App of the Day: Camera+ for iPhone [Video]

After getting a bit overzealous with the iPhone 4's volume buttons, Camera+, my favorite iPhone photography app, was booted from the App Store. Thankfully it's back Apple's good graces, and it's just been updated with more photo-fancifying features than ever.

What is it?

Camera+, iPhone, $2. Even during its brief hiatus from the world of sanctioned App Store apps, Camera+ remained my favorite all-around photography app for the iPhone. Of course, it has all the photo effects you'd expect—HDR, miniaturize, polarize, color dodge, '70s, toy camera, sepia, and one or two dozen more—as well as a variety of presets for various scenes—cloudy, fluorescent, portrait, concert, etc. But it's also got some less obvious stuff for both before and after you shoot: touch focus and exposure, white balance lock, timer mode, burst mode, and plenty of borders and cropping options. It pretty much does it all. And it's on sale for a buck. OH, and, with its reintroduction into the realm of the living, the beloved volume button-shutter button feature is gone. So don't update if you wanna keep that around.

Who's it good for?

People who don't want to switch between a bunch of different apps to get their photos looking just right; people who find MMS and email adequate for sharing those photos; people who are fed up with Hipstamatic's authentic-to-a-fault UI.

Why's it better than alternatives?

Well, it does just about everything you could want it to, it's only $2, and, in my estimation, it's got some of nicest looking effects of any iOS photo app. The update also does some nice things under the hood, like maintaing meta data and geographic info when you export shots to the camera roll.

How could it be even better?

This new and improved version of Camera+ is noticeably slower than the previous version, which I wouldn't have described as snappy to begin with. Hopefully that'll be addressed in the next update. And with so many features and options, it'd be nice to be able to save a custom workflow that you could quickly apply to photos on the run without doing all that tapping.

You can grab Camera+ in the App Store for $2. Scratch that! Currently on sale for $1

We're always looking for cool apps—for iOS, Android, Windows Phone or whatever else—to feature as App of the Day (yes, apps for other platforms will start popping up soon!) If you come across one you think we should take a look at, please let us know.

For more apps, check out our weekly app roundups for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Video music: Kevin MacLeod