With Instagram making it so easy for anyone to be a photographer these days, the trick is no longer just having a good picture — downloading other apps to use with Instagram can really improve the look of your final image.
Besides apps created by Instagram itself — like Layout and Hyperlapse — a growing number of third-party apps have proved to be quite promising, and may make your Instagram experience better. With additional editing options, advanced features, and even scheduling options, here are 6 apps that will enhance and change the way you use Instagram forever.
1. Square Quick
We’ve all experienced the struggle of having to crop our pictures into perfect squares. The frustration — and embarrassment — of accidentally leaving out another’s person face is real. To save time and to prevent you from wasting your efforts editing photos again and again, try Square Quick. It allows users to post full-size photos to Instagram without having to crop anything out.
One bonus I liked about Square Quick was that it allowed me to add popular tags and emojis to my images, which helped them stand out.
The above app only works for Android users, but here’s one that iOS users might want to check out: Squareready. It gets your photos Instagram ready by letting you crop them into neat squares, and is pretty easy to get the hang of.
2. Quick
Like its name suggests, Quick allows users to add text easily and speedily to photos. And not just any text: the app comes with 16 well-curated fonts that are super slick and give your photos that minimalistic vibe.
16 might sound like a pretty limited number to choose from, but I found the fonts on offer to be extremely well-designed, enhancing the visual and overall effect of the picture itself.
Download: App Store and Google Play
3. Tangent
With awards like “App Store Best of 2013”, “Previous Editor’s Choice” and “New & Noteworthy in over 100 countries” under its belt, this is one Instagram app that I couldn’t leave off the list. Tangent allows you to add geometric shapes, patterns, textures, frame overlays, and effects to your photos — it was amazing to see how dramatically my photos changed with the addition of just a few shapes and patterns.
The only downside? Tangent costs US$1.99 (approximately S$2.73) to download, and is only available on the App Store. That said, with its wide range of features to take your Instagram photos a notch up, it’s a pretty good price to pay.
4. Afterlight
I’m not a big fan of Instagram’s filters. That said, I fully appreciate the wonders of what a good filter can do — they give my pictures a boost, and are like one-second edits you cannot source for elsewhere. And those who love adding filters to their photos might have heard of Afterlight — it comes with a wide range of beautiful filters that other photo-filtering apps struggle to provide.
My favourite feature is how you get to create your own personal filters, though do note that this comes at a price: it costs about S$1.76 to download.
Download: App Store and Google Play
5. Snapseed
If you’re not that crazy about filters and would prefer a free version, there’s always Snapseed you can turn to. Previously only available on desktop, the app now has a mobile version that comes with various tools and filters — many of which are much better than Instagram’s built-in ones.
Download: App Store and Google Play
6. Latergramme
This one is for the serious Instagrammers: Latergramme allows you to plan and schedule your Instagram posts way in advance. When it’s time for your post to be uploaded, you will receive a notification — just open the alert, and your post will go live. You can also review your posts for the coming weeks or months.
As the owner of an online business, I found it a hassle to have to wait and constantly remind myself of when to upload a particular post. Latergramme is definitely the app I’d recommend to those who find themselves in a similar situation.
With between 10,000 – 50,000 downloads on Google Play, and even a web version — which you can use to search for the best photos by username, hashtag, and location — this app is definitely something you’ll want to have in your arsenal.
Download: App Store and Google Play