Pencil Camera: Written and Video Android App Review
In our eyes, one of the areas in which iOS has long surpassed the Android platform is photography. We’ve seen more iPhotography apps around than we could even begin to count: While sadly, Android hasn’t even got Instagram. However, thanks to the release of Pencil Camera, by developer Ljezny Android phones are now one, big step closer to being real competitors for the iPhone’s creative potential. The app makes it quick and simple to create sketched images from your phone, and even with a live preview. It’s a brilliant little utility with a fair price, and for our full review of the app, you need only to jump down below the break!
Concept and Functionality
Pencil Camera for Android
The idea behind Pencil Camera is so simple that it’s even wedged right there into the name: The app takes your immediate surroundings, captures them as they are, and then adds a filter on top that creates a uniquely sketched appearance. This is roughly the same experience as loading a photo into Photoshop, and then adding a distortion field over the end result. However, Pencil Camera makes the process infinitely swifter than any desktop suite could ever hope to. First and foremost, the live preview is indispensable. This window within the app shows you exactly what you’re looking at before you take a photo. Additionally, as the app comes with a whopping 11 different effects, the live review allows you to try each out without needing to take an individual photo with each change. Even better, the user is also free to load their own images from the photo gallery. Once uploaded, the user can add filters to these photos to create beautiful pencil sketches from ordinary pics. It’s smooth, quick, and almost complete. We would have loved to see a little more social networking integration, but as the photos can be saved to the camera roll, it’s only a few steps away from adding your masterpieces to your Facebook wall.
Design and Graphics
Overall, we can hardly complain with the look of Pencil Camera. The app itself is gorgeously designed, and we had no trouble finding the features we needed to take killer photos. The filters themselves are quite nice: We had our favorites amongst the bunch, as a small handful of them tended not to give us the best possible results. However, overall we came away quite impressed with the functionality and ease-of-use of the interface. Again, we would have loved direct Twitter integration, but we understand that we can’t have everything.
Overall Value
For the $1.99 price tag, you can hardly go wrong with Pencil Camera. The app is quick, efficient, and creative, allowing us to enjoy some fresh functionality on our Android phone. If you’ve been waiting for just such a filter-based camera for the Android platform, wait no longer! For less than the cost of a Starbucks latte, this baby is all yours.
Android Apps Review Details: Pencil Camera is free. This app requires Android 2.2.+ and up. You may download Pencil Camera from the Android Market. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.
Android App Review, Android Photography App Review
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great… really funny app. I love that pencil effect.