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These are the photo editing apps that are collecting and tracking your private data

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When we think of online privacy, we typically think of social media, editing, browsing or shopping apps that open our private lives up to the potential world. Or, at least to advertisers. But these aren’t the only things we should be worried about, as this report by the folks at Surfshark illustrates.

Amongst the eighteen types of apps that Surfshark looked into, including social media, shopping, streaming, dating, and various others they delved into image editing apps. And the amount of data that each one captures might surprise you. For example, did you know that VSCO tracks your search history and wants the info on all your contacts?

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Instagram wants you to turn on data tracking to keep it “free of charge”

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Well, this is kind of a surprise, but also not. It’s not surprising that Instagram (and Facebook) would be capable of trying something like this, but it’s a bit of a surprise that they actually went through with it. According to a new iOS 14.5 notice in the Instagram and Apps users are promoted to ask permission to track user data on the device to improve ads.

The initial statement seems all well and good, but when we get to how Instagram and Facebook say they use this data, one of the arguments given for both apps is to help keep it “free of charge”. Oh yes, that’s right. The “It’s free and always will be” philosophy of Facebook (and apparently other companies it owns) has apparently morphed into “It’s free as long as we get our way”.

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New Apple service lets you transfer your iCloud Photos Library to Google Photos

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Apple has launched a new service that lets you automatically transfer your photos, videos and albums from your iCloud Photos library over to Google Photos. Transferring them does not remove them from your iCloud account, but instead sends a copy of them over, allowing you to use your Google Photos storage as a backup for your iCloud.

There are some caveats, though. While the usual .jpg, .png, .webp and .gif files will transfer just fine, along with some raw formats, there are other raw formats that cannot be transferred, along with shared albums, smart albums, photo stream content, live photos and certain metadata.

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PSA: Amazon Photos auto-save might not be auto-saving all of your raw files

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The whole cloud backup thing has been a hot topic for a while now as various services have been simultaneously killing off unlimited storage while others have been bringing it back and trying to outdo each other to win over your business. Amazon Photos is one such service that offers unlimited space as long as you have a prime account – including your raw photos. But it seems it’s not backing up everything – even if you think that it is.

Reddit user /u/somebodytoshove posted to /r/photography noting that the auto-save feature of the Amazon Photos iOS app has not been uploading the .raf files from his Fuji mirrorless camera. It thinks it has, and it looks like it has, but when you look at the uploaded files, they actually contain only the jpg preview.

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Apple has now released ProRAW for the iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max with iOS version 14.3

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I figured it probably wouldn’t be much longer until Apple officially released ProRAW. It popped up in the beta only a few weeks ago, and Adobe already supports it in their new M1 version of Lightroom, so it seemed quite obvious that it’d become available at any moment. Well, now it is. Apple has released iOS 14.3 which provides ProRAW support to the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

What this change is, in reality, is that Apple’s standard iOS camera app lets you shoot DNG raw files now, too. iOS has actually had the ability to capture DNG raw files for a while now, but you were reliant upon 3rd party camera applications like the camera built into the App. Now, it’s native. But also works in conjunction with Apple’s computational photography features.

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Amber X is a privacy-focused in-home cloud storage for your photos you can access anywhere

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With all the goings-on at Google and people looking for alternate cloud storage options, sometimes it’s easier to just be your own cloud. I use Resilio Sync for this, but that does usually mean building up a dedicated PC. The Amber X wants to simplify that process with an inexpensive cloud-storage-in-a-box solution that lets you store your data and retrieve it anywhere.

Amber X is currently running on Indiegogo, where it’s long since passed its goal. It has a couple of days left to go, with pledges starting at $129. But we’ve got you a special link that’ll let you get your hands on one for just $119 – about the same cost you’d pay for a year of Google Photos or iCloud for the same storage, except there’s no subscription with this!

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Sony’s new “Visual Story” app for iOS creates AI-curated galleries for wedding and event photographers

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Sony has launched a new Visual Story app for iOS aimed squarely at wedding and event photographers. Or at least, ones that shoot Sony cameras. It allows for easy editing, gallery creation, cloud storage and web delivery solutions to get your images to your clients as quickly as possible.

Visual Story is a free app for Sony & iOS users. It utilises automated image transfer from compatible Sony mirrorless cameras to the cloud, after which users can instantly edit and deliver digital albums to their clients. And to help you with camera metadata and image selection, it uses AI to help pick your best images.

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The iPhone 12 Pro boasts more dynamic range than the Canon EOS R5 in iOS beta

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Apple recently announced the developer beta for iOS 14.3 which brings with it Apple’s new ProRAW photo feature. iPhones have actually had DNG RAW capabilities since iOS 10, but it’s never offered this capability in the built-in camera app before. You’ve always had to go for third party solutions, like Camera+ or Lightroom.

But now, Apple is implementing it in their own camera app and they’re calling it “ProRAW”. And according to PetaPixel, the cameras within the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will allow it to capture 12-bit DNG files with up to 14-stops of dynamic range. Other than the capabilities of the actual camera module itself, though, I’m not sure what it offers that iPhone users couldn’t do already.

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The Rode VideoMic NTG is now fully compatible with your iPhone or iPad’s lightning port

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The most hotly debated topic I see about iPhones isn’t how good (or bad) the cameras are, but it’s still the fact that they removed the headphone jack, like 5 generations ago. Some have come to terms with it, although it can make things a little difficult for those iPhone filmmakers who want to use external microphones. Well, it’s getting a little easier as of today.

Rode has announced that the Rode VideoMic NTG is now fully compatible with all lightning-equipped iOS devices. The VideoMic NTG is now officially MFi-certified and you just need the new Rode SC15 Type-C USB to Apple Lightning cable (and a firmware update) to make it all work.

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Adobe adds Select Subject feature to Photoshop on iPad

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When Adobe launched Photoshop for iPad, the users were not really pleased with the existing features. Adobe was quick to announce the roadmap of future updates, and the company is fast to deliver them, too. The first update has just brought the AI-powered Select Subject feature to Photoshop on iPad, and there are a few other improvements as well.

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