Free instead of $4.99: This is a true Swiss Army knife camera app for iOS

ACDSee Pro in a nutshell:

• ACDSee Pro can be downloaded on iPhones and iPads.
• The regular price of the app is $4.99;
• ACDSee Pro is rated 4.8 stars out of 5;
• The app contains no ads or in-app purchases.

ACDSee Pro has a high rating on the App Store, garnering 4.8 stars out of 5 which is a real accomplishment for apps that have been around for a long, long time. The app has a total of 827 ratings and combines a professional level camera and photo editor with advanced editing tools. The app takes up 95.4 MB of your device's internal storage.

• Download ACDSee Pro from the Apple App Store
• Looking for an Android option? Check out Manual Camera: DSLR
• Not interested? Check out our selection of free apps of the week

Why is ACDSee Pro worth downloading?

Camera apps are often a cause for love and war. However, ACDSee Pro seems to lean towards the positive side. Looking through some reviews of the app, I noticed that many people tend to use this software instead of Adobe's LightRoom. It is no surprise at all considering how complete of a package this is when it comes to features.

This app supports RAW format photos captured on compatible devices, lossless compression in TIFF and PNG formats, as well as advanced manual controls such as exposure, focus, and white balance. And that is not all, we also have the ability to set the shutter speed and auto ISO selection.

• Related:How to get the best out of your iPhone 13's Cinematic Mode

The app also offers an editor with features such as effects that, by the way, can be added in real time. You can adjust the shadows and brightness balance, add contrast to images, and balance the tones in the photo. And if you missed the chance to use the blur function at the time of capture, that is not a problem at all because it is possible to edit this at a later time with depth of field simulation in order to deliver the blurred background effect.

Among the image aspect ratios, we have available 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 which can be selected at the time of capture. In addition, it offers independent settings for both front and rear cameras, and various photo and video modes.

• Also read: More than just a filter: how to use iPhone's Photographic Styles

What's even cooler is the fact that the app supports a lot of languages, and Portuguese is one of them. The support from the developer seems to be very consistent considering how the software also has equivalent versions on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

I downloaded this app today and throughout the time that I was able to use ACDSee Pro, I was struck by the amount of information and metadata that the software can pull from images that were saved in iOS Photos. In addition, I had a hard time editing images that were previously captured in the iPhone's Live mode.

Does the ACDSee app respect your privacy?

In its privacy policy that is accessible via the App Store, developer ACD Systems International Inc. stated that it does not collect user information. It also stated that the app does not contain any third-party analytics.

However, it does state that certain information may be collected for the purpose of enhancing the service, such as the type of mobile device to download trial versions of software or updates. In addition, if you have earlier agreed to have any of your information used by ACD, you may change your mind at any time in compliance with the GDPR.

Regarding the permissions required to use the app, this app will gain access to your photos and geolocation each time you fire up the app's camera. The latter does not influence the use of the service. So far, everything falls in line with the software's privacy policy.

So, what do you think of ACDSee Pro? Are applications like these important to you? Leave your opinion in the comments section below!