Photoshop Express by Adobe is a simple yet powerful app that lets you make quick photo edits. It's handy if you often take several pictures on the go. The tools available include overlays, filters, text, light leaks, and adjustments like exposure, saturation, tonal coloring, brightness, and shadows.

You'll need an Adobe account and a premium subscription to get the most out of this app. You can log into your account on Photoshop for PC in case you need to perform advanced edits that Photoshop Express may be unable to handle.

Download: Photoshop Express for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

2 Snapseed

Simplicity is the standout feature of Snapseed. It's a free, bare-bones photo editor that does exactly what it's supposed to do without all the bells and whistles. Whether you're a pro or just need to touch up a quick selfie, Snapseed has all the necessary tools on both Android and iOS.

You can sharpen, crop, blur, use filters, contrast, add frames, and brighten your images all in one place. You can also use Snapseed's advanced options if you need them. For example, the Selective tool can help you focus attention on a particular portion of the image you're working on.

Download: Snapseed for Android | iOS (Free)

3 PhotoDirector

Among all the apps in this list, PhotoDirector is the closest you'll come to a full-fledged photo editing software. If you're a pro, you can play around with the numerous advanced tools available at your disposal, like animating objects and retouching specific areas.

If you're a beginner, however, you can take advantage of basic tools like contrast, brightness, cropping, and background replacement. You can also choose from the many available templates if you're editing for social media.

Consider using the PhotoDirector app because it's user-friendly and has no steep learning curve. Its premium subscription will get you more templates and elements to work with. It also comes with a couple of advanced AI tools, such as an AI background generator and an ID photo enhancer.

Download: PhotoDirector for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

4 YouCam Perfect

YouCam's standout feature is its ability to enhance your photo in real time. It lets you beautify, add effects, and use frames before you even take a photo. Once you have the desired modification on the live image, you can share or use the photo right as it is.

Another feature you may find useful is the face reshaper tool. It lets you enhance your selfies by allowing you to add contours for better-looking cheekbones and jawline.

YouCam leverages a mixture of artificial intelligence and augmented reality to ensure any adjustments to your photos are as perfect and realistic as possible. You can get more advanced manual and AI-powered features by paying for a subscription.

Download: YouCam for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

5 Apple Photos

Apple Photos can get you through most basic photo editing tasks on your iPhone. Some of the features in Apple Photos include cropping, rotating, flipping photos, straightening and adjusting perspective, and applying effects.

On top of these basic but essential photo editing capabilities, Apple Photos also lets you batch-edit photos on your iPhone. The good thing about this app is that it comes pre-installed on iOS, so you won't have to install a third-party editor if you want to do basic photo editing on your iPhone.

Download: Apple Photos for iOS (Free)

6 Picsart AI Photo Editor

Picsart is one of those photo editors that will serve you well whether you're just getting started in editing or are a professional. It's available for both Android and iOS, and the free version is good enough for most users.

One of its standout features is Photo and Artwork Remix, which lets you rework pictures or artwork already done by other Picsart users. However, my personal favorite is the Magic Effects feature, which uses AI to apply filters on pictures or art you're working on without having to do much.

The only downside of this app is that it's ad-ridden, so you may want to spend money on a subscription to get rid of them.

Download: Picsart for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

7 Canva

Social media campaigns need colorful and attractive images to capture the audience's attention. Canva is an excellent app for this task, offering thousands of graphic templates and image elements alongside some AI assistance.

Canva templates are available and optimized for any social media platform you can think of—YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.

You don't need any special skills to use Canva. All you have to do is upload your photo and use Canva's many features to come up with a unique design within minutes. You can also collaborate with others in editing projects in a team setup across different platforms.

Although the free version is enough in most cases, a paid subscription will unlock even more unique elements, templates, and functionality like background removal and instant resizing of an existing photo or project. Keep in mind that you'll need to create a Canva account to access your projects on different devices.

Download: Canva for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

8 Samsung Gallery

If you own a Samsung Galaxy device, you don't have to download a third-party photo editor. Samsung's Gallery app has photo editing features similar to Apple's Photos app.

To access these features, launch Samsung Gallery, open the image you want to edit, and tap the Edit tool (indicated by a pencil icon). Once you finish editing your image and tap Save, you should be able to locate the edited copy in the Gallery app alongside the original photo.

Samsung Gallery may not be as powerful as some dedicated editing apps on this list. However, its features should suffice if you only want to make minor touch-ups before sharing your pictures on social media platforms.

Download: Samsung Gallery for Android (Free)

9 Google Photos

Google Photos comes pre-installed on most devices that run stock Android. So, you likely already have one of the most user-friendly photo editing apps in your hand—even if its primary purpose is to back up your device's photos.

Its tools are good enough for casual photo editing, and you'll be happy with it if you just want to perform quick edits like fixing lighting, cropping, and applying simple filters.

Once you finish editing a photo on Google Photos, you can tap Save and access it on your other devices, like your iPad or PC (via a web browser), with the same Google account.

Download: Google Photos for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

With a bit of creativity and the right free photo editing app, you won't have to spend a penny on an app subscription. You can get the most out of these Android apps without having to upgrade to their premium versions unless you need very specific features like advanced AI editing tools.