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Best Data Recovery Software for Mac 2024, Macs are beloved for their sleek design and high- capabilities, particularly among creatives across various fields. Yet, like any other , they are not immune to data loss, a situation that can be incredibly distressing for users.

To address this concern, we have delved into the world of data recovery software tailored for Mac. In this article, you’ll find insights that will guide you in selecting the ideal solution to restore your valuable data, ensuring you’re well-prepared for any unforeseen data loss scenarios.

Key Criteria for Selecting Mac Data Recovery Software

There are many data recovery solutions from which to choose when data loss strikes your Mac. Several factors may influence which one you choose to use to recover your lost data. Here are some things to consider when naming your selection.

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 Functionality: The most important aspect of recovery software is its ability to get your lost files back. You should choose a flexible solution that allows you to recover data from multiple types of storage devices and restore the file types that interest you.

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 Ease-of-use: You will likely use data recovery software under less than optimal conditions. Losing data is stressful and you don’t need to increase the tension by using software that requires you to use arcane commands. Look for a tool that makes it easy for you to recover your lost files and folders.

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 Reliability: You may only have one chance to recover your lost data so you want to use a tool created by reliable developers. It’s a good idea to check out some reviews of the products under consideration to see which ones have a proven track record of success with high recovery rates.

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 Price: There is a wide range in the pricing of Mac data recovery solutions. You can obtain freeware solutions or commercial applications. In most cases, a paid/freemium solution will offer more functionality and ease of use than free alternatives.

In order for you to gain a better understanding of the situation in the Mac data recovery software market, we have prepared a diagram with interesting statistics for you.

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The data for this chart was sourced from Google Ads and represents the average number of monthly searches in English worldwide. We combined various instances of writing the names of the same software (e.g., “easeus data recovery mac”, “easeus data recovery wizard for mac”, “easeus for mac”).

has restricted access to similar data in Google Ads for their brand. According to third-party services, the popularity of the brand (query) “Stellar Data Recovery (for) Mac” is approximately 500 queries per month. While for Mac has numerous monthly searches, we did not include them all, as “R- for Mac” can also refer to RStudio, an integrated development environment (IDE) for the R programming language, not just data recovery software.

Top Best Data Recovery Software for Mac

Read More : Best Instagram Alternatives For Android – iOS 2024

So, here’s an overview of ten of the best data recovery software solutions for Mac. We’ve included paid, freemium, and freeware data recovery applications for your Mac or MacBook.

1. Disk Drill for Mac

Disk Drill for Mac

Disk Drill is a comprehensive data recovery tool that makes it easy for anyone to restore accidentally deleted files and folders.

Pros:

 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
 Runs natively on M1/M2 devices
 Simple yet effective recovery procedure
 Scan results can be mounted as a virtual disk
 Recovers all lost or deleted files, even from an emptied Trash
 Advanced scanning algorithms
 Support for over 400 filetypes
 Market-leading RAW file scanner

Cons:

 No phone support
 The free version only provides file previews

Download Disk Drill

User Experience

Disk Drill simplifies the data recovery process, making it easy for anyone to recover their lost and deleted data. With just a few clicks, you can select the disk for recovery and start scanning the device for recoverable files and folders. Quick or deep scans can be employed to control the recovery and locate the maximum number of items to be restored.

Effective filters help control the scanning and recovery process by allowing you to focus on the files that matter. Scans can be paused and resumed at any time to make it more convenient to recover your lost data. When the scan is complete, the results can be mounted as a virtual disk, streamlining the recovery process.

The inclusion of the free data protection tools Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery helps you keep your valuable information safe and furnish a simplified recovery method if you accidentally deleted a protected file. The tool is a comprehensive data recovery and protection solution that keeps your files and folders secure.

Free limits: You can preview all recoverable files with the free version of Disk Drill.

Price: $89.00

OS version: Disk Drill supports all versions of the Mac operating system from X 10.5 to macOS Ventura.

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2. R-Studio for Mac

R-Studio for Mac

This product was developed for data recovery professionals and includes many features that are not usually required for individual use.

Pros:

 Windows Explorer type interface
 Can repair damaged RAID arrays
 S.M.A.R.T. disk monitoring tools
 Recover any file type from any disk-based storage device

Cons:

 Designed for professionals and may be too complicated for average users
 Features can be hard to locate

Download R-Studio

User Experience

R-Studio is a full-featured recovery application that is suitable for professional use. It has an impressive number of features that, in some cases, may over-complicate the recovery process for inexperienced users. The advanced capabilities of the tool include the ability to repair damaged RAID implementations and perform network data recovery. Excellent documentation is available that covers all types of data recovery situations.

You can preview recoverable files with the demo version before making a financial commitment and the application provides a wealth of advanced features. At times, it can be hard to locate specific features in the tool’s interface. It’s worth the effort if you need access to its hexadecimal editor or disk copy module. R-Studio provides an excellent recovery application tailored to the needs of professionals and advanced computer users.

Free limits: File preview of recoverable files is available for free.

Price: $79.99 for the basic version

OS version: macOS X 10.5 through macOS Monterey.

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3. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

iBoysoft Data Recovery is a versatile recovery tool for Mac that lets you get back lost and deleted files from a wide variety of storage devices. The application can help you address a Mac that won’t boot or recover files lost from an emptied Trash bin. You can also obtain a version of the software for the Windows platform.

Pros:

 Free 1 GB data recovery
 Compatible with M1 and T2 Macs
 Quick and Deep scans for optimal recovery results
 Free scan and preview of recoverable files
 Scan results can be saved and reloaded

Cons:

 The license model is expensive

Download iBoysoft Data Recovery

User Experience

Recovering data with iBoysoft is simple enough that any Mac user can perform the activity. The software uses a three-step process that scans a device, previews recoverable data, and lets you choose which files you want to recover. A free download lets users recover 1 GB while they test-drive the product.

The tool supports over 1000 different file types and can recover just about any type of data deleted from your Mac. Virtually all disk-based storage devices are supported including SD cards and external USB drives. This software solution can help users recover from multiple data loss scenarios including formatted disks and emptied Trash bins. It offers a simple tool with professional-grade recovery functionality.

Free limits: 1 GB free recovery with the free version of the tool.

Price: A monthly license is $89.95 and a yearly license is $99.95

OS version: macOS all versions, including macOS 13 Ventura.

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4. Data Rescue for Mac

Data Rescue 6

Data Rescue 6 is a paid data recovery solution for Mac that supports the newest versions of macOS and machines running the M1/M2 chip.

Pros:

 View previous scan results
 Clone drives to avoid hardware failures
 Quick and deep scan options
 A secure erase tool to protect sensitive data
 A single license provides Mac and Windows support

Cons:

 No phone support is offered
 A professional license is expensive

Download Data Rescue

User Experience

Data Rescue 6 for Mac is a commercial data recovery tool that enables new users to preview recoverable files and folders for free. The solution supports the recovery of hundreds of file formats including all popular types found on your Mac. Users can recover data from all types of disk-based storage devices including internal drives, SD cards, and external disks.

You can clone your hard drive with the software to protect valuable data from hardware failure. Quick and deep scanning options let you control recovery and help locate hard-to-find items. Users can store up to 15 scans for historical comparison. Data Rescue 6 also provides virtual RAID support to assist with recovering data from a failing RAID configuration.

Free limits: Scan and preview recoverable files.

Price: Standard license $79/Professional license $399

OS version: macOS 10.12 through macOS 13 Ventura.

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5. PhotoRec for Mac

PhotoRec for Mac

This freeware recovery tool is compatible with all versions of Mac operating systems and provides a command-line user interface.

Pros:

 Free and unlimited recovery
 Support for Mac, Windows, and operating systems
 Wide-ranging filesystem support
 Supports recovery of many different filetypes

Cons:

 Command-line interface
 Files are recovered with generic names and need to be renamed

Download PhotoRec

User Experience

Users who are not intimidated by a command-line interface will find PhotoRec to be a valuable piece of freeware. It supports all versions of the Mac operating system as well as Windows and Linux systems. The tool supports an impressive array of file types and filesystems, making it ideal for a variety of data recovery scenarios.

The menu-driven, command-line interface does require some knowledge of the underlying system that more intuitive applications keep hidden from users. This can make the tool hard to operate for inexperienced computer users. Another drawback of this tool is that files are recovered with generic names, forcing users to review and rename them after recovery is completed.

Free limits: unlimited free recovery.

Price: Freeware

OS version: all latest versions of macOS are supported.

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6. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard provides user-friendly file recovery software for Mac systems.

Pros:

 The tool provides users with an extensive knowledge base to assist their recovery efforts.
 An easy-to-use and intuitive interface makes it possible for anyone to successfully recover lost data.
 This MacBook recovery software produces good recovery results.

Cons:

 The tool can be slow when recovering large files.
 Lack of data protection tools.

Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

User Experience

Recovering files with EaseUS is a simple process that anyone can perform with a few clicks. Select the device to be scanned and the tool will return a list of recoverable data that it can restore. The results can be filtered in multiple ways to make it easier to find the specific files that interest you.

The tool can be a little slower than other paid solutions which could be an issue when recovering a large amount of data. While this may be annoying to some users, the recovery results themselves were very good. A little patience may be required when using this too, but in the end, you should be satisfied with the recovery results.

Free limits: The free tool can preview recoverable files on Mac and restore up to 2 GB of data.

Price: $89.95

OS version: Supports all versions of the macOS operating system.

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7. Wondershare Recoverit for Mac

Wondershare Recoverit

Pros:

 Supports recovery of over 1000 file types
 Supports over 2000 types of storage devices
 95% successful recovery rate
 Quick and deep scan options
 Repairs corrupted videos

Cons:

 Limited free recovery
 An expensive yearly license is required

Download Wondershare Recoverit

User Experience:

Wondershare Recoverit is a commercial data recovery solution for Mac that supports a wide variety of storage devices and file formats. The tool features a simple user interface that makes it easy for anyone to recover accidentally lost and deleted data. Just a few clicks and you can start recovering lost files and folders.

Recoverit offers users a quick and deep scan option. Usually, it’s best to try a quick scan first and reserve the deep scan for when your files can’t be found. Deep scan performs a signature-based search that may be necessary to recover from drive corruption of formatting. This tool can also repair corrupted videos in various formats including MOV, ACI, and MP4.

Free limits: Free recovery of up to 100MB.

Price: Individual $79.99-$139.99 per year.

OS version: macOS 10.10 through macOS 13 Ventura.

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8. Stellar Data Recovery for Mac

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac

Stellar Data Recovery provides a complete macOS data recovery software solution that can recover lost files due to accidental deletion, formatting, or drive corruption.

Pros:

 This Mac recovery software can be used to retrieve files from virtually any portable disk-based storage device that you can connect to your machine.
 Any file extension is potentially recoverable when using this software.
 A nice online guide helps inexperienced users recover their lost data.
 The software can be used to repair corrupted video and image files.

Cons:

 Your Mac needs 8GB of RAM to fully utilize this tool’s features.
 Repairing corrupted images or video files requires the premium version of the tool.

Download Stellar Data Recovery

User Experience

This file recovery software is easy to use and provides advanced functionality that can help recover long-lost files. It’s designed to recover lost files for all users from novices to experienced Mac owners. The tool supports all major file formats and can recover data on virtually any type of disk-based device.

The personal version of the tool is most suitable for recovering internal system files. If you want to recover lost files from USB drives or other storage devices, you should look into the premium versions of this recovery software. The premium tool also can repair corrupt videos and photos. All in all, this file recovery software solution for macOS provides a satisfactory data recovery experience.

Free limits: The free tool can preview recoverable files on Mac and restore up to 1 GB of data.

Price: $79.99 for the personal version, $99.99 premium version, and $149 for the technician version of this macOS data recovery software.

OS version: Supports all versions of the macOS operating system.

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9. Mac Free Any Data Recovery

Mac Free Any Data Recovery

This file recovery software for Mac is an all-purpose tool that retrieves lost data in many different situations.

Pros:

 A 90-day money-back guarantee protects your investment.
 The tool offers free lifetime upgrades.
 Advanced search options are included to make it easy to locate lost files.
 Multi-language 24/7 customer support is provided to resolve issues with the software.

Cons:

 The trial version is only equipped to perform quick scans which may not locate lost data.
 The user interface is not as streamlined as other paid solutions.

Download Mac Free Any Data Recovery

User Experience

The user interface of this Mac recovery software is a little harder to navigate than some competing products. This can make it hard for new users to locate some of its features so they can efficiently recover their lost data. Once users get comfortable with the interface the tool is not difficult to use.

Many different types of files can be recovered with this tool including video and audio formats not found in some other solutions. The recovery performance is good, and files are recovered reasonably quickly. You can use this solution to recover files from your internal hard drive as well as from all types of disk-based storage devices.

Free lifetime updates and a 90-day money-back guarantee are very nice features of this software solution. One potential issue is that payment is conducted through a third-party processor which may discourage some users from purchasing the tool.

Free limits: The trial version of this Mac recovery software can be used to restore up to 2 GB of data.

Price: $59.99 for one computer, $119.99 for unlimited computers.

OS version: Supports all versions of the macOS operating system.

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10. DiskWarrior

DiskWarrior

Pros:

 SMART monitoring to display drive health
 Developed specially for Mac operating systems
 Multiple support options including email and phone
 Patented preview feature to view repaired files before changes are made

Cons:

 Not suitable for individual file recovery
 No free trial is offered
 It does not support Apple File System (APFS) disks

Download DiskWarrior

User Experience:

Disk Warrior is a tool designed to prevent and resolve directory damage to your Mac that can lead to inconsistent performance and instability. The solution rebuilds a disk by recovering data from the original directory. The new directory is optimized for improved performance.

DiskWarrior focuses exclusively on creating error-free directories to recover lost files and prevent disk errors. The tool supports SMART monitoring and can be configured to automatically check drive health so you can address issues before being faced with a hardware failure. DiskWarrior ships on a flash drive that can be used to rebuild the directory of your Mac’s startup disk.

Free limits: No free trial available

Price: $119.95 plus shipping for the included flash drive

OS version: OS X 10.8 – macOS 13 Ventura

Honorable Mentions

We chose to exclude the following software solutions from our list of reliable data recovery tools. While they may work for you, we suggest that you stick to our recommended products for the best recovery results.

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 M3 Data Recovery – iBoysoft was previously a white label clone of M3 recovery software. Recently, M3 has become an affiliate of iBoysoft and iBoysoft has now replaced it as the name brand of this recovery solution.

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 Ontrack – We did not include this solution on our list of recovery products since it appears to just be a clone of Stellar data recovery. It may also be a dead project that will not offer updates in the future.

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 Minitool – The Mac version of Minitool has become Stellar Data Recovery which is why we did not include it as a recommended product. We recommend you go directly for Stellar’s solution if you want to try this recovery tool.

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  for Mac – There is no Recuva for Mac. Clicking on the download link for this product gives you a DMG file that contains the Wondershare data recovery tool. We tend to stay away from applications that use this kind of misleading advertising. The original Recuva is only available on Windows.

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 iCare Recovery Data Recovery – When you try to download the iCare Data Recovery solution, you are redirected to Stellar data recovery software. We suggest if you want Stellar, you should go directly to their site rather than using a clone product.

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 Safe365 Data Recovery – This program appears to be a clone of EaseUS data recovery software. While it has serviceable data recovery capabilities, you should stick with the original EaseUS product rather than this copy.

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 Magoshare Data Recovery Enterprise – If the user interface of this tool looks familiar, it is because this solution is a white label clone of EaseUS data recovery software.

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 Card Rescue – You might only get one shot at recovering your lost files. We found the recovery capabilities of this tool lacking as it did not do a good job of getting our files back and are not recommending it to our readers.

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 iSkysoft data recovery – We chose not to include iSkysoft because it is simply a clone of Wondershare RecoverIt. In all cases, we prefer to use the original product instead of a renamed clone.

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 Softtote – Softtote is a paid tool that offers 1GB of free recovery. The solution provides limited support for new versions of macOS. The tool only supports a limited number of file formats which may make it unsuitable for your recovery situation. The free version of the tool lets you recover as many BMP, JPG, PNG, TIF, or MP3 files as you wish.

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 Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery –  Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery is a free tool that has not been updated since 2014. You may experience issues when using the tool on modern operating systems. You should exercise caution if you are attempting to recover valuable data. Users can recover lost data from an iPod with this tool. The preview function lets you see what is recoverable while a scan is running.

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This article acquaints you with the top apps similar to YouTube Vanced for the best experience.

YouTube Advanced gained immense popularity for its features like in-built ad blocking, picture-in-picture, background playback, and auto-repeat. However, its shutdown caused despair among users, instigating them to look for the best YouTube Vanced alternatives.

If you are also searching for the best alternatives to YouTube Vanced, you will find this article helpful. Here, we list the top 8 apps that can perfectly replace YouTube Vanced. Let us go through them without wasting your valuable time.

List of 8 Best YouTube Vanced Alternatives in 2024

Below is a list of the best applications you can use as an alternative to YouTube Vanced.

1.

NewPipe

Let us introduce you to NewPipe. It is a free, lightweight, and open-source YouTube Vanced alternative with incredible features, such as ad-blocking, background player, video downloading for offline use, and the following.

Key features of NewPipe

 Needs no Google account
 Does not have any codebases or APIs ensuring privacy and
 Supports 100+ languages
 Compatible with other services, such as SoundCloud, etc.

Download Now

Read Next : Best Instagram Alternatives For Android – iOS 2024

2. YouTube ReVanced

YouTube ReVanced

Talking about YouTube ReVanced, it is an early-stage with an impressive set of features. Some of its features that make it one of the best YouTube Vanced substitutes include a friendly layout, background playback, an option to turn off the create button, and the following.

Key features of YouTube ReVanced

 Blocks ads
 Allows video downloading
 Useful settings like video playback speed adjustment
 Google account integration
 Many customization options
 Allows battery conservation with AMOLED dark mode display

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3. LibreTube

LibreTube

LibreTube is yet another alternative of YouTube Vanced to stream videos without any hassles. Its features like sponsor block, account sign-up for the personalized viewing experience, playlist creation, and the following make it a popular choice among users worldwide.

Key features of LibreTube

 Search filter to find the most relevant videos
 Option to subscribe to various channels
 Supports player gestures to customize the viewing experience
 Stores your subscriptions locally and allows you to restore them easily
 Keeps your privacy intact by passing the data collection restrictions of Google

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4. SkyTube

SkyTube

SkyTube is another great open-source and one of the best Vanced alternatives. It delights users with many fascinating features, in addition to ad blocking. For example, it offers an option to allow/block specific channels, stops the most disliked videos from appearing in your feed, and the following delightful features.

Key features of SkyTube

 Video downloading for offline viewing
 Easy subscription import from your YouTube account or other apps
 Lets you create a playlist
 Supports content mirroring through Chromecast
 Needs no Google Play service or GApps to function

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5.

YouTube Premium

Here comes YouTube Premium as one of the best alternatives to YouTube Vanced. It is a subscription service from none other than YouTube, offering many features, such as an ad-free experience, background playback, Google account integration, and the ones shared below.

Key features of YouTube Premium

 Supports video downloading
 Has a massive library
 Support for YouTube creators

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6. GoTube

GoTube

GoTube is among the well-known apps similar to YouTube Vanced. It is popular among users due to its unique design, Google account integration, lightweight, and the following exciting features.

Key features of GoTube

 Allows you to download videos in the desired resolution
 Lets you customize the UI
 Useful tools like a background player, popup player, and an ad-blocker

Download Now

7. ReVanced Extended

ReVanced Extended

Another best alternative to YouTube Vanced you can try is ReVanced Extended. It boasts a customizable layout, ad blocking, video dislike support, and the following exciting features.

Key features of ReVanced Extended

 Supports all and devices
 Lets you download high-resolution videos
 Regular updates
 Availability of more than 5 languages
 Allows gesture navigation

Download Now

8.

Brave Browser

Another alternative to YouTube Vanced is the Brave Browser. Although this alternative is a browser rather than a standalone alternative, Brave Browser can be of great help. This browser blocks all the third-party ads to make streaming smoother.

Key features of Brave Browser

 Multilingual user interface
 Fast streaming and surfing
 Maintains user privacy

Download Now

Summing Up the Best YouTube Vanced Alternatives

This article brought to your attention the best alternatives to YouTube Vanced. You can use any of the above-listed applications to get a seamless video experience. In case of any suggestions, confusion, or questions about this write-up, you can always write us a comment. We will soon return with another useful post. Until then, stay connected with us.  

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Instagram Alternatives, are growing in terms of popularity and with every new platform, the security and offerings list increases. Keeping that in mind the users have started to look for apps. If you are one of them then this article is going to help you in finding the best alternative to Instagram. Instagram is one of the social media platforms, especially among the younger generation.

People nowadays are shifting from Facebook to Instagram as the interface is more user-friendly. Apart from that most of the influencers find their target audience on Instagram which makes it a better platform than others. The only thing which users are concerned about while using Instagram is privacy policies, Facebook and Instagram have made some changes in the privacy policy which has become a major concern and the reason to look for a better and secure platform.

Below we have shared the best 9 alternatives and their offerings that might help you in switching from Instagram. All the platforms/ apps that we have included in the list have better privacy policies and offerings. Keep reading to know in detail.

9 Best Instagram Alternatives for Android & in 2024

Here are some of the best alternatives to Instagram that you can use in 2024.

1. Snapchat

Snapchat

Snapchat is among the most popular social media platforms which have always been on the list of alternatives to Instagram, Facebook, and others. The platform is famous for its unique face filters which can turn you into a new person. The list of face filters is growing as the app has offered freedom to the users for creating their own filter which can be used by other users too.

Apart from its face filter, the has disappearing messages and stories which once seen will disappear. Though you can change the setting according to your requirements, the default settings are set for disappearing ones.

Talking about the similarity which you will observe in Snapchat, you can check stories posted by your friends. It has a similar discovery section where you can check stories of other public accounts. The application has offered better and innovative features which makes it the ideal alternative to Instagram.

Download Now

Read Next : Best Funny Faces Apps 2024

2. TikTok

TikTok

Tik Tok is one of the most popular creation sites where you get loads of tools to create short videos. It has been a great competition to Instagram and looking at which Instagram recently launched the reels section. TikTok has more than 289 million monthly active users which in comparison to one billion of Instagram is less, but it has been giving great competition.

Though the platform is banned in India due to some privacy issues. This can also be the reason for the lesser number of active users. This alternative to Instagram offers many unique features which you might like. Some of the features are a duet, AR filters, and in-library . The platform has recently added the DM feature which makes it more convenient for the users in communicating with other creators.

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3. Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest is not the best Instagram alternative on or Android devices but it offers some unique features which make it ideal for this list. The application is great for all users who always look for new and innovative ideas. Here you can easily explore and look at all other user’s work and creativity for inspiration and then create your own work/ project.

For every niche, there is a separate section and under that section, you can find thousands of images and videos to help you. You can find DIY concepts, styles, lifestyle tips, and many other such things on Pinterest.

If you are one of the creators then also you can use this platform to share your work with others and help them. You can simply sign in at Pinterest and post all your work just as you do on other social media platforms.

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4. Tumblr

Tumblr

Tumblr is another great Instagram alternative or you can say one of the oldest social media platforms. Though the app or the platform has been in the market for a long time now, it has not grown much as other competitors Instagram or Facebook have grown. People consider Tumblr as a microblogging platform, but it is more than that. Using Tumblr you can post images, videos, GIFs, and other multimedia content.

Similar to other social media platforms you can use hashtags for better reach of the post and can even use them to search for posts from a separate niche. Other than this you can even create a community where you can connect with other users and can have a private chat.

Back in 2018, the app banned adult content, and if any users caught posting can be banned too from Tumblr. All in all, it is a niche-centered platform that can be useful only when you are focusing on a particular audience and have the right settings.

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5. 500px

500px

Up next we have a platform that is ideal for all photographers and photography lovers. Here at 500px, you can find many other photographers and their work as it has users from more than 195 countries. Though you might not find many features which other social media platforms offer like stories and reels, it has posts and explores feeds where you can check the posts of fellow photographers.

Using this Instagram alternative for Android and iOS you can create Quests that work similar to the Instagram Guides. Apart from this, the application has a dedicated website too where you can easily check the post on the big screen.

The app has a limitation of 20 posts per week. If you wish to have a limited free plan then you would have to pay $25 annually where you can post unlimited photos. This is a great platform to get exposure as a photographer, we would definitely recommend this alternative to Instagram for all the photographers.

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6. Imgur

Imgur

Imgur is a great application for photo sharing that is also considered as one of the best Instagram alternative apps. It was created as a public platform but if you wish to keep it private you can do that too. You can hide your photos and videos which by default are accessible by other users.

Being an alternative to Instagram it also offers features using which you can upload images, videos, and GIFs. Other than posting you can even share them with your community using tags. The app is a hub of meme-creators, so you would have a great time surfing through the feed that is assured.

Similar to Instagram, it has an explore tab where you can see all the posts according to your search history. Imgur recently has added the messaging feature that you can use to connect with other users just like Instagram.

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7. VSCO

VSCO

VSCO is a photo editor application for Android and iOS devices, but it has many communities where users can connect with other artists and discover new content. Other than this you can even take up the weekly challenges which are created by other users. Similar to other social media platforms this Instagram alternative has an explore page where you can find all sorts of new and viral content.

You can easily filter out the content which you wish to look at on the basis of tags, location, and others. Other than this the application has a video edition too which is not common among social media platforms. Summing up this alternative of Instagram is best for all those who edit images and videos as you would not have to use another application.

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8. Triller

Triller

Triller is another short video application like TikTok and Instagram reels. This application can be a great Instagram alternative for the reels section as here also you can create short videos with your creativity. The interface of the app is very simple, you can easily create videos and share them with your followers in seconds.

Using the application you can participate in various challenges, apply emojis, add drawings, and use filters in the video. You can even collaborate with friends and other content creators. Many celebrities use this platform, which means you can easily find the latest content from them on Triller. Overall you will get enough exposure and content which makes it one of the best alternatives to Instagram.

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9. MX TakaTak

Mx TakaTak

MX TakaTak is another short video application that entered the market after the Indian government banned TikTok. The application is developed in India and has all the features which you observe in Instagram reels or TikTok.

You can easily create and post short videos/ reels for your followers. This application is one of the best Instagram alternative apps for Android and iOS devices that you can use.

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Final Words: Best Instagram Alternatives 2024

These Instagram alternatives can be a great pick as they offer similar features which will be found on Instagram. Using these social media platforms you can post and share unique content and gain followers. Some of the applications only have shot video features which can be a great competition for Instagram reels. So depending on your usage you can choose the application, each one of them has different offerings and features. That’s all for this article, we hope that we have helped you in finding the best alternative to Instagram. Tell us which application you choose, drop the name in the comment section below.

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Best Funny Faces Apps 2024, With the world moving from physical to virtual , social media has taken over the way we communicate. Almost everyone is active on social media accounts. You can add beautiful backgrounds, make funny faces, and other effects to make it visually appealing.

In this blog, we will focus on Best Funny Faces apps that offer an easy and creative way to make expression-filled faces. With these applications, you can easily create funny faces, post them, and share them directly on your Social media accounts.

These apps use advanced technology, and editing tools along with a lot of emotes and filters.

So without wasting any time let’s dive into the world of crazy and goofy faces with these best funny faces apps for iPhone and Android.

Best Funny Faces Apps For iPhone and Android in 2024

Pick a picture and make them funny with the below-mentioned crazy face apps.

1.

Funny Face Effects

Our first pick on the list of funny faces apps is this superb application. The app is fully compatible with the Android platform and can make you look fat, ugly, and bald in a matter of seconds.

 Use it to add a huge smile to your face.
 You can also use it to stretch, warp, and distort the overall appearance of your face with the help of your fingers.
 It can also be used to import pictures from the photo gallery of your Android device.
 With this funny faces app, you can also post your edited faces directly on social media.

Download for Android

Read More : Best Online Games For PC 2024

2. Face Swapper

face-swap-app

Create high-res face swaps with AI right on your phone with Face Swapper by Icons8. Make a new version of yourself, troll your friends, or anonymize your photos. With this tool, you can create funny pics in just a few taps.

 Exchange faces with your pets, cartoon characters, and even historical figures.
 Preserves the size and quality of the original image.
 Swaps faces of up to 1024px in size. That’s the max size of a face, not of a photo. And that’s the largest resolution on the market.
 Try new hairstyles, body types, and professional looks.

Download for iPhone

Use Online (https://icons8.com/swapper)

3. HeyPhoto

hey-photo-ai-photo-editor

Did you forget to smile for the camera? Are you hyper-cautious about protecting your identity online? With HeyPhoto, you can edit your face for free in literal seconds. Modify gaze, identity, age, smile, or gender by simply dragging a slider.

 Just drag a slider and get stunning results with the original quality preserved.
 HeyPhoto is free for everyone, no subscriptions are required.
 It doesn’t crop your pictures, resize them, or downgrade their quality. You reap precisely what you sow.
 HeyPhoto will not make your picture grainy, blurry, or weirdly zoomed in.

Use online (https://hey-photo.com/)

4. YouCam Fun

YouCam Fun

Another popular funny faces app for your iPhone is YouCam FunThe app equally works well on Android devices and is highly popular for its class-apart functioning. The app comes in a handy design in a size of 109MB for iOS and 66MB for the android platform.

 Turning a normal face into funny and goofy ones is incredibly easy with YouCam Fun.
 You can use it to add filters to any pictures saved in your photo gallery or click one in real time.
 As soon as you launch the app, I will detect your face and start applying filters to it.
 The straightforward and simple interface adds to its easy working.

Download for Android and iOS

5. Face Changer Camera

Face Changer Camera

Developed by Visionsapp, Face Changer Camera is another silly face app that you can pick to design and create awesome faces. The tool works well on both iOS and Android platforms.

 It has a massive collection of filters including live and artistic effects.
 It comes with straightforward working, all you need to do is, click or browse a photograph, open the app, add filters and it’s done.
 Face Mask, Face Wrap, Face Puppet, Face Sticker, and Chin Face are few of its well-known offerings.
 Apart from this, you can also blend two faces using its Face Blend feature using this top-rated funny faces app.

Download for Android

6. – Funny Faces App

Banuba - Funny Faces App

Another best funny faces app that you can pick to make funny faces is Banuba. The tool has a humongous collection of filters and effects.

 The lightweight tool which comes in an 80MB size for Android devices and iPhones and is available in a small size of 165MB.
 Enjoy applying dozens and dozens of funny and goofy filters with Banuba.
 With this crazy faces app, you get class-apart selfies and experience.
 Use your creativity and innovative ideas to create cheek-aching hilarious faces.
 Banuba is also available in a premium plan which offers advanced features and editing effects.

Download for Android and iOS

7.

Faceswap

Face swap is another impressive funny face app that you can use to edit your facial expressions. The tool has several filters to add that can fit your face without any hiccups.

 Numerous facial effects include weird looks, animals, Halloween, and celebrities.
 Theme Photo, photo swap, live stickers, motion swap, classic collage, and photo retoucher are a few other functions of this good funny faces app. 
 It is a free app and enjoys a rich user base.

Download for Android

8. Face App

Face App

Face APP is one of the most popular funny face apps that one can use to make funny faces. It comes with a lightweight design and enjoys more than 100 million downloads.

 It uses an AI feature that adds a realistic effect to your photographs.
 The most recent addition is its old-age selfie filter.
 Its basic version has around 21 filters. However, you can also go for its Pro version to enjoy 28 fun filters.
 It can also be used to swap gender, change age, alter hair color, add a smile, beard, or mustache, and even add makeup.

Enjoy an array of fun-filled and incredible tools to give your face a new design and take Hollywood-ready selfies and pictures.

Download for Android and iOS

9. Cupace

Cupace

Superlative Funny faces apps for Android offer a variety of innovative and funny features. If you are looking for a straightforward and lightweight application then Cupace can be a good pick. It offers an incredible way to copy and paste different faces on each other.

 It comes with several exciting features and allows you to cut a face from any given image. You can, later on, choose to paste on a different image.
 For accurate results, it also has a magnifying tool.
 The cropped face is saved in the Face Gallery for further use.
 With Cupace you can also add text to your photo.

Download for Android

10. Snapchat

Snapchat

Next on our list of best funny faces apps for iPhone and Android smartphones is Snapchat, an incredible face swap app that enjoys worldwide popularity and fan following. It has a plethora of filters to offer along with various other useful and fun-filled features.

 With this versatile application, you can change the entire way you look.
  It gives you an easy option to express yourself with the help of filters, editing effects, lenses, and Bitmojis.
 Apart from this, you can video chat with 16 friends at a given point in time.
 The images that you click using Snapchat can be shared with your friends within seconds.

Download for Android and iOS

11. – Funny Photo Editor

Face Warp – Funny Photo Editor

Face Warp – Funny Photo Editor as the name suggests this photo editor application allows you to warp the image of your face in any desired direction. Undoubtedly it is the best funny face filter app available to both Android and iPhone users. With more than 1,000,000 installs on the Google Play store, it is one of the top free funny face apps on the internet.

 Face Warp allows users to create an ample number of funny content from their selfies.
 The application converts a normal image into an animation to make it more cool and funny.
 With the help of the pinch-zoom feature inbuilt in the application, users can perfectly on the minute details of the image.
 The app comes with an auto mode that randomly makes changes to the user’s image and provides the best results.

Download for Android and iOS

. Facelab – Face Editor & Beauty

Facelab – Face Editor & Beauty

Facelab – Face Editor & Beauty is the app that makes funny faces out of the users’ selfies. The app allows users to perform things like makeup, reshape and retouch the image to make it more attractive, beautiful and funny. Facelab comes with the in-app purchase which unlocks the premium and advanced features.

 One can easily perform all types of modifications on an image to make it more funny and hilarious.
 The app allows users to work upon every single part of the face separately.
 Use various stickers and 3D filters available on the application free of cost.
 With the help of face masks offered by the software, users can change the selfies to look old or young in age.

Download for iOS

13. FaceOver Lite

FaceOver Lite

The last on our list of best funny faces apps is FaceOver Lite. It is a brilliant app and has a bottomless ocean of Fun Face Photo effects. The application is powered with straightforward and clean working and can effortlessly replace any part of your image with another part.

Simply crop,cut, edit, copy and paste different image parts to add life to your boring images and selfies.

Download for iOS

14.

Face Swap Live

The next one on our list of best funny faces Apps for iPhone is Face Swap Live. The application has some remarkable filters and stickers to make your pictures funnier. Also, it has the option to add these filters to your video call camera. To add motion to your pictures use Gifs, doodles, and text edits to create funny videos. The app enables users to add filters to pictures without any extra effort. Apart from general feature the 3D filters enable users to swap faces with images available online.

The following are the notable features of Face Swap Live:

 Add GIFs, doodles, texts, and other fun elements to your pictures.
 Edit your camera image of video chat with stickers and incredible filters.
 Mask mode can customize your images with hats, glasses, and other fun elements.
 3D filters and swapping faces from images online
 Replace your boring messages with funny filter images.

Download for Android

15. Helium Funny

Helium Funny Face Editor

Let us introduce you to the Helium Funny Face Editor. It is a popular choice for the best funny faces applications because of a plethora of live face filters, an inhaled helium face present in the face mask library, an interesting lip-sync, and the following remarkable features.

Availability of more than 30 sound effects

 Option to mix or add multiple filters
 Lets you add audio/visual effects to your current photos or videos
 Allows you to change the density of an effect during recording
 Robot, Bear, Chipmunk, Violin, and many other voice effects
 Video and voice speedup/slowdown tool
 Boasts a flash to help you record videos in the dark
 You can save the video to camera roll or share it on social networks

Download for iOS

The above-mentioned best funny faces apps are undeniably the most popular and feature-rich applications that one can currently find in the market. Pick one as per your requirement to create funny, goofy, and amazing faces, swap faces, apply stickers, and ass filters.

Check your creativity with these funny face apps for Android and iOS smartphones. If you think that we have missed out on a funny face, selfie and face maker app, then please drop in the comment section below.

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Views: 14

Feeling bored enough? Then, this post can help you a lot. The post explains the best online games (free and paid). Pick the ideal one and enjoy!

From a college student to an adult, online games are liked by everyone and offer perfect rescue from a stressful day.

More than the unparalleled graphics and stunning action scenes, what we love the most about these games is the game itself. These games are available in multiple genres and styles which are suitable for all ages. But with hundreds and thousands of choices, it can be a nerve cracking task to decide which game you want to pick for your PC.

Keeping in mind the multiple offerings, here we have compiled a properly researched list of some of the best online games for PC. Most of our picks are free of cost, but we have also included few paid games for those who don’t mind spending a few bugs on gaming.

Well, without any further delay, let’s take a look at the top free and paid online games for PC.

Best Online Games For PC That You Can Play For Free

1.

Valorant

Price: Free

Platform: Microsoft Windows

Valorant by Riot Games is a next-gen 5v5 character-based shooting game. The availability of heroes across the distinct game modes including Spike Rush, Deathmatch, and Unranked makes it worth trying.

In the game, there are several agents and weapon skins which incentivize gamers to stick around, & experience intense competition from other players. You also have the option to buy some Valorant Points in order to skip the queue and access shiny skins and agents. The game is one of the best multiplayer games that you can play.

Download

Best Online Games For PC 2024

Read More : The Best PC Games 2023

2. World of Tanks

World of tanks

Price:- Free 

Platforms:- Android, , , PC, One or Xbox 360

World of Tanks is one of the mighties games that the online gaming industry has ever seen. The game is based on complex game mechanics, battlefield, and exciting tank simulators. 

The game features two teams playing against each other. It is all about beating your opponent with an unmatchable strategy and using the right tanks and machines. You get access to around 10 tiers, each containing hundreds of vehicles and containers ranging from hulking heavies to speedy scouts. 

All-in-all World of Tanks has everything that can keep your excitement levels high. PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS4 are the few platforms where you can play this incredible game. Moreover, World of Tanks is one of the best
Download

3. Fortnite

Fortnite

Price:- Free

Platforms:-  Windows 7, 8, 10, and Mac OSX Sierra

Fortnite is one of the best online PC games that you can play. The game offers very interesting gameplay supporting amazing graphics that might interest you. Just like PUBG or Call of Duty you enter a battlefield where you need to survive on an island. Apart from that, you get new in the game which you won’t find in any other battle royale game.

While paying you can easily harvest resources and build a structure that can help you in surviving the game. The game does not just require killing others but you need to use strategy for building new resources and using them. You have to gather resources while playing the game which makes it unique and interesting.

Overall the game is super exciting and has new addons which make it more interesting to play. You should definitely try this game as it doesn’t disappoint. You can even find many Fortnite alternatives, so if you are bored of looking at the same graphics then you can play other similar games.

Download

4. Neverwinter

Neverwinter

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Xbox One, PC, PS4

If you are a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, then NeverWinter is the right choice for you. The masses love this free to play online PC game because of two main reasons. 

First: It comes from the highly popular series of online games: The incredible Neverwinter Series. 

Second: It is based on challenging Dungeons and dangerous dragons, a modified and advanced version of its D&D 4th edition. 

Packed with amazing locations, action-focused combat, and a potent battleground, Neverwinter is a perfect pick for D&D lovers. It has an enjoyable MMORPG and can seamlessly run on PS4, PC, and Xbox One platforms. It is one of the best online games for PC that you can play absolutely free.

The most beautiful thing about this game is that you get to access all features without shelling out a single penny. 
Download

5.

World of Warships

Price:- Free 

Platforms:- macOS, Windows, PS4

If you liked playing World of Tanks, then choose World of Warships to experience a wet battlefield. The game is based on fighting navies and offers interesting tactics with welcoming and straightforward controls.

In comparison to other games, it is more engaging than the Total Wars, more profound than the Pirate games, and far more approachable than Silent hunter. World of Warships is one of the amazing free online games for computer.
Download

6. Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Windows, MacOS, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Battle with dangerous aliens, control the starships, train pangalactic professionals and explore the hidden tassels of the galaxy with this best online game for PC. This MMO game gives you a chance to show the world that you are no less than Picard.

Each play is like a full episode of a show and is packed with the best pieces of thrilling experience. If you are a true Trekkie, then Star Trek Online is the game for you.

Download

7. Dragalia Lost

Dragalia Lost

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Android, iOS

Dragalia Lost is based on the tale of a fallen kingdom, which is fighting to save and restore it. The game comes with all the basic free-to-play features, including a stamina meter, random pulls for heroes, etc.

It comes with sleek boss battles, delving RPG dungeon, and adequate controls that help you manage potent abilities on your fingertip, and smoothly execute end-minute dodges. It belongs to the Action RPG genre and can be enjoyed on iOS and Android devices.

Download

8. Among Us

Among Us

Price:- Free

Platforms:-  PC, Mobile, Playstation 5/4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch

Among Us is a great game which you can play with your whole group. The game can be played with four to fifteen players. Out of all the players, three will be randomly chosen as imposters in every round. Apart from this, the map will be chosen randomly out of the four maps.

At the beginning of the game, crewmates will be given a task to complete on a particular map.  The task can include fixing wires, maintenance, and downloading data like works. On the other hand, the imposter is given fake tasks to help them blend with their crewmates. Though the imposter cannot perform the task they can help other crewmates in the task. The end goal of the imposter is to kill crewmates. After each player is dead they become a ghost.

All in all, this is a great game that requires team effort and presence of mind. You can’t find the imposter if you fail to catch them lying or not performing. With the increasing popularity of the game, many other developers have also created Among Us alternatives.

Download

9. Rift

Rift

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Windows

This subscription-based fantasy MMO has gained a lot of popularity post its updation. The improved and updated game offers new raids, new world events, new zones, and a furious pace. You don’t have to spend a penny to enjoy this stunning gameplay and explore its beautiful and colorful world. With the massive list of exciting features and unmatchable gameplay, it’s not a bad deal at all.

Download

10. SMITE

SMITE

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Xbox One, Windows, macOS

Similar to Dota 2 and League of Legends, SMITE also features a team of players who are trying to battle and get into their opponent’s base. Each unit consists of 5 players. It uses a third-person perspective to portray the gameplay rather than showing the battleground view. Also, it does not use any fantasy characters but features different players playing the role of mighty Smite Gods.

If you are fond of playing online games on your PC, then SMITE can be a good pick for you.

Download

11. Pinball FX3

Pinball FX3

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Microsoft Windows

Who doesn’t know about Pinball? Everybody loves it and has played it at some or the other time. It is developed by Zen Studios and offers several simulated pinball tables to its players. It uses a primary scoreboard for informal competitions. With its three-dimensional graphics, multiple , and a higher level of challenges, it creates a new unforgettable gaming experience.

No matter what you are, this game has enough to offer to all age groups and can run on Switch, PS4, PC, and Xbox One platform. Pinball FX 3 undoubtedly deserves a spot on our list of best online games for pc.

Download

12. Runescape

Runescape

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Windows, iOS, macOS, Android, Java, Linux

Ever wondered why this oldie is still so popular? It continually improving MMORPG is the reason behind it. It offers a number of challenges to its user, which are enough to keep the excitement levels high. It’s a multiplayer role-playing fantasy game and is developed by Jagex.

Competing, fighting, quests, and mini-games are few of its prominent offerings. It is fully compatible with PC’s and is entirely free of cost.

Download

13. Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Microsoft Windows, macOS

If you are looking for the best MMO, then this free game is the best pick for you. As a player, you get a lot to do; you can either help a burning village, take part in zone events where you need to get involved with other players to form a team, and defeat the boss.

With this base game, you have a lot to do.

Download

14. Pokemon Masters

Pokemon Masters

Price:- Free

Platforms:- iOS, Android, Windows

Who doesn’t like Pokemon, from TV cartoons to online PS games, it’s everywhere. The game is based on an island The island of Pasio, where players are seen battling for improving the powers of their pokemon. The game is built specially built for mobile phones but can easily be customized to run on computer systems as well.

Download

15.

Clash of Clans

Price:- Free

Platforms:- Android, iOS, Windows

Unlock the power to win over nasty clan leaders and goblins. The game allows you to raise an army, guide your tribe, plan your defensive actions, and much more. It offers an ultimate mix of quick and rigorous battle with slow and strategic planning. You can either choose to join an existing clan or form your group to fight against your enemies.

Enjoy a limitless combination of troops, heroes, and spell with this impressive online PC game.

Download

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Views: 8

The full history of Galaxy Smartphones, The Galaxy S is the handset that kick-started Samsung’s journey along the path to world smartphone domination. Announced in March 2010 and released in June, it packed in some of the most impressive specs available at the time. Its 1GHz ARM Hummingbird processor coupled with 512MB RAM and the most powerful graphics processing of any smartphone made it a spec-fiend’s number one choice.

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At 9.9mm thin (positively obese by today’s standards), it was also the thinnest smartphone in the world, with a 5MP camera and 0.3MP selfie cam to boot. While its 4in 800 x 400 display sounds archaic by today’s standards, it was still a Super AMOLED affair, making the Apple iPhone 4’s screen look positively washed out in comparison. Oh, and let’s all take a moment to appreciate how horrible TouchWiz 3.0 looks skinned over Eclair. Shudder.

Samsung Galaxy SII – 2011

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This is it folks. This is the handset that really put Samsung on the map. The 8.49mm-thin Galaxy SII received rave reviews, with many critics labelling it the best smartphone in the world, evs.

The Galaxy SII helped push Samsung ahead of Apple in smartphone sales, and it deserved the praise. Its superb Super AMOLED Plus screen was miles ahead of the competition, as Samsung ditched the Pentile matrix for a regular RGB matrix display. In English, that means that it was even sharper than the Original Galaxy S’s screen, while maintaing its true blacks and rich colours.

It was also the most powerful phone in the world at the time, beating out the likes of the Atrix with its dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and 1GB of RAM, along with up to 32GB of internal storage and expandable memory support – all of which helped to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

An 8MP rear camera (with 1080p video recording) and a 2MP front-facing snapper rounded off the rest off the impressive spec sheet, while NFC – a real rarity back then – and MHL support for multimedia playback finished off the mighty feature list.

The full history of Samsung Galaxy Smartphones

Read More : The History of iOS, from Version 1.0 to 17.0

Samsung Galaxy S III – 2012

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The Galaxy SIII is where it all went horribly wrong for Samsung. Wait, did we say “horribly wrong”? We meant to say “incredibly well”. Like, really, massively, unbelievably well. The quad-core beast was once again the most powerful handset in the world at the time of its release, and its 1080p screen was a joy to behold. Samsung packed more bells and whistles into TouchWiz than a hoarder at a… bell and whistle factory.

The usefulness of some of these features, such as screen-on eye-tracking and picture in picture (PIP), were debatable, but the very fact it could do so much without stuttering was testament to the incredible hardware beneath its glossy plastic shell.

No, the SIII wasn’t as pretty as its iPhone 4s rival, but that didn’t stop it from outselling Apple’s poster child. Throw in an impressive 8MP camera and 8.5 hours of non-stop video playback, and it’s clear to see why the Galaxy SIII jumped straight to the top of Stuff’s Top smartphone list.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – 2013

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Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 4G Black – smartphones (Single SIM, Android, MicroSIM, EDGE, GPRS, HSPA+, Bar)

£80.00

£80.00

Launching with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the 7.9mm Galaxy S4 was Samsung’s fastest-selling handset ever, with a whopping 20 million units sold in the first two months. The phone landed with plenty of power beneath its plastic shell, in the form of Qualcomm’s mighty Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB of RAM. The full HD AMOLED display made its return, and the rear camera received a healthy bump up to 13 megapixels.

But despite being a solid handset and receiving plenty of praise, Samsung also received criticism for bloating up Android with not only the cartoonish UI of TouchWiz, but a pile of (debatably useless) features that increased the size of the OS and reduced the amount of available internal storage.

Samsung Galaxy S5 – 2014

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The Galaxy S5’s launch was the first occasion in which people’s love affair with Samsung began to falter slightly. Unveiled at MWC in Barcelona, the handset’s band aid-like plastic rear was met with criticism, especially as the premium metal HTC One M7 had already demonstrated that Android handsets could match Apple for build quality.

Predictably the insides were faster and the camera was as impressive as ever, but Samsung was once again criticised for filling up the Android OS – in this case 4.2 KitKat – with more bloat. In a time that Sony’s Xperia handsets were reaping praise for their minimal interference with Google’s OS, Samsung’s TouchWiz, with all of its clunky features, had begun to look far too podgy and ugly in comparison. The S5’s slightly flakey fingerprint sensor (which required an annoying swiping action) and gimmicky heart rate scanner didn’t help matters either.

Still, it was a solid flagship nonetheless, shipping 10 million units in just 25 days, making it Samsung’s fastest-ever-shipping smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge – 2015

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Simply put, Samsung smashed it in 2015 when it released the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The plastic had finally been banished, and was replaced with lovely premium metal and glass. The handset felt as good as the iPhone and HTC One M9 in the hands, and the S6 Edge, with its curved display, was a thing of . The camera was superb, and until its successor came out, it was the best smartphone camera we had ever tested.

The once niggly fingerprint scanner had become lightning fast and worked just like Apple’s home button, with no pesky swiping gesture required. Even TouchWiz was toned down considerably, with a large amount of bloat removed, and an all-new, flatter design introduced.

The power of Samsung’s own octa-core processor blew the competition out of the water, and its 2K Super AMOLED display was the best we’ve ever seen on a smartphone. It’s still fantastic today. The only major gripe – and a deal breaker for hardcore Android fans and media hoarders – was the axing of the removable battery and, even worse, microSD card slot. But overall, the Galaxy S6 was an absolute stunner of a handset.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge – 2016

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Samsung Galaxy S7 SM-G930F 32GB 4G Gold – smartphones (Single SIM, Android, NanoSIM, GSM, HSPA+, LTE)

£199.00

Unveiled at MWC in February 2016, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were (naturally) Samsung’s sleekest, sexiest, most powerful handsets to date. While their designs appear almost identical to the existing S6 and S6 Edge, their backs have been rounded off to make for a more comfortable, grippy shape, and the protruding camera lens is now almost flush. The premium metal and glass build remains, this time with the addition of IP68 water resistance, along with the return of the microSD slot (hooray!)

Both handsets retain Samsung’s excellent 2K Super AMOLED display, though the Edge’s screen has increased from 5.1 inches to 5.5 inches, which has resulted in larger, more useful Edge Apps. Samsung also improved the camera by increasing the sensor size and aperture, as well as implementing dual-pixel autofocus – all of which resulted in more light being absorbed – hence better shots in low light conditions – and sharper shots when snapping moving subjects.

With Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and larger batteries in both, they were Samsung’s best handsets yet. Well, until 2017 rolled around.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus – 2017

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Unlike Apple’s iPhone 6/6s/7, Samsung didn’t revisit the same basic design for a third time: the Galaxy S8 went for something bold and new, and Samsung’s gamble paid off. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus offer striking silhouettes, with a taller-than-usual 18.5:9 curved Infinity Display that covers nearly the entire face of the phone, with minimal bezel on the top and bottom and almost nothing on the sides. And no, there’s no more flat-screened edition.

It’s a fabulous display again, of course: a 2960×1440 Super AMOLED screen in 5.8in and 6.2in sizes, depending on the model. The fingerprint sensor’s new placement on the back is clunky, unfortunately, but it’s the rare knock against an otherwise fabulous handset.

Inside, of course, the Galaxy S8 has plenty of power, packing an Exynos 8895 processor (or Snapdragon 835 in some parts of the world) with 4GB RAM to play with, while the TouchWiz skin over Android 7.0 Nougat is even more usable and less annoying than ever.

Again, Samsung has a brilliant camera here: it’s only a 12-megapixel sensor, but advanced image processing abilities take a lot of the blur and noise out of shots. It actually snaps three photos when you tap the button, and then creates one oft-brilliant final product.

Gear VR support returns, of course, along with the new , which lets you use the Galaxy S8 as the brain for a desktop computer-like experience using an external monitor.

It’s heavy on style, heavy on perks, and certainly staggering in price – but if you want the best of the best in the smartphone world right now, it’s the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus – 2018

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Samsung stuck to its guns with the Galaxy S9 series, on the design front at least. Practically identical to their S8 predecessors, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus retained their smooth, organic, pebble-like curves and minimalistic side bezels, making for a premium, comfortable experience.

Standout features (at least, at the time), included 3D avatars in the form of AR emoji, which, if you’re being honest, probably saw next to no use. The S9 did, at least, have a far more useful feature in the form of a dual aperture main camera, which let users switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 on the fly. How’s that for flexibility?

Samsung Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and S10e – 2019

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The S10 range landed with five models in total — the regular Galaxy S10, the larger S10 Plus, the more affordable S10e, and a model with 5G support thrown in for good measure. 

The design was, once again, pretty familiar, marking the last time Samsung could have probably gotten away with the same rounded look without fearing criticism for playing it too safe.

Tantalising specs in the S10 range included a groundbreaking in-display UltraSonic fingerprint sensor (rear scanners be damned), along with a triple-camera setup, and a punch-out selfie cam for a sleeker front appearance.

Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus – 2020

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Samsung decided to spare us all the unsymmetrical eyesore of S13-19 monikers back in 2019 when it skipped straight from S10 to S20. After years of teasing near-bezelless screens, the S20 range was the first time that we saw Samsung almost eliminate them for good — thanks to that clever punch-out selfie cam.

The predictably vibrant OLED display also saw a notable bump up to a 120HZ refresh rate, while the rear triple-camera setup serves up more photographic flexibility. The slightly larger Galaxy S20 Plus offers similar specs, albeit with a little more screen real estate and a slightly larger battery.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra – 2020

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The Galaxy S20 Ultra ushered in a new no-compromise flagship category for Samsung which made headlines with a large 120Hz 6.9in display, a huge 108MP camera, and a whopping 10x optical zoom. 

The latter is a genuinely useful feature for getting more detailed shots of distant subjects, though the 100x Space Zoom turned out to be more of a pixellated mess. You can’t defeat the laws of physics, after all.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE – 2020

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Despite being marketed as a more budget entry point into the S20 range, the Galaxy S20 FE won plenty of praise for blending core Samsung features and slick design, in a package that spared your bank account.

With a crisp, flat display, formidable camera performance, and the power of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor, it made for a very tempting alternative indeed. And let’s not forget the eye-catching plastic rear, which landed in a plethora of pleasing pastel hues.

Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus – 2021

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At first glance, the Galaxy S21 and larger S21 Plus appeared to be downgrades. After all, they landed with plastic rears, and not the absolute best battery life around.

Dig a little deeper though, and you’ll see that their launch prices were a little less than those of their predecessors. Camera performance delivered too, but it’s the unmatched style and head-turning colours that made the S21 and S21 Plus stand out from the crowd.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra – 2021

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The Galaxy S21 Ultra still houses one of the best overall smartphone cameras you’re likely to use today, with superb shots in all lighting conditions, with detailed zoom on offer as well. 

fans can also use a (non-bundled) S Pen for doodling and note taking, while the ultra-adaptive screen blends a maximum 120Hz refresh rate with battery-sipping cleverness, letting it ramp the refresh rate up or down accordingly.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE– 2022

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Launching later than expected, the S21 FE landed in January 2022. Resembling its S21 siblings (minus a rear camera housing that matches that of the main body), it remains a handsome handset that cuts features down in a few areas to help make the price tag more palatable. 

With a 120Hz display though and plenty of Samsung tricks going for it, it remains a strong budget-minded option.

Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus – 2022

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The S22 and S22 Plus resemble their predecessors, although their Gorilla Glass Victus Plus construction makes for a hardier improvement.

Super-fast OLED screens and more than capable cameras are, as expected, also present, although the cream of the imaging prowess is reserved for the higher-end Galaxy S22 Ultra, as  (which should come as no surprise by now).

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra – 2022

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The Galaxy S22 Ultra landed as the first true Note successor, thanks to the inclusion of the S Pen, which (mercifully) can be stored inside the handset itself, rather than being lost down the side of the couch.

Super-fast internals, a large 6.8in screen, and a headline-grabbing 108MP camera made the S22 Ultra the handset to beat. That is, at least, until its Galaxy S23 successor came along.

Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus – 2023

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Samsung Galaxy S23 5G Dual SIM Android , 256GB, SIM Free Smartphone, Black

Powered by the mighty Gen 2 processor and 8GB of RAM, these are, unsurprisingly, two of the most powerful phones Samsung has ever made. The larger S23 Plus features 45W fast charging (versus the slower 25W charging of its sibling), but both have the same 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto (complete with 3x optical zoom), for snapping quality pics.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – 2023

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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G Dual SIM Android Mobile Phone, 256GB, SIM Free Smartphone, Green 3Y Extended Manufacturer Warranty

As predicted, Samsung’s latest and greatest flagship is the most powerful and feature-packed one yet. With a largely unchanged design (although the rear camera housing has slimmed down), it’s the combination of tech that makes it shine.

From a beautiful, bright screen, to a camera setup that’s capable in almost any situation (thanks to a 10x optical zoom lens and a huge 200MP main sensor), the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is shaping up to be a contender for one of the best phones of 2023.

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The History of iOS, from Version 1.0 to 17.0, A complete view of the operating system that launched the smartphone revolution

iOS is the name of the operating system that runs the iPhone and iPod touch. It’s the core software that comes loaded on all devices to allow them to run and support other apps. iOS is to the iPhone what Windows is to PCs or is to Macs.

Below you’ll find a history of each version of iOS when it was released, and what it added to the platform. Click the name of the iOS version, or the More link at the end of each blurb, for more in-depth information about that version.

See our article What is iOS? for a lot more on this innovative mobile operating system and how it works.

iOS 17

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Apple announced iOS 17 at the June 2023 WWDC, with a public rollout to take place in Fall 2023.

One of the most notable updates to iOS 17 is the change from, “Hey Siri!” to, “Siri,” as well as the ability to give Siri back-to-back commands,

iOS 17 includes upgrades to Phone, , and Messages, which also features an all-new Stickers experience. AirDrop has been upgraded to include NameDrop to allow for easy contact sharing. Journal is an entirely new app that provides an intuitive journalling experience based on your photos, locations, contacts, music, podcasts, and more.

In addition, iOS 17 offers a fullscreen experience called StandBy, which is similar to Nightstand Mode on Apple Watch. While you’re charging the phone, you can put it into landscape mode to display the time and other information on a minimalist, easy-to-read display.

iOS 16

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iOS 16 was announced at 2022’s WWDC in June. It rolled out to consumers in Fall 2022.

Updates include new Messages features, SharePlay availability in FaceTime and Messages, and upgrades for Apple Wallet including Apple Pay Later and Apple Order Tracking.

iOS 16 also featured an Apple Maps redesign and new features, such as cycling, lookaround, and multi-stop routing. The iOS upgrade also offers improvements to Spatial Audio that allow for the personalization of audio on AirPods.

The History of iOS, from Version 1.0 to 17.0

Read More : The best Apple HomeKit devices 2023

iOS 15

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Apple Inc.

Support ended: n./a
Current version: 15.5, released May 16, 2022
Initial version: 15.0, released Sept. 24, 2021

Much like iOS 14, iOS 15 is more of a collection of improvements to the iPhone platform than it is a themed release. Generally speaking, iOS 15 moves forward a number of important things Apple has been working on for a number of releases: Increases security and privacy, blocks more ad tracking, improves Siri and the camera app, and much more.

Some of the biggest steps forward are influenced by the recent remote-work trend. Features in that area include improvements to FaceTime audio, support for FaceTime conferencing on the web and Android, improvements to the Messages app, and more.

Key New Features​:

 FaceTime received numerous improvements aimed at improving the experience of using the app and expanding the audience for it, including:
1.SharePlay allows people on a FaceTime video call to watch video or listen to audio together, and share screens
2.Spatial Audio brings Apple’s more-natural, 3D audio experience to improve the naturalness of FaceTime sound
3.Enhanced Mic Modes allow you to isolate your voice from background noise to improve audio quality
4.Portrait Mode brings this terrific still-photos feature to video to blur your background
5.Cross-Platform support allows you to invite anyone to a FaceTime call with a link and for them to join from a web browser or Android devices.
 Focus adds a set of smart notification and communication s settings based on what you’re doing at that moment.
 The Photos app gains major improvements such as:
1.Live Text lets the app detect text inside your photos and convert it to text that can be copied and pasted, or phone numbers that can be tapped to call
2.Visual search lets you search within the Photos app for text embedded your photos.
 In keeping with Apple’s ongoing commitment to user privacy, iOS 15 adds:
1.App Privacy Report lets you know what permissions each of your apps has, how often it accesses your data, and what third-party domains the app has contacted.
2.Mail Privacy Protection blocks tracking pixels, hides your IP address from marketers, and blocks the connection of your data from email with other data sources.
3.On-device Siri means that Siri recordings are no longer sent to or stored in the cloud. Siri works completely on your iPhone, and now works offline.
 Support for the iCloud+ service that adds new Homekit and VPN-style features.
 Notifications scheduling and summary.
 Improved driving directions in Maps.
 A redesigned experience and features for managing tabs and groups of tabs in .
 Better ways to find content shared with you and to share medical data from the Health app with your family.

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 6 series. All iPhone models from the 6S series and up are supported.
 6th Gen. iPod touch. Only the 7th Gen. iPod touch is supported.

iOS 14

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Apple

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 14.6, released May 24, 2021
Initial version: 14.0, released Sept. 17, 2020

There’s no single major change or theme to the changes introduced with iOS 14. Instead, iOS 14 is a collection of numerous small and medium-sized changes to the user interface, features, and overall ease of use that add up to making the experience of using an iPhone even better.

Maybe the most notable changes are around customization, thanks to the addition of Homescreen Widgets, the ability to choose default apps in some cases, and improved privacy controls.

How to Change the Color of Apps on iOS 14 

Key New Features​:

 Homescreen Widgets for customized home screens and shortcuts.
 Smart Stacks that deliver different Homescreen Widgets at different times of the day based on your habits.
 Set third-party apps as default for email and web browser apps.
 App Library, a new way of organizing apps and keeping your home scree neat
 App Clips
 Picture in picture mode
 Improved privacy features to block tracking online.
 Built-in language translation for 11 languages.
 Spatial audio for AirPods delivers surround sound, along with other AirPods improvements.
 Design changes allow phone calls and FaceTime calls to take up less space on the screen and allow you to do other things at the same time.
 Numerous improvements for group texts in iMessage, including threaded replies and mentions.

Dropped Support For:

 None. iOS 14 supports the same set of devices as iOS 13

iOS 13

image5.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 13.7, release Sept. 1, 2020.
Initial version: 13.0, released Sept. 19, 2019

Perhaps the biggest change introduced with iOS 13 is that the OS no longer runs on the iPad. That’s due to the release of  (which begins with version 13). That’s a new OS dedicated to the making the iPad a more useful productivity device and a potential laptop replacement. It’s based on iOS 13 and has many of the same features, but also adds iPad-specific items.

Beyond that, iOS 13 shores up some core features, including launching apps faster, unlocking devices with Face ID faster, and overhauling pre-installed apps like Reminders, Notes, Safari, and Mail. Maybe the most obvious new feature is the Dark Mode, but the changes range much wider than that and further bolster the already-strong OS.

Key New Features​:

 System-wide Dark Mode
 Sign In With Apple user account system
 New privacy and security options
 New Portrait Lighting options
 Look Around, a Google Street View-style feature for Apple Maps
 New, improved Siri voice
 Overhauled stock apps like Reminders and Notes

Dropped Support For:

 iPad (due to the release of iPadOS)
 6th Gen. iPod touch
 iPhone 6 series
 iPhone 5S

iOS 12

image6.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 12.4.8. It was released July 15, 2020
Initial version: It was released on September 17, 2018

The new features and improvements added in iOS 12 aren’t as extensive or revolutionary as in some previous updates to the OS. Instead, iOS 12 focused more on making refinements to commonly used features and on adding wrinkles that improve how people use their devices.

Some of the key features of iOS 12 included improvements to Siri like Siri Shortcuts, enhanced Augmented Reality with ARKit 2, and giving users and parents ways to monitor and control their device use with Screen Time.

Key New Features​:

 Grouped Notifications
 Screen Time
 ARKit 2
 Siri improvements, including Siri Shortcuts and multi-step actions
 Memoji, a personalized kind of Animoji

Dropped Support For:

 N/A

iOS 11

image7.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: n/a
Current version: 11.4.1. It was released on July 9, 2018
Initial version: It was released on September 19, 2017

iOS was originally developed to run on the iPhone. Since then, it’s been expanded to support the iPod touch and iPad (and versions of it even power the Apple Watch and Apple TV). In iOS 11, the emphasis shifted from the iPhone to the iPad.

Sure, iOS 11 contains lots of improvements for the iPhone, but its major focus is turning the iPad Pro series models into legitimate laptop replacements for some users.

This is done through a series of changes designed to make iOS running on iPad a lot more like a desktop operating system. These changes include all new drag and drop support, split screen apps and multiple workspaces, a file browser app, and support for notation and handwriting with the .

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 ​iPhone 5C
 iPhone 5
 iPad 4
 iPad 3

iOS

image8.

 Apple Inc.

Support ended: 2019
Current version: 10.3.4. It was released on July 22, 2019
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 13, 2016

The ecosystem Apple built around iOS has long been referred to as a “walled garden” because it’s a very pleasant place to be on the inside, but it’s hard to gain access. This was reflected in the many ways Apple locked down the interface of iOS and the options it gave to apps.

Cracks began to show in the walled garden in iOS 10, and Apple put them there.

The major themes of iOS 10 were interoperability and customization. Apps could now communicate directly with each other on a device, allowing one app to use some features from another without opening the second app. Siri became available to third-party apps in new ways. There were even apps built into iMessage now.​

Beyond that, users now had new ways to customize their experiences, from (finally!) being able to delete built-in apps to new animations and effects to punctuate their text messages.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 ​iPhone 4S
 5th gen. iPod touch
 iPad 2
 1st gen. iPad mini

iOS 9

image9.

Apple, Inc.

Support ended: 2018
Final version: 9.3.9. It was released on July 22, 2019
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 16, 2015

After a few years of major changes to both the interface and technical foundation of iOS, many observers began to charge that iOS was no longer the stable, dependable, solid performer it had once been. They suggested that Apple should focus on shoring up the foundation of the OS before adding new features.

That’s just what the company did with iOS 9. While it did add some new features, this release was generally aimed at solidifying the foundation of the OS for the future.

Major improvements were delivered in speed and responsiveness, stability, and performance on older devices. iOS 9 proved to be an important refocusing that laid the groundwork for the bigger improvements delivered in iOS 10 and 11.

Key New Features​:

 Night Shift
 Low Power Mode
 Public beta program

Dropped Support For:

 N/A

iOS 8

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Apple, Inc.

Support ended: 2016
Final version: 8.4.1. It was released on Aug. 13, 2015
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 17, 2014

More consistent and stable operation returned to iOS in version 8.0. With the radical changes of the last two versions now in the past, Apple once again focused on delivering major new features.

Among these features was its secure, contactless payment system Apple Pay and, with the iOS 8.4 update, the subscription service. 

There were continued improvements to the iCloud platform, too, with the addition of the Dropbox-like iClould Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and iCloud Music Library.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 4

 

iOS 7

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Corbis News / Getty Images

Support ended: 2016
Final version: 7.1.2. It was released on June 30, 2014.
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 18, 2013

Like iOS 6, iOS 7 was met with substantial resistance upon its release. Unlike iOS 6, though, the cause of unhappiness among iOS 7 users wasn’t that things didn’t work. Rather, it was because things had changed.

After the firing of Scott Forstall, iOS development was overseen by Jony Ive, Apple’s head of design, who had previously only worked on hardware. In this version of iOS, Ive ushered in a major overhaul of the user interface, designed to make it more modern.

While the design was indeed more modern, its small, thin fonts were hard to read for some users and frequent animations caused motion sickness for others. The design of the current iOS is derived from the changes made in iOS 7. After Apple made improvements, and users became accustomed to the changes, complaints subsided.

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 3GS
 ​iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 3rd gen. iPad, and iPad 2 couldn’t use all features of iOS 7 

iOS 6

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marco_1186 / Flickr

Support ended: 2015
Final version: 6.1.6. It was released on Feb. 21, 2014
Initial version: It was released on Sept. 19, 2012

Controversy was one of the dominant themes of iOS 6. While this version introduced the world to Siri — which, despite being later surpassed by competitors, was a truly revolutionary technology — problems with it also led to major changes.

The driver of these problems was Apple’s increasing competition with Google, whose Android smartphone platform was posing a threat to the iPhone. Google had supplied the Maps and  apps pre-installed with the iPhone since 1.0. In iOS 6, that changed.

Apple introduced its own Maps app, which was badly received due to bugs, bad directions, and problems with certain features. As part of the company’s efforts to solve the problems, Apple CEO Tim Cook asked the head of iOS development, Scott Forstall, to make a public apology. When he refused, Cook fired him. Forstall had been involved with the iPhone since before the first model, so this was a profound change.

Key New Features​:

 Apple Maps
 Passbook (now Wallet)

Dropped Support For:

 ​None, but iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 couldn’t use all features of iOS 6

iOS 5

image13.

Francis Dean / Getty Images

Support ended:  2014
Final version: 5.1.1. It was released on May 7, 2012
Initial version: It was released on Oct. 12, 2011

Apple responded to the growing trend of wirelessness, and cloud computing, in iOS 5, by introducing essential new features and platforms. Among those was iCloud, the ability to activate an iPhone wirelessly (previously it had required a connection to a computer), and syncing with iTunes via Wi-Fi.

More features that are now central to the iOS experience debuted here, including iMessage and Notification Center.

With iOS 5, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 3G, 1st gen. iPad, and 2nd and 3rd gen. iPod touch.

Key New Features​:

 iCloud
 iMessage
 Notification Center
 Wireless syncing and activation

Dropped Support For:

 iPhone 3G
 1st gen. iPad
 2nd gen. iPod touch
 3rd gen. iPod touch

iOS 4

image14.

Ramin Talaie / Getty Images

Support ended: 2013
Final version: 4.3.5. It was released on July 25, 2011
Initial version: It was released on June 22, 2010

Many aspects of the modern iOS began to take shape in iOS 4. Features that are now widely used debuted in various updates to this version, including FaceTime, multitasking, iBooks, organizing apps into folders, Personal Hotspot, AirPlay, and AirPrint.

Another important change introduced with iOS 4 was the name “iOS” itself. As noted earlier, the iOS name was unveiled for this version, replacing the previously used “iPhone OS” name.

This was also the first version of iOS to drop support for any iOS devices. It was not compatible with the original iPhone or the 1st generation iPod touch. Some older models that were technically compatible were not able to use all features of this version.​

Key New Features​:

Dropped Support For:

 Original iPhone
 1st Gen. iPod touch

iOS 3

image15.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images News

Support ended: 2012
Final version: 3.2.2. It was released on Aug. 11, 2010
Initial version: It was released on June 17, 2009

The release of this version of iOS accompanied the debut of the iPhone 3GS. It added features including copy and paste, Spotlight search, MMS support in the Messages app, and the ability to record videos using the Camera app.

Also notable about this version of iOS is that it was the first to support the iPad. The 1st generation iPad was released in 2010, and version 3.2 of the software came with it.

Key New Features​:

 Copy and paste​
 Spotlight​ search​
 Recording videos

iOS 2

image16.

Jason Kempin / Getty Images

Support ended: 2011​​
Final version: 2.2.1. It was released on January 27, 2009
Initial version: It was released on July 11, 2008

One year after the iPhone became a bigger hit than almost anyone projected, Apple released iOS 2.0 (then called iPhone OS 2.0) to coincide with the release of the iPhone 3G.

The most profound change introduced in this version was the App Store and its support for real third-party apps (rather than web apps). Around 500 apps were available in the App Store at launch. Hundreds of other improvements were also added.

Other important changes introduced in the 5 updates iPhone OS 2.0 included podcast support and public transit and walking directions in Maps (both in version 2.2).

Key New Features​:

 App Store​
 Improved Maps app​

iOS 1

image17.

Apple Inc.

Support ended: 2010
Final version: 1.1.5. It was released on July 15, 2008
Initial version: It was released on June 29, 2007

The one that started it all, which shipped pre-installed on the original iPhone.

This version of the operating system wasn’t called iOS at the time it launched. From versions 1-3, Apple referred to it as the iPhone OS. The name shifted to iOS with version 4.

It’s hard to convey to modern readers who have lived with the iPhone for years how profound a breakthrough this version of the operating system was. Support for features like the multitouch screen, Visual Voicemail, and iTunes integration were significant advances.

While this initial release was a major breakthrough at the time, it lacked many of the features that would come to be closely associated with the iPhone in the future, including support for real third-party apps. Pre-installed apps included Calendar, Photos, Camera, Notes, Safari, Mail, Phone, and iPod (which was later split into the Music and Videos apps).

Version 1.1, which was released in Sept. 2007 was the first version of the software compatible with the iPod touch.

Key New Features​:

 Visual Voicemail​
 Multitouch interface
 Safari browser
 Music app​​

FAQ

 How can I see the version update history of an iOS app?

Go to the App store, select an app, and tap Version History. There, you will see all updates for the app, plus the date of each update.

 How can I get notifications about new versions of iOS apps?

To receive notifications about new versions of iOS apps, you must turn off automatic updates on your iOS device. Go to Settings > App Store > turn off App Updates. When you turn off automatic updates, the App Store is forced to notify you that an update is available for your iOS app.

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While not as widespread as Google Home or Amazon , Apple HomeKit remains one of the most popular ecosystems of 2023. The software plays well with iOS devices, and several other gadgets such as smart lights, smart locks, thermostats, and cameras can be controlled using the fancy technology. If you’re looking to build your smart home around Apple’s ecosystem, here are the best HomeKit devices available today.

Locks

A person unlocking the Aqara U100 smart lock with their phone.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

HomeKit doesn’t have the largest selection of smart locks, but that doesn’t really matter when you have something as well-rounded as the Aqara Smart Lock U100. Not only does it offer full HomeKit support, but you’ll even gain access to Apple home keys — allowing you to unlock your door with your iPhone or Apple Watch. There’s also the standard keypad for entering a passcode, along with a fingerprint sensor that can store several dozen fingerprints (so your whole family can enter the home without worrying about forgetting their password or smartphone).

A physical key is included for emergency access, and the smart lock is designed to run for up to eight months before you’ll need to replace its batteries. Other standout features include “Do Not Disturb Mode,” auto-locking, and an IP65 rating to help it withstand whatever nature throws its way.

The Schlage Encode Plus is another solid option. This lock includes all of the latest HomeKit features, including Apple home key support. Of course, you still have access to a physical key lock and touchscreen support. The Encode Plus also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant while having full HomeKit and Siri support. The lock is pretty expensive at $299, but if you want a lock with all of Apple’s secure HomeKit features and a host of other features, Schlage’s Encode Plus is currently your only route.

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is still a great choice for one of the best smart locks and makes it possible for you to do things like track who is coming and going, give access to specific people, or lock and unlock your door remotely. Plus, it attaches to your existing deadbolt, so you don’t have to get a new set of house keys. In addition to being compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant, it’s also compatible with Apple HomeKit, too. You can check out our full review of the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock.

Don’t want to have to worry about a house key? Yale Assure Lock uses a touchscreen keypad. If you upgrade your Yale Assure Lock (models YRD246 or YRD256) with a Yale iM1 Network Module, it’ll be compatible with Apple HomeKit. The module typically costs somewhere in the $50 range, and it’ll let you control the lock with voice commands and more. Read more about the Yale Assure SL lock in our full review.

You could also spring for the Yale Assure Lock 2, which comes in a variety of designs — including a few models that give you remote access to your front door via Wi-Fi. Our review found it to be a premium smart lock that’s more than worth its hefty price tag. If you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem, consider springing for the Yale Assure Lock 2 Plus with Apple Home Keys, as it works not just with HomeKit, but also supports Home Keys — allowing you to unlock your door with a tap of your iPhone or Apple Watch.

The best Apple HomeKit devices 2023

Read More : Best AI art generators in 2024

Lighting

Philips Hue light bulbs are smart.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Now your favorite Hue products with your Apple devices. You can adjust dimming, change colors in certain rooms, sync your lights, set scenes, and more. The Philips Hue Starter Kit is a great way to get started with smart lighting.

Lifx A19 LED Bulbs are another great HomeKit-compatible option. Delivering 1,100 lumens, they’re about as bright as a 75-watt incandescent bulb. However, they’re energy-efficient at only watts, and they have a 22-year lifespan. With 16 million color options and no hub required, Lifx A19s offers a lot in a compact-sized bulb, including the Candle Color, the first smart LED bulb that can emit multiple colors of light at once.

The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter A19 Smart Bulb boasts full HomeKit support, and it even works with Matter. It’ll give you access to millions of different colors, a simple smartphone app, and a quick setup process. Consider giving it a look if you need something that works not just with Apple HomeKit, but other smart home you may have running in your house.

If you want something a little bit different, Nanoleaf’s Light Panels are triangular smart light panels you can shape into whatever design you like. Connect them to Apple HomeKit to activate different scenes. There’s even a rhythm add-on, so your panels and music will work in sync. If you’re looking for a less expensive way to add some color to your space, another great option is the Lifx Z, a HomeKit controllable Multi Color LED Light strip. The ribbon comes in at 6.6 feet, and additional extensions can be added on for greater flexibility.

Switches and smart plugs

Wemo Mini Smart Plug.

Wemo

Don’t have a smart light but want to tell “Hey Siri, dim the bedroom light?” The WeMo Smart Light Switch lets you voice-control your lights, set your lights on a schedule, and optimize them based on the bulbs you’re using and prevent flickering. With Apple HomeKit, you can tell Siri to turn the lights off for bedtime, or you can have it set the lights to brighten in the morning. The Lutron Caseta Smart Lighting Dimmer Switch is also compatible with HomeKit, and you can even install the switch without a neutral wire.

Another option is to go with a smart plug, which lets you control devices you plug in (think , holiday lights, or even appliances). The Wemo Smart Plug with Thread from Belkin lets you control a plugged-in device with your voice or phone when connecting it to Apple HomeKit. This edition with Thread support allows for a faster and more reliable connection.

For an even smaller version, you may prefer the Pure Gear PureSwitch, which offers app control, timers, and energy management options for anything you plug in. If you want to replace an entire outlet (both top and bottom) then check out the Connectsense Smart Outlet 2. You’ll also get a lot of information about how much energy your devices are using, through the Connectsense app. This plug also works with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Thermostats

EcoBee3 Smart Thermostat Thumb.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ecobee released its Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium and Smart Thermostat Enhanced models in 2022. Seeing that the Ecobee 4 was our previous choice for the best thermostat, it’s easy to give the crown to the new generation. The model sports a new design and the Ecobee’s Smart Thermostat Premium has Siri fully built-in and is HomeKit-compatible. It still works with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, as well. The new radar sensor and air quality monitor take the advancements and convenience up a level. If you want something a bit more affordable, the Ecobee Lite still has a lot to offer. The Lite works with HomeKit and other smart home systems, but it doesn’t have Alexa built into the thermostat.

Honeywell’s Lyric T6 Pro thermostat is HomeKit-compatible as well, and it’s a very cost-effective option. The T6 Pro is an upgrade to one of our old top choices, Honeywell’s Lyric T5. It has features like geofencing, scheduling, and smart alerts. Adaptive auto-recovery makes it so the thermostat knows how long it takes to heat or cool your home to your desired temperature at specific times, and the thermostat can also auto-change from heat to cool. 

Otherwise, if you are more interested in a minimal approach — a thermostat that appears to disappear into your wall — you’ll want to take a look at the ; variations are available for both baseboard heating and in-floor heating. Minimal doesn’t mean simple, however, as the Mysa includes a smartphone app to monitor your energy usage and set up a heating schedule.

Cameras and security devices

Logitech Circle 2 review.

Daven Mathies/Digital Trends

Logitech’s Circle View is a smart choice if you’re focused on personal privacy with features such as an electronic shutter. It’s weatherproof, easy to set up, and has some pretty decent free features, like 24-hour storage and smart alerts with snapshots. It also has an impressive view radius of 180 degrees. Some of the more advanced features, like person detection and motion zones, require a paid subscription (after a -day free trial).

Eufy also has a range of affordable indoor and outdoor cameras that work flawlessly with HomeKit Secure Video. Another great part is that you don’t need a subscription to use these cameras either. Check out Eufy Indoor Cam 2K , Indoor Cam Pan & Tilt 2K, and Floodlight Cam 2 Pro to get the best of the company’s offerings. Keep in mind that if you want to stream a HomeKit-enabled camera remotely, you need a HomePod Mini, an 4K, or Apple TV (4th generation).

Apple HomeKit supports other security devices outside of just cameras. Eve and Aqara create complete lines of various sensors to place around and monitor your home. For example, Eve has a door and window sensor, a motion sensor, and a room sensor that monitors temperature and air quality. Aqara also has low-cost sensors, including a water-leak sensor, temperature and humidity sensor, and a vibration sensor, to name a few. Sensors like those or the can add extra home security while also making it possible for you to do things like have the lights turn on when your door opens.

Your options for video doorbells are limited with HomeKit, but the Logitech Circle View Wired Doorbell is a solid option. It’s a bit pricey at $200, but it offers secure storage that’s encrypted before getting backed up to iCloud, rich notifications that alert you when an animal, vehicle, or person is detected, and it supports customizable motion zones. It’s also a rather sleek device, featuring a design that’s all black and with a footprint smaller than most other video doorbells on the market.

A/V devices

Apple homepod.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Whether you’re a music fanatic or cinephile, you can use an Apple HomePod mini to expand your at-home A/V experience. For starters, the HomePod mini is an excellent way to listen to your favorite playlists. The speaker’s sound is surprisingly room-filling for its size and includes Thread connectivity to help with your other smart home accessories. Purchase multiple HomePod minis, and you can pair them together to create 360-degree stereo sound.

If you’re willing to drop a bit more cash, you can snag the new HomePod 2023 for $299. It offers everything found in the HomePod mini, although you’ll be treated to radically improved audio. Thanks to its larger footprint, the HomePod manages to pack in a high-excursion woofer, a beamforming array of five tweeters, and supports Spatial Audio and Room sensing to optimize its performance regardless of where you place it. In other words, the HomePod is a massive upgrade over the HomePod mini and is perfect for creating room-filling sound.

Alternatively, Sonos, has a plethora of products that all have Airplay 2 and are HomeKit-compatible. You can purchase the Sonos One, Sonos Beam, Sonos Amp, or the Sonos Ray soundbar and  portable speaker. The new Sonos Era 100 is another great option, as it’s built with support for AirPlay 2, and you can use Siri to play Apple Music through the Home app.

For home-theater hounds, the fourth-gen Apple TV 4K is a fantastic way to bring HomeKit to your media cave. The streaming device delivers crystal-clear 4K HDR and features Siri support. In cases where you may need a smart bridge to control your HomeKit devices, the Apple TV can do that.

Bridges

Connect to the HomeKit app.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even though there aren’t a lot of smart home systems that require bridges, they can be crucial in some cases. As you might expect from their name, bridges connect the Home app and HomeKit with a particular brand’s devices, guaranteeing compatibility. They are essential for people who want to increase the functionality of their favorite brands.

For instance, let’s look at the Wemo Bridge. It links the Home app and the Belkin Wemo brand, increasing compatibility between devices such as the Wemo Switch, Insight Smart Plug, LightSwitch, and Dimmer.

The advantage of this is that your older Wemo devices will work with your system again. The Apple TV 4K is also a terrific, trustworthy bridge for HomeKit devices.

Stay tuned for Matter

The Matter logo on a colorful background.

CSA

Matter, a new interoperability standard for smart home gadgets, has already started rolling out to select devices — and more are expected to follow in the coming months. In fact, the company recently revealed the new HomePod — which comes with full Matter support. Apple is one of the biggest companies on board with the technology, meaning HomeKit devices should soon be compatible with any devices that support Matter. In other words, the small HomeKit catalog will grow much larger once Matter updates are pushed to some of today’s hottest devices. A variety of Google and Amazon products have already been updated, so keep your eyes peeled as more manufacturers jump on board throughout 2023.

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Views: 19

The top AI art generators in 2024

Every AI art generator you should consider using.

Best AI art generators in 2024, In just over a year, -to-image AI art generators have gone from closed betas to being literally everywhere. What started with  has grown into a huge cultural movement. AI-powered art generators that have been around for years are having a surge in popularity, and new apps with interesting takes are launching every week. It feels like pretty much everyone is generating amazing, hilarious, and downright weird images, just by typing in a prompt. 

If you want to get in on the text-to-image action but aren’t sure where to start, this list will help you out. It’s a broader list than my picks for the best AI image generators in order to show off all the different angles that folks are taking with AI art generators.

Still, this isn’t an exhaustive list of every app that can make AI art. Instead, it shows off the text-to-image AI art generators that worked when I tested them, are accessible through a web app, and seem not to be scams.

The category is changing so fast that by the time you read this, there might be even more great apps available. But for now, it’s a pretty good overview of the biggest AI art apps available at the moment. 

The top AI art generators

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DALL·E 2

Prodia

StarryAI

Leap AI

Fotor

DALL·E 3 (ChatGPT)

Art Generator

DreamStudio

getimg.ai

Runway

Shutterstock

WOMBO Dream

Canva

AI by Getty

Picsart

NightCafe

Deep Dream Generator

CF Art

OpenArt

Artbreeder

Pixray

Adobe Firefly

Stablecog

Let’s Enhance

Jasper Art

DeepAI

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How does AI art work?

The first time you enter a prompt into an AI art generator and it actually creates something that perfectly matches what you want, it feels like magic. But it turns out AI art generators don’t work using magic. They use computers, machine learning, powerful graphics cards, and a whole lot of data to do their thing. 

Let’s break it down. 

AI art generators take a text prompt and, as best they can, turn it into a matching image. Since your prompt can be anything, the first thing all these apps have to do is attempt to understand what you’re asking. To do this, the AI algorithms are trained on hundreds of thousands, millions, or even billions of image-text pairs. This allows them to learn the difference between dogs and cats, Vermeers and Picassos, and everything else. Different art generators have different levels of understanding of complex text, depending on the size of their training database, and some models are trained for specific purposes or only using licensed content, which affects the kinds of things they can generate.

The next step for the AI is to actually render the resulting image. There are two leading kinds of models:

 Diffusion models, like Stable Diffusion, DALL·E 2, Midjourney, and CLIP-Guided Diffusion, which work by starting with a random field of noise, and then editing it in a series of steps to match its understanding of the prompt.
 Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), like VQGAN-CLIP, BigGAN, and StyleGAN, which have been around for a few years longer.

Both kinds of models can produce great, realistic results, though diffusion models are generally better at producing weird or wild images.

Two renderings of the prompt from AI art generators based on different models

Prompt: A parrot detective wearing a deerstalker hat and smoking a pipe.

While some apps are very open about which models they use, others obscure it. VQGAN-CLIP and Stable Diffusion, for example, are both open source, so there are a large number of apps that use them openly—and lots of others that don’t say anything. There are also other apps that use their own data to custom-train various open source models to give better results.

This means that many AI art generators are essentially just different user interface skins for the same art-generating algorithms. From a business point of view, this is somewhat understandable. Still, it’s annoying when you’re trying to choose which app to use (or write about them). Where possible, I’ve listed what models each app uses. When it isn’t declared, I’ve speculated, based on my experience with all these different generative AIs.

How to use AI image generation at work 

Interested in AI, but not quite sure how you’d use it at work? Here are a few of the ways people are turning to AI image generation in their roles:

 Generating hero images for blog posts
 Creating social media posts
 Generating slide decks and storyboards
 Creating personalized images for customers

Learn more about how to use AI image generation at work.

29 AI art generators you can use right now

DALL·E 2

An image made with DALL·E 2 using the prompt "an impressionist oil painting of a Canadian man riding a moose through a forest of maple trees"

I made this with DALL·E 2 using the prompt “an impressionist oil painting of a Canadian man riding a moose through a forest of maple trees”

AI art models: DALL·E 2

Platform: Web

Pricing: $15 for 115 credits (1 credit = 1 prompt with 4 options)

DALL·E 2 is the AI art generator that kicked off this whole craze. While it no longer has a free trial, it’s still one of the most impressive apps out there. It’s simple to use and can produce great results. That’s why its API is used by so many of the other apps on this list.

That API also allows you to use DALL·E as part of your business workflows, by connecting it to thousands of other apps using Zapier. For example, you can create images based on messages and send them back to Slack (or do the same in Discord) or create images for new Airtable records.

Bing Image Creator

AI art models: DALL·E 3

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free

Bing Image Creator is a result of Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI. It uses the latest DALL·E model, DALL·E 3, and it’s free (at least for now). The default styles are a little different, so it’s well worth a look, even if you’ve used DALL·E in the past.

DALL·E 3 (ChatGPT)

DALL-E 3, our pick for the best digital marketing tools for an easy-to-use AI image generator.

AI art models: DALL·E 3

Platform: Web (via ChatGPT)

Pricing: $20/month as part of ChatGPT Plus

DALL·E 3 is a serious upgrade over DALL·E 2, at least if you have a ChatGPT Plus account. Not only are the results significantly better, but controlling and instructing it through ChatGPT gives you a lot of control.

Instead of entering one prompt and having to accept the results you get, you can ask ChatGPT to make changes, add bits in, or otherwise mix things up. It makes it much simpler to get great images, even if ChatGPT doesn’t always perfectly understand your requests.

And when you connect ChatGPT to Zapier, you can add automation to your AI workflows. Learn more about how to automate ChatGPT, or get started with one of these templates.

Best AI art generators in 2024

Read More : The best AI photo editors in 2023

DreamStudio (Stable Diffusion)

DreamStudio by Stable Diffusion, our pick for the best AI image generator for customization and control

AI art models: Stable Diffusion

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 25 credits; $10 for 1,000 credits (enough for ~1,200 images with the default settings)

DreamStudio is the official Stable Diffusion web app. It’s pretty powerful, so you can set how many steps the AI takes, what random seed it uses, and loads of other customizations. It’s also got a free trial, which is nice. 

(You can also check out Stable Diffusion through ClipDrop, which is free but watermarks your images.)

Midjourney

Midjourney, our pick for the AI image generator with the best results

AI art models: Midjourney

Platform: Discord

Pricing: From $10 for 3.3 hours of GPU time per month (enough for ~200 prompts with 4 image options)

While Midjourney has one of the weirdest user interfaces—you access it through the chat app Discord—it reliably produces some of the best-looking, most realistic results. It’s my personal favorite AI art generator. Read the showdown with DALL·E: Midjourney vs. DALL·E.

Canva

AI-generated image of a golden sculpture of a rabbit on a pedestal, sitting on its haunches, red background.

AI art models: Stable Diffusion

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Pricing: Free; from $12.99/month for Pro with more AI features

Canva recently added a text-to-image art generator. It integrates perfectly with the rest of the template-based design app, so you can add AI-generated art to anything from social media posts to birthday cards. 

NightCafe

NightCafe, an AI art generator based on a number of different AI art models

AI art models: Stable Diffusion, DALL·E 2, CLIP-Guided Diffusion, VQGAN-CLIP

Platform: Web

Pricing: From $6/month for 100 credits (enough for ~1,240 images per month)

NightCafe adds extra features like styles to DALL·E 2 and Stable Diffusion, as well as allowing you to use older generative art models. More importantly, NightCafe is a community for AI art enthusiasts that includes challenges, a Discord server, and a gallery.

OpenArt

AI art models: Stable Diffusion, DALL·E 2, and other open source models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 50 trial credits; from $10/month for 5,000 credits

Like NightCafe, OpenArt adds extra features to Stable Diffusion and DALL·E 2, as well as letting you use additional open source models and have more control over the specifics of the images you generate. OpenArt also has additional options like sketch-to-image and stock art transformer (which modifies stock images to better suit your needs). 

It’s nice to use and its free credit allotment is generous, so it’s well worth a look.

Adobe Firefly

Firefly, an AI art generator from Adobe

AI art models: Firefly

Platform: Web, Adobe Express, Adobe Photoshop, and other Adobe tools

Pricing: Free for 25 credits per month; from $5/month for 100 credits per month (and included with various Adobe subscriptions)

Adobe has been an AI company for over a decade, and it shows with its custom AI art generator called Firefly. While you can use it online, it’s now being integrated directly into Adobe products like Express and Photoshop.

Perhaps Firefly’s best feature is that you can use it to create custom text effects using a written prompt. AI art generators often struggle with text, and Firefly is really the only one that can do this right now. 

Jasper Art

Jasper Art, an AI art generator by Jasper

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but appears to be based on Stable Diffusion

Platform: Web

Pricing: From $39/month for unlimited images

Jasper is better known for being one of the best AI writing generators, but it also has a decent art generator as well. It’s more expensive than a lot of the other apps on this list, but if you already use Jasper, it’s worth a look. 

Other AI writing tools, like Writesonic and Rytr, also offer AI-generated art, but Jasper’s is different in that it’s more of a standalone tool. 

Prodia

AI art models: Stable Diffusion and other open source models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for unlimited images one at a time; from $4.99 for faster images two at a time

Another Stable Diffusion-based art generator, Prodia stands out by letting you try all its models without having to sign up for an account. Prodia also connects with Zapier, so you can automatically create an image on Prodia based on triggers in your other apps.

Leap AI

Winston in a colorful suit in pop art style

AI art models: Stable Diffusion and other open source models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 100 images and 1 model; then from $9/month for 250 images and 1 model

Leap AI is a great option if you want to train your own AI art models. While a lot of its features are aimed at developers, it’s easy enough to use that anyone can train their own AI. Plus, Leap AI integrates with Zapier, so you can do things like generate images based on new Discord messages or Google Sheets rows.

Craiyon

Craiyon, an AI art generator based on the original DALL-E model

AI art models: Based on original DALL·E model (Not DALL·E 2)

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free; from $6/month for faster images and no watermark

Craiyon (previously DALL·E Mini) is based on the original DALL·E model. It’s significantly more basic than the latest art generators, but it’s free and fun to play around with. 

getimg.ai

AI art models: Stable Diffusion and other open source models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 100 images per month; from $12/month for the Basic plan, with 3,000 images/month and the ability to train your own models

getting.ai is an AI art generator app with 20 open source models, including Stable Diffusion and models built from it, like OpenJourney. The biggest feature, though, is that with a paid plan, you can train your own models.

Shutterstock AI Image Generator

AI art models: DALL·E 2

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free to generate images; from $19/image to download

Stock image company Shutterstock obviously recognizes the existential threat that generative AI poses to its business—so instead of fighting, it’s partnered with OpenAI. The Shutterstock AI Image Generator is powered by DALL·E 2, and while it’s free to generate images, downloading them uses Shutterstock credits. If you have a Shutterstock plan, you should give it a try. Otherwise, it’s a very expensive way to use an AI art generator. 

Generative AI by Getty Images

Generative AI by Getty Images, our pick for the best AI image generator for commercially safe images

AI art models: Custom model developed with NVIDIA

Platform: Web

Pricing: Custom

Like Shutterstock, Getty Images has developed an AI art generator. Generative AI by Getty Images is trained on Getty’s collection of stock images. This makes it good for generating weirdly specific stock photos, but not as competent or creative at other things. 

Best of all, though, Getty claims that its model is free from intellectual property issues, so you’re indemnified against any legal claims resulting from using the images you make with its tool. If your company has a legal department, it might be that AI art generator you need. 

Deep Dream Generator

AI art models: Custom-trained models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 20 images with default settings; from $19/month for the Advanced plan, which allows for hundreds of images per month

Deep Dream Generator is one of the oldest AI art generators online. It was originally designed to use Google’s DeepDream algorithm but has added text-to-image algorithms that appear to be based on Stable Diffusion.

Artbreeder

AI art models: BigGAN and StyleGAN

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 3 credits per month and most features; from $8.99/month for 100 credits per month, which allow you to use more powerful features more often

Artbreeder (formerly Ganbreeder) launched in 2018 as a platform for experimenting with generative AIs. It’s still loose, experimental, and super art-focused. Its three main tools—Mixer, Collager, and Splicer—allow you to combine aspects of multiple images to create something unique. 

Stablecog

AI art models: Stable Diffusion and other open source models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 100 images; from $10/month for the Starter plan with 1,750 images per month

Stablecog is another AI art generator based on Stable Diffusion and other similar models. It’s got a nice, easy-to-use web app and, perhaps best of all, a nice, easy-to-understand pricing structure. 

DeepAI

AI art models: Custom models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free; from $5/month for 500 images

DeepAI is mostly an AI API for developers, but it has a free text-to-image art generator on its website to showcase what it does. You can also sign up for a paid plan, which gives you access to more styles and allows you to use the API.

StarryAI

AI art models: VQGAN-CLIP and CLIP-Guided Diffusion

Platform: Web, iOS, Android

Pricing: Free for 5 credits/day; from $11.99/month for 50 credits/month

StarryAI is another art generator that uses the older VQGAN-CLIP and CLIP-Guided Diffusion models. It’s free for five prompts and twenty images per day, so it’s one of the best free ways to try out generative models. There are also mobile apps, which is nice.

Fotor

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but probably based on Stable Diffusion 

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 3 images; from $20 for 200 credits

Fotor is a popular online image editing app, and it’s recently added a text-to-image art generator that integrates with its editor. 

Vance AI Art Generator

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but probably based on Stable Diffusion 

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 3 images/month; from $5 for 100 credits

Vance AI offers a collection of AI tools, and it’s recently added a text-to-image art generator. It’s relatively limited, but its tools all use the same credit system. So, if you also want an image enhancer, upscaler, and background remover, it’s worth checking out.

Runway

AI art models: Appears to be Stable Diffusion, but you can train your own

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free trial; from $15/editor/month for the Standard plan, with 625 credits per month

Runway is a suite of art-generating tools for businesses. In addition to features like multiple seats and shared assets, you can train your own custom models. 

WOMBO Dream

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but probably VQGAN-CLIP-based

Platform: Web, iOS, Android, Discord

Pricing: Free; from $9.99/month for premium features like making multiple outputs from one prompt

Dream by WOMBO is a freemium art generator with a large number of styles. Although it doesn’t say explicitly, it likely uses the older VQGAN-CLIP-based models to generate its images.

Picsart

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but probably Stable Diffusion-based

Platform: Web, iOS

Pricing: Free; from $13/month for no watermarks and premium features. 

Picsart is another online image editing app. The AI art generator integrates with the rest of the editor, so you can combine AI-generated elements with text, stickers, and other images. Although it’s free to use, you have to pay to download images without a watermark. 

CF Spark Art

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but probably VQGAN-CLIP-based 

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free; from $9/month for faster generating and private downloads

Creative Fabrica is a digital assets marketplace that’s recently added an art generator. It’s free to use, but its best feature is that you’re able to browse hundreds of other AI creations. 

Pixray

Pixray, an AI art generator using VQGAN- and CLIP-based models

AI art models: VQGAN-CLIP-based models

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free

Pixray is an open source art generator that uses VQGAN-CLIP-based models. While there’s an API and Python implementation, there’s also a free demo on the website. The best thing is that you can play around with all the hidden settings that go into an AI art generator if you want to learn more and see how they work. 

Let’s Enhance

AI art models: Doesn’t say, but appears to be Stable Diffusion-based

Platform: Web

Pricing: Free for 10 credits/month and watermarked images; from $12/month for 100 credits/month

Let’s Enhance is an AI-powered image upscaling app that recently added an art generator. It’s still in beta, so generating images doesn’t cost anything (though saving them costs one credit).

Other categories of AI art generators

This list is focused on text-to-image art generators, but there are entire other categories of AI art makers out there. Some examples:

 Lensa’s Magic Avatars and MyHeritage’s AI Time Machine both take a series of selfies and return AI-generated portraits. 
 Many text-generating apps, like Writesonic and Rytr, also include AI art generators, so you can create images to go along with your copy. 
 I was only looking at web apps in this list, but there are mobile-only art generators like ArtOut, if you just want something on your smartphone.
 And then there are others, like Palette, that can colorize photos. 

And these are just the AI art generators that are available now. Other companies are certainly testing their own art generators, and you could always train your own using one of the apps I mentioned that allows for that.

Which AI art generator should you use?

With so many AI art generators to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. So let me break it down:

 Midjourney is my favorite, though the free trial is temporarily paused, and using it through Discord is weird. 
 DALL·E 2 is great, but it’s cheaper to access it through Bing Image Creator. 
 Stable Diffusion is used in lots of different apps. The simplest way to access it is through its own app, DreamStudio.
 Firefly’s text effects are awesome, as is its integration with other Adobe tools.
 NightCafe and OpenArt are the if you want to play around with different models, including some of the older GAN models. 
 Deep Dream Generator is a great way to see how far art generators have come. 
 Artbreeder is perhaps the weirdest art generator among a very weird series of art generators—and totally worth a look. 

Otherwise, just scroll through the list and try whichever ones strike your fancy. You can’t go too far wrong.

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Views: 8

The best AI photo editors in 2023, While AI image generators are attracting all the headlines, AI photo editors—apps that take your image and automatically edit or improve it in some way—have been quietly developing in the background

And really, AI editors are the more useful tool. Most of the time, you aren’t looking for an image of a Canadian man riding a moose through a maple forest in the style of some long-dead impressionist artist. Instead, you want the photos you’ve shot to look their best—whether they’re selfies or product photos for an ad campaign. These are the AI photo editors that can help you do it. 

As a photographer, I’ve been shooting and editing images for nearly 15 years, and a huge amount of my writing career has actually been about photography. I’ve been testing and using AI photo editors (and AI features in standard photo editors) since they’ve been available.

For this article, I spent more time testing all the options out there, and based on that experience, these are the best AI photo editors.

The best AI photo editors

Adobe  for a full-featured photo editing and design app
 for an AI-powered photo editor
Canva for an AI-powered design app
 for an easy-to-use online AI editor
Lensa for a mobile AI photo editor

What does an AI photo editor do?

AI photo editing has been around for a long time. Take Photoshop: Content Aware Fill was added in 2010, the first AI-powered “Neural Filters” were launched in 2020, and many of its most powerful features rely on some level of machine learning. Unlike AI art generators, which rely on some major recent advances, most AI image editing features are based on iterative updates to older technologies. 

So what kind of things can they do? Here are some of the major AI photo editing software features you’ll see in these apps.

 Upscaling and sharpening low-resolution or blurry images. 
 Detecting whether you took a portrait, a landscape, or some other kind of photo and suggesting appropriate edits or tools.
 Cutting your subject out from the background with a single click. 
 Replacing the sky with a different one, and matching the lighting in the rest of the image.
 Automatically making simple adjustments to light levels, colors, and contrast. 
 “Improving” faces by smoothing skin, brightening eyes, and making other tweaks. 
 Repairing or colorizing old black-and-white photos. 
 Selecting or masking your subject, so you can make hands-on edits. 

And that’s just the big ones. 

Some of these features rely heavily on AI. For example, Photoshop’s new Generative Fill works the exact same way as DALL·E 2 or . Others, like Lensa’s ability to detect whether you shot a portrait or a landscape, rely on far simpler image recognition algorithms.

Either way, at the core, these photo editors are relying on AI techniques like machine learning to create an intelligent and automated image editing experience. However you slice it, that sounds like AI image editing to me.

How I tested each AI photo editor

How we evaluate and test apps

All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who’ve spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. We spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it’s intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We’re never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the blog.

I’ve been writing about image editors for more than a decade, so I was already familiar with most of the 30 apps I had to test. But since this is a list of AI photo editors, I focused on evaluating the general usability and (artificially) intelligent aspects of every app. That means I didn’t have to re-try every single Photoshop feature—just the AI-focused ones.

For most of the apps on the list, this meant editing a few sample photos to see what automatic adjustments they made, how they handled low-quality images, and how good they were at cutting out tricky subjects and removing objects. The majority of apps that didn’t make the final list failed to perform here. 

For the apps that did well, I spent even more time playing around and editing images. I also considered the overall usability and pricing—some fairly average apps charge Photoshop pricing, and they got dinged for that. 

What makes the best AI photo editor?

It’s pretty easy to call any kind of automated image editing feature “AI” now. And it’s not entirely wrong to do so. Still, there’s a big difference between a few one-click options that brighten and add contrast to a photo, and tools that genuinely help you better and faster by making intelligent suggestions and adjustments. 

So while there are many apps that claim to be AI image editors, I was looking for the best of the best. Here’s what I kept my eye out for as I tested each app:

 Advanced AI editing features, like built-in generative AIs, automatic subject detection and selection, intelligent upscaling, and a general focus on powerful, effective tools. 
 Full apps with a start-to-finish image workflow. There are lots of great plugins for Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as powerful AI image generators like DALL​​·E 2 and DreamStudio, but they aren’t really full image editors. I only included tools that could handle a full workflow. 
 Fast, effective, and intuitive experience. In other words, the apps had to be powerful, with a learning curve that matched their feature set. Photoshop isn’t exactly simple to use, but its layout and options are intuitive once you put a small amount of time into understanding what it does. 
 Good results. Quite a few AI picture editors I tested were too heavy-handed with contrast or color adjustments, unable to correctly select the test subjects, or otherwise just didn’t do a very good job. With the number of great AI photo editors around, there just really wasn’t a call to include any that do a less-than-stellar job in most situations. 
 Customization and control. I’m not really a fan of one-click edits—they seldom deliver great results. Instead, the best AI photo editors give you control over how strong certain edits are and what areas of your image are affected. They also give you manual editing tools, so you can make any final tweaks yourself. 

Based on all my testing, here are my picks for the five best AI image editors. 

Best full-featured AI photo editor and design app

Adobe Photoshop (Windows, , )

Photoshop, our pick for the best full-featured AI photo editor and design app

Adobe Photoshop pros:

 Some of the best AI-powered tools you can find in any app
 It’s still Photoshop, with all the power and control that gives you

Adobe Photoshop cons:

 No one has ever said learning how to use Photoshop is easy

Adobe Photoshop has been the industry standard image editing app for more than three decades now, but instead of showing its age like a lot of other 30-something-year-old software, it still feels fresh and cutting edge.

I was going to make the joke that it’s easier to list the photo editing tasks that Photoshop can’t do than the ones it can—until I realized I legitimately could not come up with a list of things it can’t do. In short, Photoshop is the best full-featured image editor around.

And that extends to AI features. Take the Remove Tool that got introduced recently. While Photoshop has always made it possible to remove unwanted objects, people, and artifacts from your images—and features like the Patch Tool and Spot Removal Tool have done their best to blend in with your image—the Remove Tool takes it to another level. Of all the apps I tested, this one was by far the best at removing something from an image and replacing it with generated content that blended in. There’s also a -to-image generator called Generative Fill in the beta.

You can see both of these things in action in the screenshot above. The original image is in the center. I was able to replace Gunther with grass that matches the rest of the image—including the depth of field blur—just by painting over him once. I was also able to replace the background with a castle—again, matching the depth of field—just by selecting it and typing “medieval castle.” I even got three variations to choose from. 

Photoshop has plenty of other AI-powered tools, too. There are Neural Filters that can do things like intelligently adjust your subject’s facial expression, transfer the color palette from one image to another, and remove compression artifacts. The automatic subject and background selection is excellent, and the automatic tone, color, and contrast adjustment all work as you’d expect.

Best of all, Photoshop is still the fully-featured app it’s always been. For most AI features, you get plenty of control, and you can always manually edit them and integrate them into your image. If the AI messes up, you have all the tools you need to fix it—even if it takes you a bit longer. 

Adobe Photoshop pricing: From $19.99/month as part of the Photography Plan including Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. (Lightroom is another great image editor in its own right, but it just doesn’t have the same deep AI feature set as Photoshop. Still definitely worth checking out if you just want to edit photos.)

Best AI photo editor for being truly AI-powered

Luminar Neo (Windows, macOS)

Luminar Neo, our pick for the best AI photo editor that's truly AI-powered

Luminar Neo pros:

 AI is legitimately integral to the whole app
 Designed for photographers, so you get a lot of control over how strongly any effects are applied

Luminar Neo cons:

 Very expensive for a standalone photo-focused app

Luminar Neo was one of the first photo-editing apps to go all in on AI. And of all the apps on this list, it has the deepest AI integration across the whole app. Of course there are the headline features, like the AI-powered enhance (which automatically adjusts tone, contrast, and color) and the AI sky replacement (which really works, especially with blown-out or boring gray skies). 

But then there are all the smaller touches. Luminar Neo automatically detects the subject of your image and suggests appropriate presets as a starting point. The AI crop generally does a good job of cutting out extraneous elements without going too close to your subject. And features like the AI face and skin adjustments focus in on the relevant areas of the image, and quickly allow you to do things like brighten your subject’s eyes to draw more attention to them or tone down shiny skin.

Luminar Neo is almost exclusively an app for photographers, or people who really, really care about taking high-quality selfies. As a result, you get a huge amount of control over how the various effects are applied. There isn’t really any one-click magic here: for every tool, you get a slider, so you can control how strongly any edits are made to be sure your photos look how you want. It makes for a great, balanced workflow: the AI lets you work quickly, without pushing things too far. 

Strangely, Luminar Neo is the only app on this list that couldn’t exist without its AI features. They’re so integral to the whole experience. While you can make simple edits, and often will to make final tweaks, it’s almost impossible to edit a photo without heavily relying on the AI at some point. 

Luminar Neo pricing: From $9.95/month for the Explore plan; from $14.95/month for the Pro plan that includes additional AI-powered features like noise removal and upscaling. 

Photo AI from Topaz Labs is a good alternative to Luminar Neo. It’s a similar product for photographers, but it’s just too niche for most people. It’s worth checking out if you only want to sharpen, remove noise from, or upscale your images using AI.

Best design app with an AI photo editor

Canva (Web, iOS, Android)

Canva, our pick for the best design app with an AI photo editor

Canva pros:

 Super powerful template-based design with nice AI extras
 By far the easiest tool to use to create real-world designs like posts, CVs, and invitations

Canva cons:

 Image editing tools aren’t as good as dedicated apps

Over the past year, Canva has introduced a heap of new AI-powered features, making what was already an excellent template-based design app even better. It’s always been perfect for quickly creating everything from invitations to posts, and the AI features make things even easier. 

Here’s a full rundown of Canva’s major AI features, but I’ll give you a few of the highlights from my testing:

 Text to Image is a generative AI that you can use to add whatever you want (like the party panda above) to your designs. 
 Magic Eraser instantly removes unwanted objects from your images. It’s not quite as reliable as Photoshop’s implementation, but it’s good enough for simple clean-up jobs. 
 Magic Edit uses a similar generative AI as Text to Image to allow you to replace elements of any image. Want to change a regular cake to a way better chocolate cake? Be my guest.
 Magic Design flips the creation process. You start with your design element, select a color profile, mood, and a few other options, and Canva automatically creates a few template options. It’s how I designed the invitation above. 

Surprisingly, Canva’s AI features never feel shoehorned in—and it’s still an incredible design app whether you use them or not. But if you want to experiment with AI-powered layout options and generating party pandas with written prompts, you can do that too. 

Canva pricing: Free with limited access to AI tools; from $12.99/month for Pro with more AI tools and higher usage limits.

Best easy-to-use online AI photo editor

Pixlr (Web, iOS, Android)

Pixlr, our pick for the best easy-to-use online AI photo editor

Pixlr pros:

 Affordable and available through any browser without even signing up
 Separates AI apps out so it’s easy to use the parts you want

Pixlr cons:

 A bit rougher than some of the other apps on this list

There are a handful of freemium photo editing and design web apps out there that all have broadly similar features. Based on my testing, Pixlr has the best AI offerings. And even without them, it’s a handy, easy-to-use, and reliable image editor worth checking out.

One of my favorite things about Pixlr is that, rather than cramming every feature into one app, it separates them out into Pixlr E, Pixlr X, Photomash, Remove Bg, and Batch Editor—even if the AI features are pretty similar in each one. 

 Pixlr X is a Canva-like template-based design tool with a usable AI image generator.
 Pixlr E is a Photoshop-style image editor. It’s decent, and the AI features (like automatic subject selection and object removal) work relatively well. 
 Photomash similarly uses the AI subject selection to create “one-click magic”—it’s the app you can see in the screenshot above. 
 Remove Bg uses the same technology to cut subjects out and gives you the options to tweak things, which is pretty handy.
 Batch Editor allows you to make the same edits to a series of images. It’s another handy tool, though it lacks much in the way of AI. 

Really, Photomash and Remove Bg are the standout AI photo editing parts of Pixlr, since both are really easy to use, and in my testing, did a pretty good job of cutting both easy and awkward subjects out. 

The other thing Pixlr has going for it is the price. It’s one of the cheapest AI photo editor apps out there, and you can use a limited version of most AI features on the free plan. 

Pixlr pricing: Free for limited AI use; from $7.99/month for Premium with all features. 

Pixlr is just one of a number of very similar apps. I preferred its AI features and price, but FotorPhotoRoom, and BeFunky are all equally competent and often had a nicer UI, so they could be solid Pixlr alternatives.

Best mobile AI photo editor

Lensa (iOS, Android)

Lensa, our pick for the best mobile AI photo editor

Lensa pros:

 Handles portraits and selfies incredibly well
 Free to save one photo a day

Lensa cons:

 Editing images on a small screen is rarely as effective as using a laptop or other large screen

Lensa is probably best known for its Magic Avatar feature, which trains a Stable Diffusion model using a series of selfies to generate a collection of wacky AI portraits. That part of it works exactly as described, though I’m not sure it strictly counts as photo editing. Still, the rest of Lensa’s AI features are more than enough to get it on this list as the best mobile photo editor

It has a Magic Retouch tool that can automatically identify and tune up portraits with either a Morning, Day Look, Go Out look, or full-on Glam look. It works, and the results are far better than they sound, especially if you’re wearing makeup. It’s also got slightly less AI-driven skin, face, and makeup retouching tools that can help you fine-tune things. 

As for other features: the AI-powered Suggest a Filter was a nice way to navigate the few dozen options. The AI Eraser was better than most other apps I tested, though still far short of Photoshop. The Backdrop Cutout and Sky Replacement tools both did really good jobs even with challenging images, and I actually really like the options you could drop in instead. 

On top of all that, the regular image editing tools, art styles, effects, and everything else are as good as any I’ve used on a mobile app. It makes Lensa a pretty complete package with an interesting pricing model. On the free plan, you get every feature for free—but can only save one image per day. After that, you have to sign up for a paid subscription. If you only use the app occasionally, it’s incredibly generous—otherwise, it’s a fairly expensive mobile subscription. 

Lensa pricing: Free to save one image per day; from $2.99/week or $4.99/month; Magic Avatars are a separate purchase from $3.99. 

What about AI art generators?

The tools above are all purpose-built for image and photo editing. But some of the biggest names in AI image generation are able to use AI to do photo editing, too. Here are some examples:

 With DALL·E 2, you can do inpainting (where you erase part of an image and use AI to fill in the gap) and outpainting (where you expand an existing image).
 With Midjourney, you can zoom out (automatically creating more image content), zoom out while adding an additional prompt, or pan (expand your image in a certain direction).
 With Stable Diffusion (through the DreamStudio app), you can also do inpainting and outpainting—but honestly, you’re better off using DALL·E 2, which feels a bit more cohesive in its editing options.

So if you’re just playing around with AI photo editing to get a feel for how it works, an AI art generator will absolutely do the trick. But if you’re serious about your photo editing, you’ll want to choose a dedicated AI photo editor from the list above.

Expect AI photo editors to change fast

We’re at the very start of a huge number of generative AI features getting integrated into photo editing apps. Things like Photoshop’s Generative Fill and Remove Tool are more impressive than a regular text-to-image generator because of how well they integrate with real images. It’s not about creating something from your imagination; it’s about having the power to change huge elements of a photo with a few keystrokes.

Expect some of these features and apps to get a lot more powerful over the next few years—and expect a lot more AI photo editors to come on the scene.

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