addLib review

In these times of Photoshop and other such complex photo-editing software, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the intricacies of creating a truly eye-catching image. But here comes WOW.inc’s photo app, addLib, to the rescue. With a single click, your photos are morphed into modernist illustrations anyone would be proud to make their iPhone wallpaper.

In their own words, addLib mixes the Müller-Brockmann’s Grid System, fractal theory, the Golden Ratio and facial recognition software to create the graphic designs you see on the screen. That certainly is an impressive line-up, but what is even more remarkable is that one only needs to click a button to create an entirely new way to depict a photo. All you need to do is choose a photo from your iPhone library, and the app will come up with three seemingly random recreations (swipe left or right to see all of them). If you want to see more, just hit the reload arrow down in the middle of the task bar on the bottom of the screen and it will regenerate another for you in place of the one on the screen.

addLib also gives you a chance to customize a created image, but only up to a point. Once the three photos are generated, tap on one that you want to change, and it will shrink enough that you will see the Customize button above the task bar. You can choose between three text modes: Random, User, and Disable. Slide the button to User and type in the text you want on your new photo. You can also change the center of the image by dragging the photo until the target circle is over whatever center you choose. Once you hit apply, a new image will be created; if you don’t like it, just apply the Customized options again.

As you can expect from an art app, the layout and design of addLib is sleek and polished. Creations can be tweeted or emailed…but you’re almost guaranteed to be generating a lot of different photos before that happens; there are only so many designs and colors, but all those algorithms are sure to generate something a little different each time. Truthfully, it’s a little addicting, as humans have a penchant for pretty, shiny things–and this app has both of the above in spades. I’d like to have a bit more customization (in choosing some of the colors, for example), but half the fun is in simply running the app and seeing what pops up. addLib is a bit of a guilty pleasure (some would call it cheating), but for someone who is completely Photoshop-deficient (ahem), that will not be a problem at all. Download this awesome app for $2.99 and amazing your friends with your newfound artsy abilities.

Here is a video demo of the addLib app on the iPhone

AppSafari Rating: 5/5

AppSafari review of addLib was written by Julie Guan on March 23rd, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Featured, Fun, Photos. Page viewed 4336 times, 1 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.