Photo editing & touch-ups
This is the biggest cluster of AI apps on phones, with 13 photo and face editors in a16z's mobile top 50 for August 2026. The free AI tools in Google Photos cover most quick fixes, and paid apps earn their keep mainly for jobs like product photos for Vinted or restoring old prints. Several of the apps that reshape faces and bodies come with research linking heavy editing to body dissatisfaction in young women, and billing complaints about weekly subscriptions are common.
Updated monthly.
Kenning's picks
Ranked by Kenning score out of 25. Tools scoring 12 or less are marked not recommended.
Google Photos
Google Photos puts object removal, unblur and one-tap fixes on almost any phone for free, and the newer ask-to-edit tool reached UK Android users in June 2026. Results are uneven, and individual reviewers report the generative Magic Eraser adding things it was told to remove. The chat-style editing needs face grouping switched on and the user to be 18 or over.
Best for Quick fixes to family snaps without paying
Photoroom
Photoroom takes a phone snap of a jumper or a trainer and gives back a clean white-background listing photo, and background removal does not use up AI credits. The free plan allows 100 exports a month but its terms limit it to personal, non-commercial use. Resellers in user reviews complained through 2026 that updates slowed batch editing and capped exports, and Trustpilot sits at 2.2 from 270 reviews, mostly about billing.
Best for Clearing out a wardrobe on Vinted, eBay or Depop with tidy photos
Remini
Remini turns a soft or faded face photo into a sharp one in seconds, and TechRadar called it one of the best enhancers it had tried. The sharpness is invented, so old faces can come back looking like someone else. The free version is ad-heavy and watermarked, and the Pro plan costs £9.99 a week, which drives most of the complaints.
Best for A quick sharpen of a blurry family snapshot or selfie
Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is a full photo editor with an Editors' Choice award from PCMag, and its phone app does most of what the desktop version does. The free phone app covers presets and basic sliders, while Generative Remove, Lens Blur and AI blemish removal sit behind a £6.99 a month in-app plan. Adobe's billing has a poor record, with a $75 million US settlement in March 2026 over hidden cancellation fees.
Best for Phone photographers who want more control than the built-in editor
Picsart
Picsart cuts out backgrounds well and does a decent job removing people from photos, and Android Police ranked it second of six editors in its 2025 removal test. The free plan gives only 5 AI credits a week, and Pro is £10.99 a month. user reviews has a run of complaints about three-day trials that rolled into yearly charges.
Best for Quick social posts, cut-outs and collages on a phone
Facetune
Facetune is still the reference app for retouching a face on a phone, and Photoworkout ranked it first of seven face editors in 2026. Most tools now sit behind VIP at $25 a month on the web, and Trustpilot reviewers mostly complain about charges after free trials. Studies link heavy selfie editing with more facial and body dissatisfaction, especially in teenage girls.
Best for Adults touching up portraits, headshots or wedding photos
Meitu
Meitu packs skin smoothing, makeup, AI filters and object removal into one free app, and the VIP tier costs £7.99 a month in the UK. Its body tools offer one-tap reshape styles called Slim and Supermodel, and a 2025 Australian study of young adults found that kind of structural editing hard to stop and tied to wanting cosmetic changes. Photos can be processed on servers in China and elsewhere, and the policy gives no clear way to stop uploads being used to improve its models.
Best for Adults who want quick selfie retouching and trendy filters
More tools
Airbrush
Face retouch app for blemishes, teeth whitening and makeup.
BeautyPlus
Selfie retouch app for skin smoothing, makeup and face reshaping.
Clarity AI
Upscales and sharpens photos and images to much higher resolution, with paid monthly credit plans.
Evoto
Portrait retouching software aimed at working photographers.
FaceApp
Face editor known for ageing, gender-swap and smile filters.
HeadshotPro
Turns a handful of selfies into a set of professional-looking headshots for CVs and LinkedIn.
Hypic
ByteDance's photo editor with AI effects, retouch and object removal.
Immersity
Converts ordinary photos and videos into 3D or moving-depth versions that look like they have layers.
Kolors Virtual Try-On
Free web demo that puts a photo of a garment onto a photo of a person
Lensa
Selfie retouch and AI photo-effects app from Prisma Labs.
Magic Studio
Edits photos in the browser or phone, removing backgrounds and unwanted objects and making AI profile pictures.
Magic Studio AI Headshots (formerly InstaHeadshots)
Magic Studio's paid service that turns selfies into professional-looking headshots, formerly called InstaHeadshots
Magic Studio Background Remover
Free Magic Studio web tool that cuts the background out of a photo and can add a plain colour
Magic Studio Magic Eraser
Free Magic Studio web tool that removes unwanted objects, people and text from a photo
MyHeritage
Family-history service whose Photo Enhancer and colouriser restore old photos.
Palette
Adds realistic colour to old black and white photos, with a choice of colour filters.
Phota Studio
Browser photo editor that trains a private model on a person's photos so AI edits still look like them
Photo Lab
Effects app for turning photos into art, cartoons and montages.
Photomator
Apple-owned photo editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac with ML auto-enhance.
Photoshop Express
Adobe's simpler free phone editor with one-tap fixes and blemish removal.
Pixelcut
Background remover and product-photo maker, a Photoroom rival.
Polish
All-round phone photo editor with filters, retouch and background tools.
remove.bg
Web tool that cuts the background out of a photo in one click.
Snapseed
Google's free phone editor with precise manual tools and a few AI touches, no ads or subscription.
SNOW
Korean selfie camera that now leans on AI profile pictures and filters.
Topaz Photo
Desktop software for sharpening, denoising and upscaling photos.
TouchRetouch
One-job app for wiping objects, wires and blemishes out of photos.
Wink
Meitu's video and photo enhancer for sharpening blurry clips and retouching faces in video.
YouCam Perfect
Beauty and photo editor with AI retouch, object removal and backgrounds.