Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Amazon Prime Day
  • Back to school
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop
  • Best web hosting
Recommended reading
Android Photography
Phones Supercharge your Android phone photography with my 5 easy tips
Two iPhones on a blue and green background showing the iOS 26 Camera app
iPhone iOS 26 is giving the iPhone's Camera app an upgrade I've been waiting years for
CyberLink PhotoDirector during our tests
Pro Best photo editor of 2025
A digital artist working on a computer
Software & Services Best Adobe Photoshop alternative of 2025
DaVinci Resolve for iPad undergoing tests during our video editing app review process
Pro Best video editing app of 2025: Top video editors for Android, iPhone, and iPad
Google Photos interface displayed on two phones on a yellow background
Phones These 9 Google Photos features will change the way you save, share, and edit images
An image of the iPhone 16 Pro Max Camera Control
iPhone I finally found a use for Camera Control on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, but in the weirdest way possible
  1. Computing
  2. Internet
  3. Websites & Apps

The best photo filter apps for iPhone and iPad

How-to
By David Biedny published 13 August 2015

Creative photography made easy

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Add fun to your photos

Add fun to your photos

If you're an iOS-using photographer, there's a good chance you're constantly on the lookout for unique visual "looks" that will set your photos apart from everyone else's. In the post-Photoshop-plugin era, inexpensive iOS photo-filter apps are the hot tickets for instantly converting photos to slick pop art, with minimal effort and maximum creative flexibility. Here are some of our favorite flavors of sweet visual candy. (And for some more traditional photo-editing apps, click here.)

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Trimaginator

Trimaginator

Trimaginator ($3.99/£2.29/AU$3.79) takes any photograph and converts it into a work of modern abstract art, with a wide range of preset styles that will astound and delight even the most jaded designer. The results look like absolutely nothing we've ever seen elsewhere, not even Photoshop. An in-app purchase adds the option to save results in a vector-based format, perfect for post-editing in Illustrator or any other drawing package.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
PhotoTropedelic

PhotoTropedelic

It's the groovy '60s in an app! PhotoTropedelic ($1.99/£1.49/AU$2.49) offers the Peter Max visual aesthetic as an instant filter effect, turning any picture into a psychedelic Woodstock rock poster, with optional stars and wild colors galore. In terms of sheer fun factor, it's hard to top this gem.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Popsicolor

Popsicolor

One of the more limited apps, Popsicolor ($2.99/£2.29/AU$3.79) does one thing alone - watercolor renditions - with a somewhat limited color palette, but the results are visually distinctive and quite lovely, and it can also handle high-resolution output. For a few bucks, it's worth the download.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
PaintCan

PaintCan

We're not used to getting anything gratis from graphics giant Adobe, but this rather slick instant-painting app designed to turn photos into painterly works of art is completely free. PaintCan (free) is really nice, too, so what are you waiting for? Thankfully, no Adobe CC needed to use this sweet app.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
Waterlogue

Waterlogue

The incredibly soft, organic watercolor effects made possible by Waterlogue ($2.99/£0.79/AU$1.29) are really without comparison, images definitely look they were rendered by a skilled artist, and a decent array of different preset "looks" makes it more than just a one-trick pony. One of our all-time favorites.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Glaze

Glaze

For the maximum selection of painterly styles, Glaze (free w/ IAP) is the way to roll, with a handful of really attractive base styles in the free version, and a mere $2.99/£2.29/AU$3.79 to unlock the kitchen sink, with tons of realistic paint effects and totally luscious output. Another IAP opens up all sorts of advanced compositing options. Glaze is a titan amongst painting apps.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Percolator

Percolator

If abstract art and mosaics are more your style, this neat little brew of an app will be right up your alley. Percolator ($2.99/£2.29/AU$3.79) instantly turns pictures into modern art masterpieces, with some lovely - and unique - visual styles that look like nothing else in the app store. This is one we'd love to see as a desktop filter someday, but for now, it's iOS-only.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Tangled FX

Tangled FX

Tangled FX ($1.99/£1.49/AU$2.49) is another app that has no direct competition, and somewhat defies easy description; suffice it to say that it turns pictures into wild, other-worldly forms of luminous energy like nothing else we've ever seen. Look up the artist Alex Grey: if they could condense him down into an app, it would be Tangled FX.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Glitché

Glitché

When you get into a surreal state of mind, nothing quite scratches the creative itch like Glitché ($0.99/£0.79/AU$1.29), an enormously fun and wild tool for messing up images in ways that your parents would never approve of; from rendering pictures as stacks of emoticons to making weird extruded 3D wireframes from flat images, Glitché is glorious decimation for a single dollar - such a deal. A $2.99/£2.29/AU$3.79 IAP adds high-res output.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
PixelWakker

PixelWakker

PixelWakker ($2.99/£2.29/AU$3.79) produces a series of visual effects that nothing else on iOS can match, but what's truly interesting about this app is that it can send the output directly to a vector-based PDF image, which can then be resized/edited with no quality loss in any vector graphics program.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
TOPICS
Apple
David Biedny
See more Computing How Tos
Read more
Android Photography
Supercharge your Android phone photography with my 5 easy tips
Two iPhones on a blue and green background showing the iOS 26 Camera app
iOS 26 is giving the iPhone's Camera app an upgrade I've been waiting years for
CyberLink PhotoDirector during our tests
Best photo editor of 2025
A digital artist working on a computer
Best Adobe Photoshop alternative of 2025
DaVinci Resolve for iPad undergoing tests during our video editing app review process
Best video editing app of 2025: Top video editors for Android, iPhone, and iPad
Google Photos interface displayed on two phones on a yellow background
These 9 Google Photos features will change the way you save, share, and edit images
Latest in Websites & Apps
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Monday, July 7 (game #1260)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, July 7 (game #491)
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, July 6 (game #1259)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, July 6 (game #490)
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, July 5 (game #1258)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, July 5 (game #489)
Latest in How Tos
Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar sprint to the finish line at Stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France.
How to watch Tour de France 2025 on ITVX for FREE
Henry Lloyd-Hughes as DS Nathan Rose in Ragdoll
How to watch Ragdoll on BBC iPlayer (it's free)
Finn Russell of British & Irish Lions makes a break in the lead up to his side's third try, scored by Elliot Daly, left, during the tour match between Western Force and the British & Irish Lions at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia.
Waratahs vs Lions FREE streams: How to watch British & Irish Lions tour live online from anywhere
England players singing national anthem
Argentina vs England FREE streams: How to watch 1st Test 2025 rugby live online from anywhere
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand at Wimbledon 2025
How to watch Evans vs Djokovic online: live stream Wimbledon 2025 tennis FREE
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell go head-to-head at the Austrian GP.
How to watch British Grand Prix F1 on Channel 4 today (it's free)
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    Early Prime Day Apple deals are live - record-low prices that I'd buy on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and more
  2. 2
    Forget Prime Day – a hidden Lego sale just dropped at the Disney Store with deals on Star Wars, Marvel, and Hocus Pocus sets
  3. 3
    The Swann MaxRanger4K solar-powered camera has kept my home feeling safer without forcing me to buy a subscription
  4. 4
    16-Core AMD EPYC 4005 CPU is almost 3X faster than AMD's first server flagship - and I can't believe what a bargain that is
  5. 5
    This app is helping me unwind in new ways, and it might help you breathe your way to a better mood, too

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...