HelloLab Review

Part of a growing trend of apps that come with the advantage of flexibility but the disadvantage of in-app purchases, HelloLab is an iOS 7 styled photography app with potential. It does also spark a familiar debate, though.

HelloLab is a free to download app but its features at this point are quite restrictive. Instead, what most users will need to do is buy a filter pack or two for $0.99 each or buy the full set for $4.99. Sure it's flexible, but it does make me wonder if things would have been better with HelloLab priced at $0.99 and with some filters thrown in.

As it stands, the free version is a little limited albeit not without potential. See it as a demo of what's to come and it's worth the download. It's possible to take a photo directly from the app with handy options to fix the exposure, focus and white balance. It works well and the results are immediately noticeable. On the fly, and for free, it's possible to use two different filters, plus take a look at the others that are available to buy. Being able to preview while taking the image is handy and quick to do, making those in-app purchases a little more tempting.

It's possible to adjust already taken images in a similar way, too. Again, only two different types of filters are available to actually use, as well as the temperature, but it gives a good guide as to what to expect from the full app. Switching between different looks is a matter of swiping and it's all quite quick on the iPhone 5. Simple cropping and rotation tools are also featured.

One particularly noteworthy feature within HelloLab is its ability to save images at a higher resolution than most, 3072 pixels to be exact. That's something that many other photo filter apps fail to take into account, and is very much worth remembering when considering purchasing.

HelloLab consistently remains simple to use and far from garish, making it quite a reasonable choice for those looking for more subtle ways to adjust their photos. While I'd feel more comfortable with it including more filters and at an appropriately adjusted price, it's still worth taking a look at.