasks and act as a helpful mobile assistant.

Like many AI features, Magic Cue can be hit-or-miss, and in many ways it’s still finding its footing. But it stands out as one of the more practical and helpful AI features you can use on the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL and 10 Pro Fold.

Which devices can use Magic Cue?

Only Google Pixel 10 phones can tap into Magic Cue. It’s powered by the Google Tensor G5 chip and the latest version of the Gemini Nano AI model. So if you have an older Pixel phone or a different Android phone, this won’t be available to you.

How to use Magic Cue

To use Magic Cue, you’ll first need to allow access to the capability in your Pixel 10’s settings.

When you open Settings, you’ll see Magic Cue listed near the bottom. Tap that and hit the toggles to allow suggestions and information to pop up based on what’s on your screen.

You’ll also see an option to choose which specific apps you want Magic Cue to pull data from, like Gmail, Messages and Calendar. That way if you have a flight reservation in your email or a dinner blocked off in your calendar, Magic Cue can surface that information when it relates to a conversation on your screen. Google’s support page for Magic Cue also notes that suggestions can show up on «select third-party messaging apps,» though I personally haven’t seen it appear in WhatsApp just yet, for example.

Within Magic Cue’s settings, you’ll also see whether an update is needed for the feature to work properly. Under the Magic Cue updates tab, it should say «Up to date.»

You’ll be able to use Magic Cue 24 hours after you set it up on your Pixel 10. It may take some time for it to process data across your apps and show relevant suggestions, but it’ll get better at providing information and actions as you continue to use your phone.

Magic Cue processes everything on-device, so you shouldn’t worry about your personal information being compromised.

How Magic Cue works

Once Magic Cue is enabled, it’ll suggest actions and surface information related to what you’re doing on your Pixel.

For instance, if you’re calling an airline, your flight details, including departure and arrival time and confirmation number, will appear on the call screen. That way, when a customer service agent asks for those details, you’ll have them readily available.

Similarly, if a friend texts to ask when your flight lands, those details will pop up automatically within Messages, and you can just tap to send. Or if someone asks where you’re having dinner tonight, Magic Cue can find that information from your calendar so you don’t have to drop it in yourself.

Magic Cue also works with Google Photos, so if someone asks for a picture of someone or something, you can tap the Share Photos button that pops up in Messages and select which suggested image is the right fit.

In my experience, Magic Cue has been helpful but not perfect. It does a good job of showing flight or reservation information from my email or calendar. But there are also times it’ll just say «View calendar» when someone asks what time something is happening. In those instances, Magic Cue isn’t really saving me any time or effort, since I can easily swipe to my calendar myself. But I have hope it’ll get better with time and more consistently feel like a magic trick.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Oct. 26

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 26.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought 4-Down was a bit tricky, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Rubber ducky’s «habitat»
Answer: BATH

5A clue: Coin in Cannes
Answer: EURO

6A clue: Go «Grrrr …»
Answer: GROWL

8A clue: «The other thing I wanted to say …»
Answer: ALSO

9A clue: Street sign in a school zone
Answer: SLOW

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Plead
Answer: BEG

2D clue: Vibes, in Gen Z speak
Answer: AURAS

3D clue: Social media menace
Answer: TROLL

4D clue: «Oh, yeah? Explain that to me»
Answer: HOWSO

7D clue: Like a phone battery under 20%
Answer: LOW

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 26, #398

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 26, No. 398.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. That purple category — oof, it’s a typical Connections brain-buster. If you’re struggling but still want to solve the puzzle, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Bunch of players.

Green group hint: College division.

Blue group hint: Knock it out of the park.

Purple group hint: You’ll find a hidden word in these four team names.