by Camera Plus 3.0 — not to be confused with the similarly named Camera+ — is unique among third-party camera apps. Rather than outnumber competitors with filters and effects, developer Global Delight instead focuses on improving the actual process of taking pictures, while still letting you easily enhance those already on your device.
Indeed, the only filter or effect gimmick to be found here is “Pix’d,” which intelligently and automatically enhances new or existing images with just a tap – and does quite a nice job, we might add. The rest of the Camera Plus post-processing toolbox centers around basic edit, crop, flip, and rotate functionality. The app also delivers more control over focus: In addition to Normal, a tap on the plus button enables Macro or Far modes, which helps shutterbugs snap more professional-looking images. A deceptively simple brightness slider called Lumy smartly adjusts exposure based on your surroundings; it works well when used sparingly, particularly in darker environments.
Camera Plus improves on the built-in camera app with options for stabilization, timer, three image quality levels (including full-resolution burst mode), and Big Button, which turns the entire display into a camera shutter; the physical volume buttons can also be repurposed for the same task. The app also does an admirable job with video in full 1080p HD or 480p, albeit without niceties like selectable focus. A second shutter button onscreen allows for capturing still images at the same time as video, which is a distinctive bonus.
You also have the option of keeping personal content away from prying eyes inside a password-protected Locked Roll, but must spend $0.99 to access the feature via in-app upgrade. While saving images to the Locked Roll was easy enough, finding them wasn’t obvious; we stumbled onto how to actually access them with a right to left swipe from the edge when viewing images.
The bottom line. Camera Plus 3.0 brings Apple’s flatter, cleaner iOS 7 design ethos to its own UI, and the streamlined, quality-focused approach is a nice change of pace from filter overload.
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