
The best editing apps provide finer granularity without sacrificing usability, make it easier for you to understand the effects of edits with before-and-after comparisons, and maximize your view of the photo without hiding necessary controls.


Generally speaking, the more options an editing app provides, the more we like it, as long as the interface isn’t too cluttered. The best go further to offer stuff like healing brushes, a histogram, curves, split toning, layers and masks, correction for chromatic aberration, and more. Powerful adjustments and great-looking output: Most photo editing apps offer the basics, such as brightness, contrast, and sharpening.You can still use the Adobe CC installer if you prefer, at the same price. If you’re not already a Lightroom user, head on over to the Mac App Store to check it out. Microsoft, too, has jumped onto Apple’s Mac App Store, too, by adding its Office applications earlier this year, which is now also another subscription service. That was a perpetual license before Adobe switched to the Creative Cloud subscription model.

The App Store did offer Lightroom in the past, way back with Lightroom 4 priced at $149.99.

It’s free to download and use for a week, and then it’s a $9.99/mo subscription through Apple’s purchasing system or annually for $118.99, which includes 1TB of cloud storage. The App Store version of Lightroom is the “new” version of Lightroom, previously known as Lightroom CC. Shifting over to the App Store will be a welcome change for some users. Many long-time users just prefer the old way of doing things. It’s been more of a challenge than with iOS as the Mac has been around for much longer than the App Store. Apple has been pushing for more developers to move their apps onto the App Store, rather than having their own individual platforms.
