PhotoViva Review

PhotoViva is very simple to use and pleasingly attractive to look at. As shallow as that may sound, it's already a promising sign for any photography app. After all, who wants to look at an unpleasant interface or be baffled by sliders?

While PhotoViva does offer some sliders, each is simple to use and it's always quite clear to see what button does which task. At least, until it comes to sharing which involves tapping a button that one would think takes another photograph.

PhotoViva is primarily a tool for drawing on top of an already snapped photograph. Users can adjust more typical settings such as HDR, shadows, mid tones, brightness, saturation and hue, but the creativity stems from painting within the image.

Users can choose from a selection of brushes and colors, each with the intention of turning the photo into something a little different from the norm. Each adds a form of filtering to the image but crucially, it's been created by the user rather than an automated process. There is an Auto Paint button which automatically transforms an image before the user's eyes but there's no 'one size fits all' type filter button which makes a change.

The creations can look quite delightful, especially with subtle additions of HDR correction. The 20 or so brushes ensure there's always something different to look at, also.

PhotoViva feels distinctly different from other photo editing apps, purely because it gives more usability to the user than simply tapping a filter option. It's unfortunate then that the app lacks sharing functionality or high resolution settings as it does restrict its potential somewhat. Both, at least, leaves plenty of room for a future update which I hope to see. As it stands, PhotoViva is still rather delightful.