Simply the best: Which apps are the best for editing your photos in 2017?

What are the best apps for editing your photos this year? We have the list of must-download apps ready to go!

If you're someone who loves editing your photos on your iPhone or iPad and want the latest and greatest options, look no further!

Here are the best photo editing apps of 2017. (So far!)

• 1967
• Snapseed
• RNI Films
• Lens Distortions (LD)
• Filmborn
• Mextures

1967

If you're looking for a super simple photo editing app that'll add the most modern, hip, and sleek filters to your photos, then consider downloading the free app 1967.

1967 is probably one of the most minimalist-looking editing apps I've ever seen, and if you think VSCO is plain, then you really haven't played around with 1967. It incorporates big block text, which guides you to upload your ideal photo, crop (or DON'T, as the text reads), and then start swiping to add your perfect filter.

The name of the filter will appear on the bottom of the screen, so you know which is which for future use. If you swipe or tap on the name of the filter, you'll go to a screen that shows you your dozens of filter options — and, of course, you can unlock all 65 filters for less than a dollar.

One cool thing about 1967 is the way you edit the intensity of the filter: simply swipe up or down on your screen, and the intensity level will appear at the bottom.

If you're someone who isn't a huge fan of tweaking, fiddling with, or doing a ton of extra editing with your iPhone photographs, then give 1967 a try.

• Free - Download now

Snapseed

Snapseed surpasses all other general photo editing apps we've tested in terms of professional quality and control, and it's the closest to a Photoshop CC for mobile devices… it has a full array of top-notch editing tools, including selective edit brushes, plus a nice collection of film-related filters (such as Lens Blur, Retrolux and the new Double Exposure). [sic] (Sally Wiener Grotta, Tom's Guide)

Snapseed is an incredible app because it has a little bit of everything for every type of iPhone photographer. If you want to add quick filters, slap on some text, play around with vignettes, tune your image, and so, so much more, Snapseed has an editing tool ready to go for ya!

With Snapseed, you get access to tools like:

• Tune Image
• Details
• Crop
• Rotate
• Transform
• White Balance
• Brush
• Selective
• Healing
• Vingette
• Text
• Curves
• Expand

You're also able to add different filters to your photos like you would in apps like Instagram or VSCO. You can add lens blurs, galmor glows, tonal contrast, HDR scapes, drama, grunge, grainy film, vintage, retrolux, noir, black and white, frames, and double exposure.

Another really cool feature is Snapseed's face editing features: with things like "enhance," you can smooth the skin and emphasize your eyes, give yourself a bit more of a tan, and even readjust and re-pose your photo with some funky 3D features.

The best part? All of these features on Snapseed are free!

• Free - Download now

RNI Films

Load up your Instagram-worthy photo, add on your favorite film-like filter, tweak your clarity, saturation and more, and save your image in a snap with the incredibly hip and wonderful RNI Films app.

For a number of years now, Really Nice Images has been working on creating loads of very film-like presets through use of science. (Chris Gampat, The Phoblographer)

If you're wondering what RNI stands for, it means Really Nice Images, which is exactly what you'll get when your edit your photos with this app! The categories of filters are divvied up based on names of different types of film and cameras. You'll see filter categories like:

• Vintage
• Black and White
• Instant
• Slide
• Negative

While the app itself is free to download, there are a couple of in-app purchases, which are quite common amongst filter-heavy apps like this. You can choose to buy different filter packs for a couple of dollars. Another thing you can do to unlock filters with certain categories (if they give you the option) is to share the app to your Facebook page (don't worry, you can delete the post right after and you'll still have access to all the filters!).

The nice thing about RNI Films is that you can quickly add a filter or choose to edit a bit more intimately with things like brightness adjustments, contrast control, saturation levels, and even something called Dust, which adds a layer of texture and detail to your photos. The whole app is super simple to navigate, too, so you won't have to worry about fiddling around with it constantly and getting frustrated with strange icons and hip, obscure editing tools.

• Free - Download now

Lens Distortions (LD)

If you're someone who looks at typical editing tools and lets out a yawn because you're so sick of tweaking contrast, slapping on the same gosh darn filter over and over again, and paying for packs that you're pretty sure you've seen on two other apps, then step out of the box and download Lens Distortions (LD) for free.

I have to say the name, Lens Distortions, may lead an interested buyer in another direction, but the app does an excellent job of adding optical and fog to any image, giving you a great deal of control of how your image will turn out. [sic] (Mel Martin, Life in LoFi)

With Lens Distortions (LD), you can do things like add light hits and lens flares, fog, principle lights, shimmer, camera distortion, and more to your photographs. This makes them look like they were taken on a disposable or film camera, giving the photographs a bit more interesting detail to look at.

Once you add your desired camera or environmental effect to the photo, you can adjust the blur, opacity, contrast, saturation, color, and even where the effect is in the photo.

If you aren't a fan of all the free presets LD gives you, then you can easily buy different packages with more than 25 filters for a few dollars.

• Free - Download now

Filmborn

The creators of Filmborn, Kirk Mastin and his team, are the brains behind Mastin Labs, the LR presets designed to make a hybrid photographer's life easier. Mastin Presets focus on the main film stocks still readily available and often used in client work, and allows the user to "match" their digital images to their film through a series of simple steps… With Filmborn, Mastin has created an interface similar to his LR presets with many of the same functionalities. [sic] (Christina Blanarovich, SLR Lounge)

Not only can you use Filmborn to shoot beautiful photographs with perfect white balance, film-line preview (which will allow you to see what your photo will look like with an image preset before you even snap it), and settings like those that match up with your favorite lens, Fujifilm or Kodak camera, and so, so much more, but you can also use the app to edit your images into true masterpieces.

With Filmborn, you can add different filters that mimic and imitate famous editing styles and photo qualities to a T. You can choose to add a filter that resembles 160NS from Fujifilm or an HPS from an Ilford or a P 800 from a Kodak camera.

You also have the option to edit and tweak things like white balance, highlights and shadow, and saturation after the fact, but if you want to get more in-depth with your editing with tools like curves or get more precise with your shooting with a rangefinder, that'll cost you a couple of bucks.

You can even buy actual film straight from the website! Let's say that there's a film type or filter that you really like — Filmborn will provide a shop link straight to the Amazon page that sells you the corresponding film, so you can point and shoot with your camera just as well as you swipe and edit with your iPhone!

• Free - Download now

Mextures

With tons of film textures, a layer manager, and a well-designed interface, anyone who wants to try something different with their photos should download this app. (Jason Parker, CNET)

Mextures claims that it's the only app that can apply film grain, textures, light leaks, and beautiful gradients to your images in seconds, making editing on your iPhone and iPad easy, fun, and super creative!

With Mextures, you get access to different textures, filters, and lighting presets that allow you to bring out different colors in your photographs, tweak certain areas, and enhance specific parts of your pictures. You can even choose to blend and mix them together for totally unique edits.

The Textures portion of the app adds more opaque filters than you would normally see in a standard photo editing app, instead allowing users to play with where certain colors go, if a gradient will start from the upper right or left corner, etc. The Formulas portion of the app allows you to add different filters and tints to photos that either Mextures or other people who use Mextures have already made.

You can choose to buy different bundles in the Mextures store if you want a few more options when it comes to editing — each bundle costs around $0.99, but there are a couple nestled in there that are free.

Mextures might take a little bit of getting used to when you first buy it for around $1.99, but once you start playing with the different options, making the colors in your photos pop, and even creeping other people's edits through the Inspiration portion of the app, you'll quickly learn that this app really allows users to get creative with their photography.

• $1.99 - Download now

What are your top photo editing picks?

Is there an app that we missed on our list that you cannot stop editing your photos with?

Let us know what it is in the comments below and we'll be sure to check it out!