Review: Photo editors

Requirements: free, no ads

Top tier

IMG.LY Photo & Video Editor

➕ good crop / markup

➕ blur

➕ keep original resolution

➖ no curves / obfuscation

➖ GPS metadata is not preserved

➖ bug: image loading fails via edit intent (but works via share intent)

➖ bug: markup gets segmented after undo

Google Photos

➕ good crop / markup

➖ no curves / obfuscation

➖ resolution is heavily reduced for large images (e.g. panorama)

Snapseed

➕ good controls, explicit undo stack

➕ blur / expand tools

➖ no markup / obfuscation

➖ cannot pan/zoom during transform

➖ resolution is reduced for large images (e.g. panorama)

B612 Camera & Photo/Video Editor

➕ good crop / markup / curves

➕ obfuscation via brush

➖ in-app purchases, beauty tools

➖ exit ad (but the app does not declare ads on Play Store)

Specialized

PrivacyBlur

➕ good obfuscation

➖ no other tools

➖ not declared as editor

Mirror Lab

➕ original effects

➖ no markup / curves / obfuscation

➖ in-app purchases, limited output resolution

Sketchbook

➕ drawing tools

➖ no other tools

Mediocre

Pocket Paint

➖ no arbitrary rotation / curves / obfuscation

➖ segmented markup

Simple Gallery Pro, F-Droid version

➖ no arbitrary rotation / curves / obfuscation

➖ cannot pan/zoom during markup

Disqualified

Requires account:

• Canva
• GoDaddy Studio: Graphic design
• Lightroom Photo & Video editor
• Photoshop Camera Photo Filters
• Photoshop Express Filtre Photo

Free trial only:

• InstaSize
• Lensa
• PhotoRoom
• Prequel

Others:

• Photo Editor by BeFunky (webview, not declared as editor)
• LD Photo Editor (in-app purchases, no crop / markup / curves / obfuscation)