Smile!: Selfie Apps for Windows Phone
Admit it. You love taking selfies. Everyone does, from Hollywood celebrities to U.S. presidents to wannabe astronauts.
So don’t be shy. Whatever your Lumia (and Nokia Asha or Nokia X) smartphone, put your best face forward with these selfie apps.
Glam Me: Wish you were 10 pounds slimmer? No need to go on a punishing diet. Download Glam Me instead. With this free app, which is exclusive to Lumia devices, you can shed pounds, enhance your eyes, soften your features, and even widen your smile — all with the swipe of a finger.
Recently updated, Glam Me has a range of special effects, such as “Magical,” which adds a glow to your lovely mug, “Watercolor” and “Pop,” which makes you look as if you’ve stepped out of a 1960s Andy Warhol print.
Photofunia: This free cloud-based photo-editing tool with more than 300 different effects is like a virtual costume closet, design studio and advertising agency rolled into one.
The app’s face-detection technology allows you to try on costumes such as a bulky astronaut suit (a la “Gravity”) or feather-adorned Brazilian carnival outfit. You can also see your face on a Manhattan billboard (“Broadway”), on the screen of a vintage black-and-white television, or in an impressionistic watercolor painting.
One thing to note: your smartphone has to be connected to the Internet for the app to work, as Photofunia’s image manipulation is performed solely in the cloud.
Phototastic: Sometimes, it’s hard to pick just one selfie. With the free photo-collage app Phototastic, you can share and arrange up to eight snaps in one photo.
The free app has more than 140 frames to choose from (including Polaroid and filmstrip) whose colors and border widths you can adjust, so you can customize to your heart’s content. Phototastic also has a fast-action mode, so you can take multiple photos quickly of your friend wheelies down the street or your kid somersaulting across your lawn. Of course, you can also add text to caption your photo collage, which is easily shareable on social media.
SophieLensHD: Unlike some other photo-filter apps, which let you change filters after a photo is taken, SophieLens HD lets you play with various filters and other effects as you compose a photo. That way, you have time to make sure everything is just right before you snap a selfie.
You can also “add a story” and choose from 13 design templates to caption and describe each photo. The app comes with a standard pack of five different filters, and the nifty nine-filter Lomo pack is also free. If you want more, it’s just 99 cents for filter packs, including “Fashion” and “Sophia’s Sepia.”
Camera Timer: This selfie app eschews fancy filters and special effects for two very handy tools. The first is an audio countdown (“Three, two, one”) that you can set for five, ten, or even 30 seconds.
The second tool is the hands-free photo-taking function. After the audio command says “one,” the app will snap a photo – no need to push a button. Both features make it easier to take group shots and better selfies. In addition, you can pre-set the camera’s flash and photo resolution (640 x 480 or 2048 x1536) to fine-tune your pictures.
Photo Lock Free: After you perfect your selfies, or, perhaps more importantly, when you haven’t had a chance yet to do so, make sure they’re not seen by anyone who shouldn’t. Photo Lock Free secures your photos and videos behind a password-protected wall. The passwords can be set either as an alphanumeric code, or as a pattern.
In addition, the app has basic photo-editing tools (crop, rotate, etc.) and the ability to add multiple accounts. That last feature is useful if you want to allow someone to see only certain photos. One caveat with Photo Lock Free is that you cannot import videos. Instead, you’ll have to record videos within the app if you want them under lock and key.
What do you think of these apps? Share a selfie and show us!