Guardian Travel's year in Instagram: 2015

January We started the year with @ventureforthphoto doing a takeover for us at the annual Bishwa Itjema religious festival, "which draws millions of attendees to the northern Dhaka suburb of Tongi, many of them arriving and departing on heavily loaded trains, which are truly an astounding sight". A good six months before the US and Cuba restored diplomatic relations, @signorilefabio decided to see Havana before it all changed. "Havana appears suspended in the 1950s – you see all these iconic vintage American cars cruising along the Malecon." February The Jaisalmer Desert Festival takes place in Rajasthan every February. @drusillita posted shots from the event, which celebrates the culture and heritage of the region in camel races, music, art and dance. Venice carnival was also in full flow in February – quite literally this year as there was widespread flooding. Local Instagrammer @neumarc posted photos of the costumes and masks. March By March, we were desperate for some sun, and local photographer @katwesterman took us on a tour of the southern California beach scene, including "Muscle Beach" – an outdoor weightlifting area legendary among body builders. This year marked the 50th annversary of Singapore's independence. Photographer @aikbengchia offered to show us around his city, and at 2.15am on the first day, he met Mr Hamid, one of the many cyclists in Singapore who transform their bicycles into a kaleidoscope of colour with a multitude of LED lights and stickers. More than 120,000 photgraphs have so far been shared with us by adding #guardiantravelsnaps – and this one was sent in by @joideverve, a Sydney-based photographer who was touring Japan by train. April One of our featured Instagrammers of the week in April was American photographer @kdkuiper, who travelled all over Egypt, starting in Cairo where he took a ride out to the pyramids: "A trip of a lifetime, and despite all the negative stories that you hear about Egypt, I never once felt unsafe." May In May, we headed to China with @alessors – an Italian photographer documenting how fast the country is changing. "This cigar seller set up his stand in the Kuantan-Zhai pedestrianised area of Chengdu in Sichaun province, with renovated Qiang dynasty hutongs – alleys lined with houses built around courtyards." June We celebrated the start of summer with this shot by @nashker at Plage de Saint-Malo, taken when he travelled 23,000 miles from Asia to the US without using a plane. North Korea was constantly in the headlines this year, and in June announced that it was blocking access to Instagram. Singapore-based photographer Mindy Tan posted photographs from her recent visit on @mindyshoots and blog.mindytan.com. This shot shows a traffic cop on her way to work in Pyongyang. Also in June, Californian pro-climber @chris_sharma took his passion for climbing trees to dizzying new heights, scaling a huge redwood tree for a project called Red Bull's Giant Ascent. He climbed the 77-metre tree in Eureka, northern California, without ropes, getting 50 metres up the bark before reaching the first branches. Photograph by @ladzinski. Five years after the earthquake of 2010 devastated Haiti, Guardian travel correspondent @kevinrushby visited the island to see how it was recovering. July July was all about Greece. With all the economic uncertainty following the debt crisis and the "no" vote in the austerity referendum, we wanted to encourage people to continue to holiday there. This shot by @21_pp shows a little girl playing along with the soldiers in Athens. August "Bright days" lie ahead for Iran's tourism industry following the nuclear agreement struck in Vienna in July. This shot by @mansoreh.motamedi shows an Iranian Muslim family using a selfie stick to take a group photograph on a beach by the Caspian sea, northern Iran @matteocartaphoto, a teacher, traveller and photographer based in China, shared a rare insight into the Naadam festival in Mongolia, a major holiday featuring the three sporting passions of Mongolians: horse racing, wrestling and archery. September In September, Melbourne-based photojournalist @francescovicenzi was in Pokhra, Nepal to witness new constitution celebrations. "The newly signed constitution was seven years in the making and follows months of political unrest. While celebrated in major towns, it has left some minority groups unhappy." October October is all about the beer in Bavaria. @katia_mi_ shared this shot from Oktoberfest: the largest beer festival and funfair in the world, held in Munich since 1810. November November saw Myanmar's first national vote since a nominally civilian government was introduced in 2011, ending nearly 50 years of military rule. @paulratje, an American photojournalist based in Taiwan, captured the historic events. "This shot was taken in Mandalay and shows a group of nuns crammed aboard a bus, seemingly joking around. Nuns in Myanmar are usually quite solemn as they do their alms rounds, but this scene offers a glimpse of their character." December In December, we travelled to the coldest populated region in the world – Yakutia, the heart of Siberia, in north-east Russia – with @maxavdeev, a freelance photojournalist from Moscow. "This shot shows a woman in Gagarin Park just after finishing the 10km run in the park. The extreme cold doesn't deter joggers, even though in temperatures below -30C, any sweat and moisture immediately turn to ice." We rounded the year off in Berlin at the Gendarmenmarkt with @katia_mi_. "This is one of the most popular Christmas markets in Berlin during the festive season. Framed by the Französischer Dom, the Konzerthaus and the Deutscher Dom, a small tent city with more than 1,000 strings of light appears like magic each year in this centrally-located square."
Source: Guardian Travel's year in Instagram: 2015

Apple's in-store workshops offer art and photography tips

If you're looking to get some photography tips for that shiny new iPhone you got for Christmas, Apple is offering just that. The company will host mobile photography and art workshops at its retail locations next month. For iPhone photographers, the workshop will focus on techniques and accessories for improving the overall quality of images, including tips for long exposure and time lapse. If you're more of the artsy type, another tutoring session will show you how to use the iPad as a tool for sketching, drawing and painting.

The free hour-long events are part of an initiative Apple calls "Start Something New," highlighting the work artists and photographers create with the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Rather than just showing off the abilities of its gear, the company hopes you'll use its gadgets to get more creative with those New Year's resolutions. And it wants to show you how do it.

[Image credit: ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images]

Source: Apple's in-store workshops offer art and photography tips

AppAdvice's top 10 free iPhone apps of 2015

While 2015 brought us many new products from Apple, such as the Apple Watch, iPad Pro, and Apple TV, there is still the reigning champion of mobile devices, and that is the iPhone, which many of you may have received over the holidays. And with iOS 9, many improvements were made under the hood that make the experience even better than ever before. But the thing that breathes life into the iPhone are the apps that developers make for it. So let's take a dive into what we consider to be some of the best free apps you can download on the iPhone App Store!

The AppAdvice Free iPhone App of 2015

Spark – Like your email again, released May 29, iPhone and Apple Watch only

While Apple comes with a built-in email app on your iPhone, it is lacking in some departments and there are third party solutions to fill the void. One of the best ones that came out this year was Spark, the email client from Readdle.

Spark features a unique design that focuses on making email management easier than ever. With the Smart Inbox, your unified inbox is separated into different "cards" for each account, as well as Notification and Newsletter type emails, and you can do selective batches or just archive or delete everything at once. There is also the ability to snooze messages if you want to deal with them later, swipe to pin (also a card in the Smart Inbox for easy access), calendar management, access to attachments from all email accounts, HTML signatures, smart notifications (get notifications only for the emails that matter), quick replies, and much more.

And for those who like to use their Apple Watch for everything, Spark has a slick Apple Watch companion app that lets you check your email from your wrist, and even send off quick replies without ever pulling out your phone.

Readdle has outdone themselves with Spark, making it a great alternative for iPhone email. Don't hesitate — get Spark on your iPhone now.

Runner-Up

Evernote Scannable, released Jan. 8, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only

With such powerful cameras equipped on our iPhones nowadays, it makes a great alternative for document scanning for those who don't want to deal with big, clunky scanners and printers. Which is why Evernote Scannable is another must-have app for your device.

Evernote Scannable launches directly into the camera mode, so you can start scanning immediately. The best thing about Scannable is the fact that it will automatically detect documents, receipts, business cards, or whiteboards, so you don't have to do anything other than point your camera at it, since it works quickly. If you just scanned a business card, Scannable will instantly pull LinkedIn information, profile photos, and save the scanned information to your Contacts. There is also support for multiple pages, and you can save every scan as a PDF or JPG in your Evernote account or store them in other apps, and share with others through email or text.

With such powerful mobile tools at our disposal, there's no reason to not go paperless these days. Evernote Scannable is a free app that will help you achieve that effortlessly.

Finalists

Darkroom – Photo Editor, released Feb. 12, iPhone only

Ever since the iPhone came out and the App Store was introduced, mobile photography has exploded in popularity. That's because it has never been easier to snap your photos and then edit them directly on your mobile device before sharing it with others. Darkroom is a fine app to add to your mobile photography toolkit.

Unlike other photo editing apps, Darkroom skips the tedious import process, so users can get straight to editing in a simple, out-of-the-way interface. Once an image is selected from your library, you'll be able to crop it, apply a beautiful filter or customize it and make it your own, adjust individual setting levels with sliders, and access your full history of edits. The History is great as it allows you to jump back to a particular change and resume your editing from that point onward.

Darkroom's real magic comes from the Curves tool, where you can change the entire RGB channel, or choose R, G, or B individually to change the overall appearance of the image through five sections: blacks, shadows, midtones, highlights, and whites. So while many photo editors have curve tools, Darkroom's is different since it lets you fine tune every aspect of the photo. The only thing about the Curves tool is the fact that it is only available through an in-app purchase of $3.99, but it is well worth it. There are also more filter packs through IAP as well.

Darkroom is a powerful photo editor even without the Curves tool, and should be considered for your mobile photography needs.

Google Calendar, released Mar. 10, iPhone only

If you're a Google Calendar user, then you should rejoice at the fact that you can get the official app on your iPhone. But don't be fooled — you don't have to be using Google Calendars to use this app, as it works with Exchange, iCloud, and locally stored calendars on your iPhone.

The Google Calendar app goes along with Google's Material design, but it looks fairly sleek on iOS. There are three different views for your schedule, and everything is organized into color-coded blocks for easy recognition. There are even visual elements like contact photos and maps so you don't miss a thing.

Adding new events is a breeze, as Google Calendar has its own kind of natural language input. As you type in event details, it will suggest titles, people, and even places, pulling in photos of businesses, contacts, and maps. And for Gmail users, there is the Events from Gmail feature, which automatically adds information to your calendar for flights, hotel reservations, concerts, restaurant reservations, and more.

If you're looking for better calendar management on your iPhone, make sure to give Google Calendar a try.

Periscope, released Mar. 26, iPhone only

Is your life filled with interesting moments that you just want to share with others as they happen? Then you should be looking into the mobile live streaming scene, and Periscope is one of the better apps for the job.

With Periscope and a Twitter account, users can browse a world map to see people who are live streaming right now. This is a fantastic and interesting new viewpoint on the world, and lets you join in on some interesting moments. There is also the ability to comment and send the streamer "hearts" (equivalent to likes) as they stream. If you never want to miss a moment of a user, then make sure to follow them for notifications when they go live.

When you feel like streaming yourself, just tap on the button for a new stream. You can choose to share your stream with all of your Twitter followers, or go Private and invite certain people only. There are also Replays that you can store for 24 hours, which lets you relive the experience of the broadcast complete with comments and hearts. This applies to other user's replays as well, if they choose to save it.

Periscope has made a dent in the mobile live streaming world, and it's a fun way to share your life with others.

Alphabear: World Puzzle Game, released July 9, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only

Do you love word games and cute bears? Then Alphabear is a match made in heaven.

Alphabear has been a real delight this year due to the adorable visual style and challenging puzzles. The gameplay involves spelling words by tapping letters on a grid. However, while you can select any letter on the grid, it is key to get as many adjacent ones as possible because each tile turns into a bear. When the letters are next to each other, that means the bear gets bigger, which means more points at the end of the puzzle. The game will end once the board is filled up with bears or leftover letters from which no more words can be formed.

The fun with Alphabear is trying to meet the target goals for each stage, as it will unlock more chapters and give you better rewards, which can be coins or a new bear (sometimes rare or legendary) to add to your collection. Before each game, you can also pick up to three bears to take with you, and they have special abilities like making certain letters worth more points, having more of a specific letter appear, giving you more time, and more. It's in your best interest to pick the best bears for the stage.

Seriously, if you like cute and fun word games, then Alphabear is a must.

Sage Solitaire, released Aug. 26, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only

Do you love Solitaire but wish it had a modern twist to it? Then you should give Sage Solitaire a try.

Sage Solitaire has simple and clean graphics that are perfect for your iPhone. The game contains many different types of backgrounds and card backs to choose from if you go with the full game unlock, which costs $2.99, and also comes with more game modes and stats.

In the initial free download, players have access to the Single Deck mode. The goal in this is to clear out all of the cards in the deck by making hands. The hands can be something simple like a Pair, but if you get something like a Flush or Straight (time to brush up on those poker skills), then you'll earn more points. The big catch in the game is the fact that you must use cards from at least two rows. If no more hands can be made, then it's game over. There are also bonus suits that net you double points, or a card that has been dealt out of the game. For the times when you get stuck, just trash a card if you have them available (earn more by making hands).

If you go for the in-app purchase, you'll get more game modes, including risk-it-all ones like Vegas, where you won't be able to play it again if you lose. There are also Double, Fifteens, and Grit modes, more wallpapers and card backs, and full statistics. Go on, give Sage Solitaire a try — you'll be hooked, and it's well worth the in-app purchase.

Paper – Notes, Photo, Annotation, and Sketches by FiftyThree, released Sep. 9, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only

While Paper is not an entirely new app, it was initially only available on the iPad until a few months ago, as the developers released an update making it a universal app. And it was well worth the wait.

Previously, Paper was purely a sketching app, where users used digital tools to draw or write, like pen and paper. With the universal update, Paper now allows for basic text notes and even photo annotation on the iPhone, along with the same drawing features. Users can create as many "spaces" as necessary, and customize each one with a color, design, icon, or even a photo cover.

When you add a new sheet to a space, the default mode will be a text note, but you can change it to sketching or import a photo by tapping a button. Text notes can be changed to a to-do or bulleted list with the swipe-to-style feature, and you can also use headers. You can import a photo or get a new capture from within the app, which you can then annotate with the drawing tools. Anything in Paper can be exported as a PDF file, or even a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation.

We've been fans of Paper for a long time now, so it's nice to see that it is finally available on the iPhone as well.

Boomerang from Instagram, released Oct. 22, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only

Love Instagram, but tired of still photos or just regular videos? Then Boomerang could be the answer you've been looking for.

Boomerang from Instagram is a simple app that allows users to create short animations to post on the social network. This is done by snapping a one-second burst of five photographs, which are then turned into a silent video that plays forward and backward in a continuous loop. The app will automatically save your creations to the Camera Roll, where you can share them with whoever however you'd like. But there are buttons for quick sharing to Instagram, Facebook, and more through the Share Sheet.

Contrary to the name, Boomerang does not require an Instagram account, so anyone can join in on the fun. The app works with both the front and rear-facing cameras, so you can post silly selfies or get fun captures of pets.

If you're looking to spice up your Instagram feed or just make some fun animations, then definitely give Boomerang a try.

Copied – Copy and Paste Everywhere, released Oct. 31, iPhone/iPod touch and iPad only, optional Mac app available

Have you ever struggled with managing your device's clipboard items, especially between multiple iPhones, iPads, and even Macs? Then Copied is the solution to all of your problems.

Copied is a relatively new app that has been making a splash in the iOS world. It has a simple interface that is easy and intuitive, but still sports a robust set of features to make clipboard management easier than ever before. Copied will store anything that you copy on your iPhone, such as text, links, and even images. With all of these clippings from different apps, you can edit and merge them if necessary, so your workflow is streamlined. There is also support for batch copying of multiple items back onto the clipboard to be pasted somewhere else, and there are shortcuts through 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

To top things off, there is also a Notification Center widget so you can access your clippings quickly, and there is support for built-in templates or custom ones that you create. There is a keyboard included that lets you input any saved text anywhere on your device.

The real magic with Copied, though, comes from the $1.99 in-app purchase. If you opt for the upgrade, you will get iCloud clipboard syncing, so all of your clippings will appear on other iPhones, iPads, and even Macs ($7.99 in the Mac App Store). There is even the ability to organize your clippings by lists through the upgrade.

Copied has proven to be an incredibly useful tool for anyone with an iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and is one that should not be missed on any platform.

This concludes our top 10 free iPhone apps of 2015. Stay tuned the top 10 paid iPhone app list on Dec. 31. For more, check out Best Apple Watch apps of 2015, Best Apple TV apps of 2015, and Top 10 free iPad apps of 2015.

Source: AppAdvice's top 10 free iPhone apps of 2015

DxOMark rates Blackberry Priv as one of the best devices camera-wise

The DxOMark Mobile test has been one of the most authoritative and reliable benchmarking tests when it comes to mobile devices' camera capabilities. And Blackberry's new offering, the high-end smartphone called Priv, is probably extremely grateful to this test because it has ranked it amongst the best device they've tested from Apple, Sony, and Samsung. It refers to it as "mobile photography for the privileged", probably referring to its pretty expensive price, at $750 unlocked.

But if you're looking for a smartphone with quality mobile photography capabilities, then you might consider the Blackberry Priv, based on the DxOMark review. With its 18MP (1440x2560-pixel stills or 2160p@30fps/1080p@60fps for video) resolution and its 1/2.4-inch imaging sensor as well as its 27mm f/2.2 Schneider-Kreuznach lens, you would expect it of course to give quality pictures. Add to it some special features like image stabilization, phase-detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, touch-focus LCD, face detection, HDR, and panorama mode and you have a smartphone that might almost be as good as DSLR camera.

The test showed that the Blackberry Priv is able to capture a large dynamic range, thanks to its "mildly aggressive HDR mode" which lets it capture both the brightest and darkest tones of a scene, even under "challenging" conditions. And even when you're shooting indoors or outdoors, your mobile device can render both strong and pleasant colors, even though white balance is better for indoor shoots. The Priv also proved itself better than its competitors when it comes to low-light detail preservation, due to its 18MP sensor.

In summary, the DxOMark Mobile Photo test gave it a score of 82 for the photo, while giving its video capabilities 81. So if you have the budget to get this smartphone and if you want to enhance your mobile photography game, then better get the Blackberry Priv.

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SOURCE: DxOMark

Story Timeline

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Tags: smartphone, blackberry, Android, DxOMark, BlackBerry Priv

Source: DxOMark rates Blackberry Priv as one of the best devices camera-wise

China Mobile launching Samsung Galaxy S7, Huawei P9 in March 2016

Even though the OEMs have not confirmed their existence, it's already common knowledge that the next big devices for Samsung and Huawei are the Galaxy S7 and the P9 respectively. This speculation has gotten a huge boost as China Mobile presented its roadmap for 2016, and they showed that these two devices will be launched sometime in March of next year. This more or less confirms that the Galaxy S7 and the Huawei P9 are an actual thing.

China Mobile is the country's leading carrier, and they probably would not announce something that they did not confirm with the respective OEMs, unless they didn't have the clearance from them. But either way, the cat is now out of the bag as the powerpoint used for the event has been screen capped and such. The Galaxy S7 will be released, or at least listed, by March through the carrier and the price range will be around 3,000 yuan or $465, placing it in the high-end range.

Meanwhile, another device that was "confirmed" is the P9 from Huawei, a follow-up to its current flagship, the P8. It is expected to be the same price as the latter, which is around 2888 yuan or $445 when converted. This device is 5.2-inches with a 1080p screen and will run on a unicorn 950 processor with 4GB of memory. It will have a horizontal parallel dual camera design and a laser focusing system, so this may be a good new phone for mobile photography enthusiasts.

We'll have to wait and see though if Samsung and Huawei officially come out with the announcement of their new devices. And since CES is just a few weeks away, we can expect that sooner rather than later.

VIA: My Drivers

Tags: smartphone, leak, Samsung, Huawei, Android, Samsung Galaxy S7

Source: China Mobile launching Samsung Galaxy S7, Huawei P9 in March 2016

The best apps for your new iPhone

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The iPhone 6S has a gorgeous 4.7-inch screen, a super-fast processor, and arguably the best mobile camera on the market. But out of the box, it won't have the apps you can't live without. Finding a good mobile app is like discovering a best-kept secret: they can change how you work, take your email from nightmarish to manageable, and forever transform your mobile photography game. But the good apps are easy to find. It's the great ones you have to seek out.

We've boiled our annual list down to nine apps every iPhone owner should have, excluding mobile games and software that run better on or was designed for an iPad. You'll notice a few favorites — some things, like the best read-it-later or podcast app, never change. And while some apps are free, those that do cost money more than earn their modest price tag by working and looking far better than the rest.

We've rounded up our favorite and most-used apps and utilities for the technology we use every day. Check out our picks for iPhones, Android phones, PCs, Macs, and game consoles. We've also listed our favorite games for iOS and Android from this year.

Outlook

Following Dropbox's decision to shut down its email app Mailbox, Microsoft's Outlook is now the best way to go for an alternative email app. The software marries the creative workflow popularized by Mailbox — swiping to postpone emails, an "inbox zero" approach — to a minimalist design with tabs for files, contacts, and a calendar. Since Microsoft acquired calendar maker Sunrise, Outlook's built-in one is only going to improve over time as it absorbs all of Sunrise's best features.

Download here

Snapchat

This was the year Snapchat grew up. The messaging startup launched Discover, an entertainment and news portal that's grown into a powerful advertising and partnership machine. Snapchat also began tinkering with the fundamental ways people use its app, adding "lenses" that put goofy and often topical filters over selfies and letting users pay to replay snaps. Needless to say, now is the time to download Snapchat and find out what all the fuss is about once and for all.

Download here

Google Photos

The state of the photo app has been in flux for years now, but Google may have finally cracked it. Google Photos automatically backs up your iPhone's camera roll to the cloud, but its real benefit is free unlimited storage — so long as you're willing to let Google reduce the size of your images. The app also has an easy-to-use slider for skipping back in time, and Google's algorithms are great at creating photo albums on your behalf and even putting together GIF-style animations of still shots.

Download here

Periscope

If you're going to use front-facing camera for anything beyond selfies, it's Periscope. The Twitter-owned live-streaming app is a fast-growing place to go for viewing quick and easy video updates or broadcasting your own across the web in real-time. With Apple's substantial front-facing camera upgrade from 1.2 megapixels to 5, you'll look a bit better for the crowd.

Download here

Pocket

Pocket is one of the best article-saving apps out there. It has a no-frills interface and easy-to-use mobile and desktop bookmark tools and browser extensions for saving everything you don't (and maybe never will) have time to read. While Pocket's primary function comes free with the app, a $45 a year subscription to Pocket Premium can transform the software into a permanent library for the web. You can then save articles or webpages for posterity, so if they ever change or disappear you'll have the original.

Download here

Enlight

Enlight is a full-featured photo app that lets you do just about anything to a photo, including transform it into a street art-like sketch or heavily stylize it like a poser made in Photoshop. Unlike iOS photo heavyweights VSCO and Darkroom, Enlight goes to great lengths to help users understand how to use its dizzying number of tools, with tutorial videos for each one and step-by-step guides to recreating shots that resemble its samples. If you're looking for an app that rewards experimentation, Enlight will help you turn an everyday photo into a piece of art.

Download here

Workflow

Workflow lets you create sets of shortcuts that carry out a wide variety of mobile tasks. It's similar to If This Then That (FTTT), but Workflow isn't restricted to two-step actions. You can create seemingly endless strings of instructions, from getting directions to the nearest coffee shop to sending a message with the last screenshot you took. It's a mobile power user's fantasy toolset. But even the most casual of iPhone owners should find Workflow's simpler pre-made sets, like getting directions and calculating a tip, useful in everyday situations.

Download here

Overcast

Serial is back, and that means every iPhone owner needs a podcast app that's actually pleasant to use. Overcast, which developer Marco Arment revamped in October, is the best-looking and most powerful podcast app out there. Overcast's Smart Speed feature cuts out dead air and moments of silence in podcasts to reduce overall playing time. The app can also speed up podcasts while retaining a natural sound and balance the volume across podcasts with varying production values. Plus, it's great for finding new shows to listen to.

Download here

Dark Sky

Dark Sky is the weather app that doesn't just forecast the upcoming week or day — it goes minute by minute. The software uses a proprietary forecasting system to perform highly precise predictions, and the app will ping you with a notification like "heavy rain starting in 10 minutes" to help you stay dry. It also has a gorgeous interface and full-screen weather maps.

Download here

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Source: The best apps for your new iPhone

How to Print Photos from iPhone and iPad

Trying to figure out how to print photos from iPhone and iPad this holiday season? Read on as we show you how to print your holiday memories, your Instagram feeds, and how to send them as gifts, straight from your phone.

The iPhone has become the world's most popular camera, and as we head into the holidays, it seems obvious we'll fill our phones with cherished memories of loved ones, Christmas presents, and holiday meals. Despite the rise in sharing on social media, it's still nice to have a physical print – it keeps our walls from feeling barren, and they can be a wonderful gift to people we may not have connections with on Facebook and Instagram.

When the first iPhone shipped, getting your pictures from phone to printed page was a trying process. The best processes involved emailing them to yourself, downloaded the emailed image to your computer, and printing it out from there (or taking it further by copying to a memory card and trudging over to one of the now-omnipresent photo kiosks).

Things have gotten better in the last eight years, but the process is store more complicated than it really needs to be. These days, Apple supports a systemwide standard known Airprint – whether you're editing a photo or document, if you have an Airprint-enabled printer, you can print straight from your phone.

If you're the type who lives to take photos on your phone (or edit them on your phone or iPad) and loves to print them out, you probably want to print them out locally, on a printer that you own. Hopefully, your printer supports Apple's Airprint protocol, but even if it doesn't, you might not be out of luck.

How to print photos to your Airprint-enabled printer

Find the app you're trying to print from. The easiest way to make sure this works for pictures is to just use the iOS Photos app, which is built in to your iPhone or iPad. If you want to print a photo that you've edited or saved in another app, the directions should be the same – if you run into any trouble, just save or export the photo to your Photos app and try it again.

Open your Photos app and tap on the picture that you wish to print. Once it's on your screen, tap the Share button in the lower left-hand corner – it looks like a little box with an arrow pointing up out of it. There will be a little row of icons along the bottom; somewhere among the first few will be one that's labelled 'Print'. Tap on it.

This takes you to the Printer Options screen for iOS. You'll see your picture centered below, and some options up above. If you haven't printed from your printer before, or if you have multiple printers, you can tap on the 'Printer' line and select your printer from a list. If you're at home, chances are very good you'll only have the one option. Select the number of copies you want, and tap Print in the upper right-hand corner. Hurray!

What if my printer doesn't appear in the list of printers on the iOS screen?

There are a couple of reasons that this might happen. If you're sure you have an Airprint-compatible printer, try resetting your printer and your router (physically power them down, then power them back up). Sometimes there can be hiccoughs in your network and two devices connected to the same wi-fi might not see each other. If that doesn't work, you could try rebooting your iPhone, too – press the power button until the power down screen appears and slide the button to power down your phone. Once it's off, hold the power button to start it back up.

If all of that doesn't work, you might not actually have an Airprint-enabled printer. Look for the model number of your printer and type it + Airprint into Google – the first few results should let you know whether your printer is compatible with the standard. A good warning sign is whether your printer is directly plugged into a computer – if that's the only way to print to it, it might not work with Airprint. If it is connected over your network – over wi-fi or plugged into your router – you may have better luck.

Should your printer be on the network, but it doesn't work with Airprint, you might be able to find an app in the iOS App Store that will work. Go to the App Store on your iPhone or iPad, and search for the manufacturer name of the company that made your printer. There may be one or two options, depending on the model; here are links to some of the bigger companies: Canon iPhone app, Epson iPhone app, HP iPhone app, Brother iPhone app.

If none of those options work, and you still want to print on your home printer, you'll need to get your computer involved.

How to print iPhone and iPad photos from your computer

First, like above, you'll want to make sure the photo you want to print is saved to your Photos app. This won't work with pictures saved in other apps, like social media or photo editing apps. From here, you have a couple of options for getting your photos from your phone onto the computer. The simplest and easiest option is to take advantage of iCloud, Apple's cloud storage service – think of it as a giant hard drive out on the internet that stores all the important files from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.

If you haven't used it before, chances are pretty good that it was turned on when you set up your new iPhone. But just to be sure, you might want to read through our ultimate guide on How to Use iCloud. With your photos saved in the Photos app, open your computer's web browser and go to Apple's iCloud website: http://www.icloud.com.

Sign in with the Apple ID that you use on your iPhone – if this is the first time you've done it, or the first time in a while, Apple will probably send you an email to let you know that someone signed into your iCloud account with your Apple ID – don't worry, this was you! You'll see a grid of icons appear that look like your iPhone or iPad home screen. One of them will be labelled Photos, just like on your mobile device.

Click on it, and you'll see a similar timeline of photos unroll, with everything grouped by dates and/or locations. Find the image you want to print and click on it; it'll fill your web browser. You'll see a row of icons at the top. One of them looks like a cloud with a downward-pointing arrow in it. Click on that, and it'll download the original picture. From there, you can print it straight from your computer like with any other photo.

Best photo printing apps for iPhone and iPad

Easily the best part of the iPhone and iPad are the App Stores, and this holds true when it comes to printing photos straight from your mobile device. Companies have sprung up that offer really useful and easy-to-use services – upload your photos in the app, and they'll send a package straight to your house with all the pictures you wanted. It's a great way of getting pictures off of your devices without worrying about buying and maintaining your own printer.

Where these apps really come in useful is when it comes to sending gifts to loved ones. You can put your friend's address into one of these apps, pay the couple of bucks, and they can get anything from a photo printed on glass or wood to a picture book of your adventures together.

Here are some of the more popular photo printing apps for your iPhone and iPad:

Walgreens (iTunes link)Wait a second…Walgreens!? That's right. The hybrid pharmacy / convenience store has really stepped up their digital game. Their latest iPhone app lets users check on prescriptions and clip coupons for use in person at their stores, as well as check on what's on sale in the latest ads. For our interests, though, it also taps into the network of photo printing services that the company has offered since, well, forever.

You can upload pictures straight from your phone, or import them from Google Photos, Dropbox, or Flickr. Choose the form factor you want – traditional prints on photo paper in sizes like 4×6 or 8×10, large-format poster prints or even pictures printed on pressed wood panels, then upload your images. If you let the app know where you are, it'll suggest stores, or you can enter a zip code or city and state. A list of stores will pop up, and your photos are sent to that store, ready for pick up – even the wood panels – in as little as an hour. It's a phenomenal experience and a great way for one-hour photo and Walgreens photo printing, more generally, to stay relevant. Prices are competitive with other apps.

Snapfish (iTunes Link) and Snapfish Cards (iTunes Link)Snapfish was one of the earliest internet photo printing services, founded all the way back in 1999. It was later bought and sold by HP, and has managed to weather the dot com booms and busts – for good reason. It's always managed to offer a convenient, competitive service that allows you to order prints from your PJs, coming straight to your house a few days later.

The service has of course evolved since then, offering your photos printed on such various things as mugs, iPhone cases, canvas, pillows, blankets, ornaments, tote bags, magnets, and even jewelry. Oh, and on photo paper, of course. Even when you order a complicated project, like a magnet or 50×60-inch (127x152cm) fleece blanket, you can expect to get your order in just about a week or two.

Their new Snapfish Cards app lets you order holiday – or any – kinds of cards in larger batches. Unlike the regular app, which you can send to any address, the Cards app only lets you send your picture cards to your house, which you can then sign and mail out to your friends and family.

Shutterfly (iTunes Link)

Shutterfly is another internet success story, founded around the same time as Snapfish and continuing on through today. They partnered with Kodak early on and were successful enough a few years later to buy the division of Kodak with whom they'd originally partnered. Shutterfly offers many of the same services and printed objects as competing services, but offer some fun additions, like iPad cases, laptop sleeves, wallets, keepsake boxes, coasters, and even decks of playing cards.

They also offer some pretty competitive pricing on their printed photo products, and a website that lets you store photos for printing either online or through the app itself. Shutterfly is one of the few photo printing apps to offer a reasonably priced panorama option; 8×32 inches at just $12.99 – but you'll need to have a pre-existing panorama to use, as you can't take multiple images and print them out on the format. Fortunately, the iPhone's panorama option is one of its shining strengths.

LALALAB. (iTunes Link)

You're probably getting tired of all the lists of products you can order through these photo sharing apps, so let's stick to what everyone does best. Unlike some of the other options, LALALAB. scores really well in reviews in the App Store – the app is one of the easiest to use, which makes the entire process easier. We really liked some of the 'funner' options that the app provides: you can choose a collage of either 24 or 35 photos – they even offer to frame it in solid limewood for you, glass included – the collage especially presents a great gift idea that lets you share more than a few special memories with a loved one.

Another fun option that LALALAB. does is printed postcards. The outside of the postcard is your photo, while the inside of the postcard gets printed with the recipient's name and address, and a personalized printed message from yours truly. While most of these apps let you send groups of prints or printed objects to someone else, LALALAB.'s postcard option is one of the few that really lets you send a personal message alongside – and for just $1.49, that's not a bad deal.

Free Prints (iTunes Link)

Free Prints is one of those apps that really sounds like a scam. Free pictures, okay…what's the catch? Well, there doesn't seem to be one. You do pay for shipping, as well as any 4×6 you want more than a single copy of, and for any image size beyond 4×6. You're also limited to 85 free photos a month, with a yearly cap of 1000 (for those wondering, 85*12 is 1020). Apart from that, go hog wild and print photos to your heart's content.

This service is another app that scores astoundingly well in the App Store, leading us to believe that they do what they pretty much claim to do – but the free offer is really only good for ordering single prints for your personal use – if you're going to be sending out images, chances are high you'll want to send a picture to more than one person at a time. You do seem to get what you pay for, however, with a few reviews complaining about slow shipping and color differences from their original photo. Still, if you're on a budget, it's a great option.

Best mobile photo printers for printing photos from your iPhone on the go

So we've covered printing from your iPhone to printers in your house, printing photos from your iPhone on the computer, and ordering prints and printed objects through some of the best apps on the iPhone – that should cover it, right? Well, not quite – there's one more option to discuss, and that's the idea of the mobile photo printer.

Until very recently, mobile printers were only mobile through some creative interpretations of the word. Not so anymore, thanks to innovations like embedding the ink for your pictures in the paper itself, which means all you need is your phone, your printer, and some paper, and you're good to go. For the most part, these printers deliver perfectly acceptable image quality, but there are a couple of downsides to go going this route. Firstly is the cost – the printers are not exactly super cheap, and while most come with a stack of paper for you to work your way through, extra paper will cost up to fifty cents a page – that's much more expensive than some of the app printing services.

Secondly, and this may or may not detract from the option, depending on your goals, is that the printers are small. That's great for portability and whipping them out at your friend's party, but it also means that the pictures they print are correspondingly tiny – you're not going to be getting 5×7 images out of these devices.

Polaroid ZIP

That's right, baby, Polaroid is back! Well, the company that owns the Polaroid brand is back, anyway, and they've introduced the ZIP printer – one of those mobile printers that uses the special paper we discussed a couple of paragraphs above. You can connect wirelessly with your iPhone or iPad, and print out any image you've got saved. Available in black, white, red, and blue, the ZIP works in conjunction with the Polaroid ZIP app.

Connect the device, open up the Polaroid app, and a few seconds later, you're printing out 2×3-inch pictures, smudge free, with sticky backs that let you put them on walls, in scrapbooks, or on the back of your laptop's display – it's a really fun feature. One negative point is that after charging it up for an hour and a half, you're only going to be able to print out 25 images – that's either way more than enough, or not nearly, depending on who you ask. You can pick up a Polaroid ZIP for $130.

Fujifilm INSTAX SHARE SP-1

Speaking of Polaroid, while the ZIP carries the original brand, the INSTAX SP-1 takes advantage of the original technology – that's right, it uses the old instant film that made Polaroid cameras so famous. Running on 800 speed instant film – and it takes the same INSTAX mini film that Fuji's other cameras use – the SP-1 connects wireless to your iPhone just like the other options.

You have to use Fuji's app, but it lets you print / develop these images with details about the picture, such as time or location, if you want. While the ease of use for this printer is great, it unfortunately doesn't offer rechargeable batteries. Instead, it uses two CR2 lithium batteries good for around 100 prints per set – which is way more at a time than the Polaroid offers. Amazon offers the INSTAX SHARE SP-1 for around $140.

Source: How to Print Photos from iPhone and iPad