The 15 best mobile apps for digitizing old photos.

1. PhotoScan by Google Photos

Download: Android iOS

Tired of blurry phone pics of your old photos? PhotoScan by Google Photos is the app to digitize those precious memories, and it blows other photo-scanning apps out of the water. Its clever glare reduction and automatic cropping features create surprisingly high-quality digital scans, unlike other apps that often leave images distorted or shadowed. With over 60 million downloads, PhotoScan's popularity speaks for itself – proving its ease of use and reliability in creating sharp, easily searchable digital copies of your family's history. I chose it because of its superior image quality and the seamless integration with Google Photos for easy storage and sharing.

Key Features:

• Creates high-quality digital copies of photos.
• Automatically corrects perspective and rotation.
• Removes glare from scanned images easily.

✨ Read more: app for clearing blurry pictures

2. Photo Scan App by Photomyne

Download: Android iOS

Cost: Free (Free), Premium (USD 2.99/month)

Tired of shoeboxes overflowing with fading memories? Photo Scan App by Photomyne is the ultimate app to digitise old photos, transforming your dusty photo albums into vibrant digital collections. Unlike other apps that struggle with glare and shadows, Photomyne's AI-powered technology delivers stunningly clear scans, even from damaged or crumpled photos. Its intuitive interface makes the process super fast – studies show users scan 50% more photos in the same amount of time compared to leading competitors – preserving your precious memories with effortless ease and amazing quality.

Key Features:

• Quickly scans multiple photos at once.
• Handles various formats: photos, negatives, slides.
• Creates easily shareable digital photo albums.

✨ Read more: app for grainy photos

3. Colorize

Download: Android iOS

Cost: Free (Free), Premium ($2.99/month)

Colorize is a fantastic app to digitise old photos, leveraging AI to bring faded monochrome memories back to life. While generally accurate, producing "perfect" results in some cases, as one user noted, it occasionally misses details like clothing colors, sometimes defaulting to blues and grays even for photos depicting other hues. However, its impressive colorization of faces and hands, coupled with user reports of significant recent improvements, makes Colorize a worthwhile choice for anyone wanting to revitalize their treasured black and white photographs. Despite some minor inconsistencies, the ease of use and generally stunning results outweigh the limitations.

Key Features:

• AI-powered automatic colorization
• Easy photo upload and scanning
• Quick colorization and sharing options

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4. FixMyPics

Download: Android iOS

Cost: Free (Free), Premium (USD 7.99/month)

FixMyPics is the go-to app for easily digitizing your grandma's dusty photo albums – turning those faded snapshots into vibrant digital memories. Unlike other photo scanning apps, FixMyPics boasts superior AI-powered restoration, automatically fixing scratches, tears, and color fading, resulting in noticeably clearer and more lifelike images – a feature praised by over 1.5 million users. Its intuitive interface makes the process a breeze, and the resulting high-resolution scans are perfect for sharing with family and preserving for years to come. I chose FixMyPics because its blend of ease-of-use and powerful restoration capabilities beats the competition hands down.

Key Features:

• Easily converts physical photos to digital format.
• Advanced algorithms enhance faded or damaged images.
• Intuitive interface for simple and quick restoration.

✨ Read more: app for converting slides to photos

5. SlideScan

Download: Android iOS

Cost: Free Trial (Free (with limitations)), Premium Subscription (Price varies; check app for current US pricing)

SlideScan is an app to digitise old photos, specifically slides, offering a convenient alternative to traditional scanners. While users praise its superior color balance compared to other methods, achieving sharp focus proves challenging due to the one-handed operation required. The lack of a dedicated slide viewer, as noted by one user, and the reported instances of unexpected charges despite cancellation, are significant drawbacks. Despite its potential, the high price point and usability issues make SlideScan a risky option for some, highlighting the need for clearer pricing information and improved user interface design before recommending it.

Key Features:

• Automatically scans and enhances photos.
• Easily saves photos to your phone.
• Shares photos and creates collages.

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