Best Photo Editing Apps for Android in 2026 (for Samsung Galaxy)

Samsung’s Galaxy phones work with plenty of photo editing apps. Lightroom and Snapseed cover most of what you’ll need, and Samsung’s Gallery app has an image editor for simple tweaks. The other Galaxy phone photo editing apps do specific types of edits particularly well. We checked all third-party app listings and prices on Google Play on 4 November 2026.

The seven apps compared

Prices may vary according to your country and are subject to change. You can see the current price on the app’s Play Store page. For Lightroom and Photoshop Express, you can see the Premium price in-app. Picsart’s pricing page will show you the current price in your country.

Snapseed for free, detailed edits

If you shoot a lot of photos on your Samsung Galaxy, it’s worth downloading Google’s free photo editor Snapseed. There are no ads or subscription plans according to the app’s listing on the Play Store.

Digital Trends reports version 4.0 of Snapseed for Android began rolling out in stages in May 2026. The update brings the redesign that Snapseed for iPhone received in 2025 to Android. Here’s a look at some of Snapseed’s 30-plus tools and how they can help you get the most out of photos you take with your Galaxy.

• Selective and Brush for adjusting specific areas of an image (say, brightening someone’s shaded face)
• Healing for getting rid of small problems (trash, a sign, etc.)
• New one-tap masking to quickly select a subject or background and make changes just there
• Support for importing .xmp presets and 3D LUTs, and applying edits/presets to multiple images at once
• RAW Develop for opening (some) RAW images. Test with a DNG image from your phone before counting on this

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t provide a desktop version, but our Snapseed for PC guide will show you how to get around this. Our Snapseed guide looks at the different tools Google provides, in order.

Lightroom for RAW files and presets

Lightroom is free for core editing and presets, but masking, healing brush, raw editing and batch editing are all Premium features, Adobe’s FAQ says, along with cloud storage and sync.

If you upgrade to Premium via Google Play you’ll get these features, but only on mobile devices. The app is also available from the Galaxy Store as Lightroom for Samsung. Adobe says you’ll need a Creative Cloud Pro plan if you want Premium features on its web and desktop versions of Lightroom too. Lens Blur and Generative Remove are also Premium-only, Adobe’s upgrade page says.

Expert RAW’s DNGs will be best served by Lightroom Premium, if you pay for it. The Lightroom vs Snapseed comparison sets the two apps side by side. In our Lightroom mobile guide we discussed how to change import and export settings for DNG files on a Galaxy phone.

Samsung Gallery editor for quick fixes

On a phone with Galaxy AI, according to Samsung’s support page (US), Photo Assist includes Style (change the style of an image) and Generative Edit (erase or move objects in photos). Other AI-powered features available on some phones include Edit suggestions (quick edits including one-tap options such as Remaster and remove reflections). Photos edited using Generative Edit will have a Galaxy AI watermark and the maximum image size will be 12MP. Crop and straighten photos, as well as make colour adjustments, using the editing tools in Gallery, with no need to download another app!

Keep the original photo if you want to retain an image without the watermark and at full resolution. A Samsung account sign-in and an internet connection are required to use Generative Edit. The Gallery app guide covers the rest of the editor.

VSCO for film looks

The Starter version of VSCO is free and comes with the photo editor and some photo filters (also called presets). As of 4 November 2026, on its website (US), VSCO offers a Pro subscription with more than 200 filters and unlimited access to AI-powered photo editing tools (such as AI Remove) for $4.99 per month (billed annually) or $12.99 (billed monthly). It also offers a VSCO One subscription targeted towards professional/working photographers, which comes with business-oriented features in addition to those in Pro.

If you want all of your photos to have a consistent theme (for example, if you're concerned about how your photos look collectively on your social media feed), you may want to consider VSCO since you can use one filter/preset to make all of your photos look similar.

Photoshop Express for quick retouching

For more sophisticated photo editing, Adobe offers the full Photoshop app for Android. In the Google Play listing it’s named Photoshop with AI Assistant, and it adds features like Generative Fill and layers. Photoshop Express is more focused on speedy fixes like blemish and object removal (the latter with AI assistance), and it also has a collage maker. Photoshop Express is free to download, with more features available via an in-app Premium upgrade. Our Photoshop Express guide covers the free app in detail.

Picsart for collages and graphics

Picsart is another free (with ads) app that’s geared more towards AI generation and offers lots of templates, judging by its Play listing. It’s a little overkill if you’re only looking to make quick photo corrections, but it’s nice to be able to quickly put together collages or add text.

Picsart also offers paid Pro and Ultra subscriptions, which unlock premium templates and AI credits. The exact cost depends on where you live, which you can see on its pricing page.

Polarr for custom filters

Polarr’s filters can be created and shared by users, and filters can include selective masks and AI object selection. Polarr is free with ads. Its subscription costs $3.99 a month or $19.99 a year on the US Play listing. Polarr’s Play listing was last updated in February 2026. Polarr may not be updated as often as some of the aforementioned apps.

Which apps to install

Snapseed and the Gallery editor are good starting points because they’re free and offer most of the editing features you’re likely to use. If you’re planning on using Expert RAW or if you’re after features like masks and the ability to apply presets to multiple images at once, consider getting Lightroom Premium. If you’re after a consistent film-like look, check out VSCO. If you’re mostly interested in making collages or images for social media, Picsart or Photoshop Express might be a better fit.

You can use our guide to apps that turn photos into drawings if you want to make a picture look like it’s a painting or sketch. Editing is of course just one part of the workflow, and our best photography apps for Android guide also includes apps for planning and shooting.