Best free photography apps for iPhone

iMore's authoritative guide to the very best, absolutely free photography apps for iPhone and iPod touch

Looking for great photography apps for your iPhone or iPod touch? The App Store is home to over half a million apps and games, and a surprising number of them are available for free. Some of the most popular and most-used free apps are free photography apps -- to pair with the iPhone's superb camera.

Instagram

Free Instagram app for iPhone

Instagram isn't just a free iPhone app, it's one of the most popular social photo sharing networks on the planet. It features a large selection of vintage, hip, and fun filters as well as the ability to add the tilt-shift effect to your photos. You can also follow friends and photographers, "like" photos, and leave comments on them. (If you're looking for more great iPhoneographers to share with, check out our Instragram name swap thread!)

Facebook Camera

Facebook is actually very similar to Instagram, just restricted to Facebook. You can view a stream of all the photos your friends are uploading to Facebook as well as share your own. Before uploading your photos, you have the opportunity to add a filter (all of which are very similar to instagram), crop, and tag your friends. Of course, you can also comment on and "like" photos that you encounter. It's Facebook for photos!

Snapseed

There's no denying that the iPhone is equipped with a fabulous camera, but that doesn't mean that many of the images that you take couldn't benefit from a little editing. I dare say that Snapseed is the best free editing tool available for your iPhone in the App Store. It's very robust and super easy to use. Snapseed is actually only free for a limited time, so definitely make sure you pick this one up now! (It's normally $4.99).

Pic Stitch

There are a lot of collage apps in the App Store, but what's great about Pic Stitch is that it's free! With Pic Stitch for iPhone, you can create beautiful collages that tell a story in just a few taps. It features 32 different layouts and after you've finished your masterpiece, you can share it to your favorite social network or another photography app.

Camera Awesome

Free Camera Awesome app for iPhone

If you're looking for a free app that offers more than the built-in iOS Camera app, look no further than Camera Awesome. This fantastic free iPhone app not only gives you a lot of powerful editing tools and filters, but it also gives more control while taking photos as well by allowing you to select separate points for focus and exposure.

More free iPhone apps

For dozens of additional free iPhone apps, including free social networking apps, instant messenger and communications apps, educational apps, entertainment apps, finance apps, fun and games apps, health and fitness apps, kids apps, music apps, navigation and location apps, news apps, productivity apps, reading apps, shopping apps, sports apps, travel apps, and general utility apps, see here:

Leanna Lofte

Former app and photography editor at iMore, Leanna has since moved on to other endeavors. Mother, wife, mathamagician, even though she no longer writes for iMore you can still follow her on Twitter @llofte.