Mac App Review: Analog

In the last year or so, we’ve seen a huge influx of photo-editing apps that let you add effects and frames to your snaps. This is partially because of the meteoric rise of the iPhone, with apps like Instagram that enable you to edit your photos right on your phone, or even add effects to your shots as you take them. However, there have also been a selection of these apps released on the Mac App Store, and with so many choices, it can be difficult to work out exactly which one to go for. Analog is one of these apps, but can it manage to stand out from the crowd?

One of the biggest advantages of the app is its simplicity – the user interface is as easy as they come. Drag and drop the picture you want to edit into the application and it will instantly appear on the screen, filling the space available whether you’re in windowed or full-screen mode. Now you can choose effects from the 20 on the left, each of which is represented with a small thumbnail that will give you an idea of what your picture will look like. You can click between them quickly to see the results, and when you’ve found one you like, simply click the slider in the top-right of the screen to select one of the 14 frames in just the same way.

The UI, then, is beautifully simple, but we were a little disappointed to see just 34 options for frames and effects. Obviously you can add these together in hundreds of combinations, and we hope that future updates will add more options. Having said that, the images we made with the app looked excellent thanks to the high quality of the effects and borders. If you don’t mind a smaller selection of options than, say, FX Photo Studio, this is a fantastic option. The sharing options are also excellent, with social networks Picasa, Facebook and Flickr all supported, as well as CloudApp and Mail.

If you’re looking for a simple photo editor with a slick UI and a selection of nice-looking filters, you won’t be disappointed by Analog, and if future updates can add more effects, this will be a truly fantastic product. Right now it sadly can’t outshine similar apps in the App Store; it simply stands next to them, albeit on a high platform.