photo apps

It's been a while since we put together our list of the best Photo Booth apps, and wow, have they come a long way! We all know that photo booths are as essential to a good party as the food and drinks, whether you're celebrating a birthd…

This is a sponsored message from Mylio Photos One thing we can safely say about parents: We take a ton of photos. The other thing we can safely say: We hardly have time to organize them, let alone curate them, delete the extras, and shar…

You may have seen this hilarious sketch on SNL that has a bunch of adults using the app BeReal during a rather tense situation. (if you haven't seen it yet, go watch now! I'll wait.) This sketch does a great job explaining what BeReal is…

Fireworks are at the top of nearly everybody's list of favorite Fourth of July memories, but capturing the magic in fireworks photos can be extremely tricky. So we scoured our favorite photography and tech resources for great photo tips …

We used to say "photos or it didn't happen," but it feels like 2020 is all about "filters or it isn't Instagram." You may have noticed folks you follow using wacky filters -- or oddly flattering filters that bathe them in a beautifully h…

Every parent wants to know how to take better pictures, especially around Christmas. A few years ago I received the completely awesome gift of a DSLR camera, but I admit I haven't entirely learned how to use it properly. I've taken thous…

I often like adding Boomerangs to an Instagram Story to help change things up from still photos. But then, I either have to go shoot a Boomerang in Instagram (and figure out what to shoot) or open the Boomerang app itself. Not one of lif…

If you've got kids in summer camp, you may know that each day they don't get a letter from home is another reason they grow up to resent you. Kidding. But they do like to get lots of letters -- and I admit, I am not the best daily letter…

A few weeks ago, my teenager asked me to take a few photos of her while we were visiting my son at camp in Washington D.C., but she kept moving through her poses too quickly that all I kept getting were photos of her in motion. Not so gr…

Our social media feeds are blowing up photos from the FaceApp, thanks to the new FaceApp Challenge, but is it safe? If you'e missed the buzz, this hilarious (ish) app lets you upload a photo to the app, then edits it using AI filters so …

We've been longtime friends with Jill Krause, founder of the popular BabyRabies.com parenting website, and recently Happy Loud Life , where she chronicles her RV-living adventures with her family of 6, and longtime admirers of her amazin…

With the warmer weather finally here, I'm looking forward to getting outdoors with my family. We're avid campers and hikers, and I have to admit, I enjoy the time we spend away from screens. Turns out, it's also Screen-Free Week, so how …

Our Cool Mom Picks' editor, Liz, had the awesome opportunity to check out the latest Crayola creations at the 2018 Toy Fair, and we are pleased as tropical punch (aka magenta) to sneak peek their brand new and upcoming releases with you!

I'm so grateful for those fantastic baby book apps that have saved me from hot glue guns and zig-zag scissors. Especially since now I can record my son's special moments when I'm breastfeeding, sitting in a doctor's office, or waiting th…

Last year, I fell in love with the A Color Story app for photo editing, and named it my cool pick of the week on our Spawned podcast . Just this weekend, they launched A Design Kit , their equally fun, friendly, and really wonderful app …

Last week on family vacation, atop the San Jacinto Mountain with the scenic Coachella Valley behind me, of course tons of selfies were taken. As is the law these days. When it was my turn to pull out my phone, I realized I couldn't get a…

Do you remember The Mother of All Celebrity Selfies? You know, the one Ellen DeGeneres took at the 2014 Academy Awards surrounded by A-list nominees? Well, Richie Sambora remembers it too, especially that the photo ran all over social me…

As someone who is definitely not a pro photographer, I'm all about the photo apps that help make my snapshots...let's say, a little more artful. That's why the Prisma photo effects app (iOS and yes, Android) is my latest photo filter app…

As a new mom, I'd adore a Mother's Day gift that takes my favorite Instagram shots and transforms them into an awesome keepsake so that I don't have to. After all, I can hardly find time to back up the several billion pictures I've taken…

We get lots of questions from readers about how to repost a photo on Instagram. While we know that you can simply take a screenshot of the image you wish to share, then upload to your own feed with a photo credit + tag or camera emoji + …

You might have noticed the new Instagram albums feature that allows you to post up to 10 photos at once for people to flip through. If you're wondering how it works, and why you'd even try it, we've got a quick tutorial, plus some great …

For super cool black and white photos beyond the couple of Instagram filters you get, take a peek at the free Hypocam app (iOS and Android ) that we're loving. Related: 5 terrific pro photography tips beyond selfies Related: The new Came…

As much as I love my iPhone camera roll and the thousands of photos it houses, I do have a very soft spot for old photographs. The ones where the color is a little faded, the edges are a little worn and the memories come flooding back. T…

If you're a photo hoarder like me, but never actually get your photos off your phone or tablet for anyone to see, I bet you'll be as intrigued as I was by this new interactive photo album called Joy . The Joy Album is a gorgeous digital …

When school started a few weeks ago, one of my daughter's first homework assignments was to bring in photos of favorite people and things to decorate her daily notebook. I love the idea, but didn't love that I had to email myself photos,…

Editor: This article has been updated with more current information since publication If you keep tabs on your teen on apps like Instagram and SnapChat, you're going to want to add another one to your list, parents. VSCO (pronounced vis-…

I've seen some pretty adorable baby announcements in my mailbox over the years. I have to say, I really admire my friends who know their way around Photoshop. They can put the perfect font with their baby's photo to make the cutest annou…

Take Chatbooks photo books and add in The Novogratz Family design sense and you get a very cool way to turn your favorite summer photos into a keepsake. Simply download the Chatbooks app, then enter the code SUMMER16, where the cool illu…

Ever since I downloaded the Artkive app a few years ago, it's been my very favorite way to store all the artwork my kids bring home from school. Instead of filling up my closets with huge stashes of paper (and glitter that never stays pu…

Beyond cropping out background noise or scrolling through a few Instagram filters, I don't usually spend a ton of time messing around with my photos. But after downloading the new and free Prisma app for iOS this week, I've discovered ho…

If you're into taking video, have I got a reco for you! It's AfterCam , a sort of "after-the-fact" video recorder that helps you capture the past 5, 10, or 20 seconds in time without clogging up your phone with tons of extra video data. …

Though your kids may not be able to find their shoes when you are running out the door, they are sure to love finding the solutions to the problems posed in Alien Assignment , a fun, free app for kids as young as three. Created by the Fr…

Let's be honest, the best photos of kids are never the perfect ones. They're not necessarily the photos that required hours of prep time picking out a perfect outfit, or a six-lollipop bribe for a smile. Looking back at our own favorite …

Whether your travels this year take you halfway across the world, to your favorite beachside resort a few hours away, or to the campground you've been visiting since the kids were toddlers, I've found an easy, beautiful, and free app for…

A couple of weeks ago, our friend Heather from the Rookie Moms discovered that her babysitter had been taking photos of her kids on SnapChat and she asked her Facebook friends what they would do about this. Now before you freak about sex…

Just a few days ago while perusing new Cool Mom Picks Instagram followers (hey, thanks new followers!), I clicked over to the Sesame Place Instagram feed and noticed something pretty surprising in their bio: Photos using #sesameplace bec…

Next up in our Editors' Best of 2015, we're sharing our picks for the best apps for parents. All of these apps made their debut in 2015 and really do help make our lives as parents a lot easier. Though, the truth is, plenty of these apps…

I've taken hundreds of photos of my kids just in the last couple months. And almost every single one was taken with my phone. Even though I have a nice DSLR camera, it's so heavy, it's just not practical to lug it with me everywhere. Esp…

H i Cool Mom Tech, Have you written about a tech solution that gathers photos from all the family computers and phones into one place for backup purposes? - James We've been exactly where you are, James: looking at all the options and sc…

As you may have guessed, we're officially smitten with the new Polaroid CUBE+ . It all started last year, when we first laid eyes on the 1.0 version of this bite-sized, lifestyle action camera. Back then, we were totally impressed with t…

These days, one of the best parts of parties of all kinds, are photo booths, whether we're employing pro photographers, or some great photo booth apps installed on our own laptops or tablets. The fantastic pics they yield of our costumed…

Its pronunciation may be in the tomayto/tomahto zone, but when it comes to GIFs there's no debate about their popularity. So, last week when our favorite social network rolled out the Boomerang app that basically lets you produce and sha…

While parents have phones and computers filled with family video these days, I admit that I don't always have the most cinematic eye when it comes to taking videos of my own kids. I take after my dad in that I like to narrate way too muc…

Calling all you ghosts, pirates, zombies, superheroes, and that small army of Queen Elsas -- it's time for your closeup. Because one of the best parts of Halloween for us, besides stealing our kids' fun-size Snickers, is getting photos o…

So, you have tons of photos on your iOS Camera Roll, right? Yeah, same. Now, how would you like to preserve those memories -- with audio -- forever and a day? Yeah, that's what I said. Bring it! That's why I was happy to discover the eve…

Getting excited at a recent dentist visit to sit and read an actual magazine made me realize how little time I have to myself. (And perhaps that I need to find a hobby). People aside, turns out I found a magazine of sorts that I'll most …

If we asked you to count the things you'd rather spend a day doing than iPhone photo organization, what number would we be talking about here? Fifteen? Fifty? Eleventy hundred other things you'd rather do? Yeah, wrangling the tons of pho…

We have gotten a lot of questions about how to properly repost an Instagram photo on your own feed, and no surprise, there are a ton of apps to help you do just that. Yes, you can technically just screenshot the photo, upload it to your …

This is a sponsored message from Amazon In honor of Amazon's 20th birthday, they're celebrating with Prime Day on July 15, during which Amazon Prime members can score even more deals than on Black Friday. And with their #PrimeLiving Phot…

Oh, Instagram . Just when we think we couldn't love you more, you go an pull something like this? Yes, our fave photo social media app just got a really cool update that will help you discover new places and may just revitalize the way y…

If you're like us, you're counting down the days to a summer vacation, whether it's a weekend at the grandparents' place or something bigger. Either way, hopefully it means sleeping in late (kids willing), lazy days, catching up on books…

One of our favorite last-minute suggestions for sentimental Father's Day gifts (and any gift really) has been to make a short, shareable video that you can create easily. While video editing used to reserved for professionals with zillio…

As admittedly heavy Amazon Prime users, we can't believe we didn't know about the free access all Prime members have to Amazon Cloud Drive . And we can't believe how many other in-the-know friends weren't aware either. (Hey, Prime isn't …

I have always loved giving photos as gifts for everything from Father's Day to birthdays. Really, what's better having the luck to capture a perfect moment, then having someone special enough to share it with. So I am crushing on Pictli …

Over the years, we've found great illustrators who have taken their own baby photos and turned them into fantastic collage drawings. But now we found a sister team out of Barcelona who's attempting to do one better with their new Kicksta…

I am a longtime, shameless, all-things-Apple fan. But that doesn't mean I don't tip my hat frequently to cool, non-iOS products. And, when it comes to this new Google Photos app? I'm basically standing up and doing a slow-clap, because t…

If there's one thing that I love about selfies, it's that I'm in more photos with my kids now than I ever was before. And as I get older and my kids get older, it's those photos I treasure the most, even more than their sweet homemade gi…

Hey Cool Mom Tech! Do y'all know of an Instagram app for iPad that allows you to add text or make a collage? -Delilah, via Twitter Hey Delilah! The short answer to your question is: Indeed we do. And we totally get it, too. Sometimes you…

I have to admit that disposable cameras make me pretty nostalgic for the old days of pressing the shutter, then having no idea how those snaps turned out until I picked up the envelope of prints. ( Ed: Or better, finding an undeveloped d…

The selfie stick struggle is real, friends. From major museums, like the MoMA and The Met in NYC to the Palace of Versailles in Paris, to sports stadiums, to musical festivals Coachella and Lollapalooza, the ban on selfie sticks shows no…

Truth be told, I abandoned my BlackBerry for the iPhone specifically because of Instagram. And, believe me, I was quite the keyboard-over-touchscreen loyalist. But the lure of the obvious fun of sharing square photos -- with filters! -- …

Everyone's favorite photo-sharing app rocked the parenting world yesterday when they announced the possibility of banning all photos of minors on Instagram . Our Twitter and Facebook feeds were going nuts, as you can totally imagine. Evi…

Oh Appy Day! is our ongoing feature giving you the scoop on the coolest apps from some of the coolest people anywhere. This week, we asked Rihanna, who knows a thing or two about Instagram (she currently has 16.2 million followers @badgi…

Just last year, we gave you the straight intel on the best Instagram collage apps . And now, finally (some might say, including us) Instagram has jumped in the game with Layout from Instagram , their very own app for making photo collage…

I'm mostly an Instagram purist. I really love following the kinds of accounts in which people share their own individual photography instead of loads of quotes, reshares, or images pulled from magazines. And while I can never resist a go…

This week, I had the pleasure of joining the Meredith Vieira Show (I love her!) for a quick segment on one of our favorite apps: Waterlogue , which transforms your photos into gorgeous watercolor paintings. If you haven't tried it, check…

As parents, we are not shy about our love of cool camera apps since that's easily half the reason we all own smartphones in the first place. And we've experienced first-hand how a really great camera app -- like the Camera+ 6 app -- can …

If there's one thing that will throw off my whole zen vibe, it's seeing that "you're out of memory" alert pop up on my tech devices when I try to download an app or take a video. I almost want to turn to my gadget and say: You're the sma…

This is a sponsored message for Bevy Just imagine all the free space and potentially sanity you could have back if all your smartphone photos and videos were automatically uploaded to one safe place as soon as you captured them. That's e…

The growing options for making photo books right from our phones makes a lot of sense, since that's where so many of us keep most of our photos anyway. And the new Photolane photo book app makes it so simple, you can design a couple of t…

I recently learned a tip: Waking up and beginning your day looking at Facebook and Twitter can start you off on the wrong foot. Between the political fighting, the depressing news, the spam and the trolling...yeah. Not necessarily the fi…

While I'm pretty cautious about my kids' use of social media, I love encouraging them to take pictures and hone their photography skills, whether we're on some exotic family vacation or just hanging out around the house. Of course kids n…

Sometimes the best part of editing a digital photo is messing around with fun filters. And with all of the photo editing apps that we've recommended, filter options are overflowing. So it's always refreshing to find a new photo app that …

New year, new you. Of course, we've all heard (and probably said) this catchy line each time January 1 rolls around. But instead of promising to completely overhaul our lives with major changes, we're starting small and smart with this r…

Well wasn't I delighted when I went to update all my out-of-date apps (another resolution), and clicked on Aviary in the App store (also in Google Play for Android ) which is one of my very favorite free photo editing apps. It was then t…

When emojis first started popping up in random social media spots, I thought, "Eh, they won't last." But then I starting using the funny little graphics myself in iMessages and on Instagram comments, and suddenly emojis sort of became my…

We're always on the lookout for new, fun ways to help you finally do something productive with all those photos you have pilling up on your iPhone. You can print your photos . Make them into darling photo books , Turn them into magnetic …

While we think Halloween photos are pretty fun as they are, PicMonkey has updated their super fun Halloween themes and added a brand new superhero theme that are about the best time-wasters on the web right now that make you feel somewha…

With Instagram having officially passed Twitter in mobile users this past spring, it's not surprising that the other social networks are trying to take a page from what's successful about Instagram. I've always loved all the great apps f…

As far as I'm concerned, it already holds the title of (arguably) the Best iOS Photo App. Now, with its latest iteration, the Camera+ 6 app has gone next level. A good thing for amateurs and pro iPhone photographers alike. And paired wit…

We've talked a lot about how impressed we've been using the iPhone 5S camera for the past year, and now, we're starting to twitter about the iPhone 6 camera which amps up the 8MP iSight camera with even more smart impressive you'll like.…

It's hard to believe that when our first children were born, capturing them on video meant getting out a clunky camera, hoping the batteries were good and that the card still had some memory left, then finding the right cords to connect …

With so many of us relying solely on our smartphone cameras, it can become nearly impossible to dig through hundreds--thousands?--of photos and find that one kids' picture from beach two years ago with the awesome sand castle and that pe…

The Artkive app has been one of my back-to-school lifesavers ever since it launched a couple of years ago. And even if you don't have four kids like I do, you're probably swimming in artwork that is oh so painful to toss. The ability to …

Have you ever been somewhere, sitting through an event or activity, and just wishing you could hit the fast-forward button on it all? Well, last week Instagram released a new video app that is as close as we're ever going to get to that.…

Is there anything more royally British than marshmallows? Yeah...no. Those two things have never existed in the same sentence together that I know of. Until now. Enter Boomf Magic Mallows . The delicious start-up out of the UK that allow…

When it comes to all the photos and videos on my iPhone camera roll (uh, all 5,373 of them), my usual tagline is I should do something with those. That's the party line year after year, and in the meantime, that camera roll just keeps ge…

Just as more of the masses eschew their traditional dSLRs for the convenience of smartphone photography and the quick rush of a cheap fling with an Instagram filter, there is much coolness developing in the digital camera world. Which me…

One day I'm going get all of these special iPhone photos printed. How many times have you said that after scrolling through a month's worth of pics, hunting for the cute one with your kid doing that thing? Yeah, same here. That's why I'm…

Even though it's easy to snap and share plenty of great vacation photos these days, I do miss those fun postcards we used to collect and send during my family trips as a kid. But now with the ScenePast app for iOS, you can actually send …

There's a lime green folder in a top drawer in our kitchen that is spilling over with paper: artwork, drawings, little wobbly letters that are getting less wobbly day by day. I've learned to let go and throw some things away, but the res…

When it comes to new motherhood and the number of helpful apps popping up, it seems the odds are ever in our favor. Whether it's tracking the size of your growing belly from bump to beach ball or keeping tabs on nursing or milestones, we…

Yes, we take photos of basically everything in the known universe with our smartphones. It's how we roll these days, and best to just accept it. But the one persistent drawback with this is trying to get a good pic at night or in low lig…

Ever since my mom got an iPad, she has taken on the texting habits of a teenager. We go back and forth several times a day on iMessage about random questions and updates, but mostly use it to share photos. My sister is also in the mix an…

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it took me about 9 months to print out pictures of my third baby and put them up around the house. When I think back to how diligent I was with baby #1 and (a little less diligent with) baby #2, I h…

As a longtime photo enthusiast and avid storyteller, I've been a huge fan of Instagram since it dropped three years ago. Especially as a parent who wants to get the best photos of my kids up there. That said, I take tons of pictures of l…

Have you ever gone to take a picture at the perfect moment only for your phone to inform you that you've reached your storage limit? It's the worst. And almost every time this happens to me it's because my kids have taken nearly 5,000 cl…

I don't know how moms manage to get their custom, meticulously created scrapbook baby books completed when they have little kiddos at home. I mean, it's hard enough for me to get dinner on the table sometimes. And that's exactly what the…

Have you been hit with the jump-action shot photo craze? It's that thing where you or a group of people jump into the air and someone tries to capture the this is the good life , split-second moment with everyone virtually gravity-free. …

We've covered the Snapchat app extensively since its launch, and it's grown to be extremely popular with tweens and teens, and now even brands are jumping into the app, finding new ways to promote to users there. Now that Snapchat has an…