Effects Intensity Comes to Photo Editor by Aviary for Android

We're thrilled to announce that today we're bringing effects intensity to Photo Editor by Aviary for Android, v3.4.7. You may recall that last week we released this very same feature in our iOS app, which lets users get the most out of our powerful effects by tweaking them to a specific strength. It's an incredibly simple and easy to use feature that adds a ton of value to our most popular tool.

To adjust the intensity of the effect, all you have to do is slide your finger up or down on your photo while you have an effect selected. This will bring up an intensity slider that fills and empties as you slide, indicating the strength of the effect. It's that simple.

This update also includes some important bug fixes and other optimizations. Please let us know what you think on Twitter. We hope you love it!

Want to get these updates in your inbox? Sign up here!

Aviary for Android Beta Test

We're excited to announce our new Aviary for Android Beta Testers Google+ community! If you're an Android user and interested in gaining early access to new builds (and letting us know what you think), we'd love you to join. Follow the steps below to opt into the program:

1) Join the Aviary for Android Beta Testers Google group here (note: make sure you join using the same email you use to access Google Play).

2) Click here, then click Become a Tester to allow beta downloads (note: you'll need to be a member of the Google+ community first before you can complete this step).

3) Download Aviary from the Google Play store to update your app to the latest beta version.

Once a beta tester, you'll begin to receive updates automatically as they're released. Simply use Aviary like you normally would and tell us about your experience. You can leave us feedback in the Google+ community by clicking here, then submitting a post using the "Share what's new…" box at the top of the page.

As a beta tester, some of the updates you'll receive may seem small, but from a coding perspective they're huge. We're in the process of revamping the back end of the app to improve stability and to set the stage to be able to bring you exciting new features later on. For this reason, your feedback on both functionality and performance is extremely valuable. The more feedback we receive, the better Aviary for Android will be!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free as always to email us at support@aviary.com. Otherwise, we hope to see you in the beta community!

Mobile Partner Spotlight: HeyWire

Heywire-Logo_Official_no-tagline

As the world of messaging apps continue to grow, many are looking to innovate and add new features to keep them ahead of the trend. Today, we are excited to announce our latest partnership with HeyWire, a free messaging app for users all over the world!

With over 5 million downloads, they continue to grow and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Don't have a phone number? No problem. Heywire gives you a  free,*real* US phone number for texting your friends and family. You can also text them from the web by logging in at heywire.com with your HeyWire number. Here are 10 other reasons why HeyWire is the messaging app for you.

Their latest update on both iOS and Android includes Aviary's embeddable and customizable mobile editor! Users on both platforms now have the ability to instantly add a creative touch to their photos using our Effects, Stickers, Meme Tool, Draw tool, and more.

Heywire_blog_screenshots

They've also enabled our White-Label Premium Add-On, which removes the Aviary branding to make the overall experience completely seamless. You can learn more about our Premium Add-ons here, or if you’d like to add them to your own app, feel free to give us a shout!

Download HeyWire and check out the new Aviary editor here:

google-play

app-store

Want to get these updates in your inbox? Sign up here!

Aviary Android SDK 3.0 Now Available

Photo Editor for Android

Today we're bringing all of the awesome changes we introduced last week in our Android Showcase App to our new SDK, version 3.0. In case you missed it, these changes included a beautiful redesigned interface and some important new features for both users and developers.

To recap, this huge update included a sleek, streamlined interface that's optimized to highlight photos (the most important part of the experience) by switching over to a darker theme and reducing padding throughout the editor. We also drastically improved the ever-popular Enhance tool by adding a new Hi-Def feature that sharply smartens and defines, an Illuminate function that's great for improving poorly-lit photos, and renaming Balance to Color Fix, which performs incredible color correction to photos. Plus, the Text Tool now finally supports multiline text editing!

Also, like all SDK releases, 3.0 includes many under-the-hood tweaks and improvements, including support for a whopping 30 Megapixels (for Premium Partners) and a 10% reduction in SDK bundle size. That reduction means a smaller file size for app developers, and less precious hard disk space taken up on users' devices (your users will thank you for that one).

Visit our website to check out the nitty gritty in the official changelog and to get your hands on the SDK. Already up and running with 3.0 and have some feedback? Let us know what you think by hitting us up on Twitter!

Big Update: Aviary Releases Version 3.0 of Android App

Photo Editor for Android

Today we're introducing Version 3.0 of Photo Editor by Aviary for Android. This is a gigantic update - our biggest for Android, ever! It features a beautifully redesigned interface that’s faster, easier to use, and a lot of fun.

We blogged recently about 100% growth in the Aviary partner network in 2013. Similarly, Aviary’s own-brand Photo Editor apps have seen a surge in installs this year. We now have more than 11 Million Monthly Active Users across our own-brand iOS, Android and Windows apps, with over 50% on Android. That's up from just over 30% in January - making Android by far and away our fastest growing platform. So we're thrilled to introduce an all-new version of the app today. Here are a few of the great improvements we've made:

• Sleek, Streamlined Interface – First and foremost, the user interface has been completely redesigned, and it's beautiful. The main editor toolbar now scrolls instead of paging, making it way easier to find all of the Editor's great tools. We've also gone to great lengths to highlight the most important part of the Editor - your photos - by switching over to a dark theme and reducing padding.
• Improved Enhance Tool – Enhance, has been…enhanced! This incredibly popular tool now has three great settings: Hi-Def, Illuminate, and Color Fix. Hi-Def smartly sharpens, adjusts contrast, and brings out the best parts of your photo, while Illuminate makes poor-lit photos look like they were taken in great lighting. Color Fix (previously called Balance) does intelligent color correction and works beautifully.

• Beautiful Filters – One of the awesome things about our Android Showcase App is that you can customize your version of the app by installing content packs. You can add incredible Filter packs for even greater flexibility and additional editing options. With today's new Android release, we're introducing the Woodland Effects Pack, perfect for outdoor photos. This pack has been a big hit on iOS, and we think our Android users are also going to love using it this summer.
• Super Fun Stickers – Users love taking advantage of our stickers to add fun, creativity, and surrealism to their photos. Like Filters, users can install new sticker packs through our in-app store. Packs like Space, Mustaches, and Hats have been incredibly popular, and we’re adding new stickers all the time.

• Improved Focus Tool – Focus helps draw attention to the subject of a photo by defining the photo’s focal point and blurring out background objects. We've modified the User Experience so it’s easier to use, and more fun to play with. We bet a lot of you are going to be making miniature-looking photos these next few days ;)
• Color Splash – Our awesome ‘Splash’ tool strips out color from your photo, then lets you paint it back in a super fun way. The Smart Color brush intelligently limits splash to the color of your choice, while the Free Color brush lets you just go nuts and color in whatever you want. It’s one of our favorite tools, so check it out.

• Reduced Bundle Size – We've reduced the file size of the editor by over 10%, which means it's quicker to download and takes up less, precious space on your device.

And there are all sorts of other little tweaks and improvements going on underneath the hood, which makes for a faster, more stable, and all around better app. So check it out and get editing some photos! Want to show off your work or let us know what you think? Hit us up on Twitter to get in touch. Happy editing!

iOS users: we didn’t leave you out! A brand new version of Photo Editor is also available for iPhone, iPad, and iPad Touch in the App Store.

Aviary's New Android Showcase App is Here

Focus

Today we're announcing version 2.4 of our Showcase App for Android, which introduces a brand new tool and improves a few existing favorites. Go ahead and grab it from the Google Play Store to check it out.

The first thing you'll notice about 2.4 is the new Focus tool. This has been one of our most requested features for a while now so we're excited to finally be able to offer it in our Showcase App. Focus is our take on a tilt shift tool, which selectively adds a circular or rectangular blur to any photo. This is perfect for drawing attention to a particular part of a photo or going for the classic tilt shift effect that turns photos into miniature-looking scenes. Tried the tool and have some feedback? Let us know. We use this Showcase App as a vehicle for testing out new features before releasing them to the thousands of developers who use our photo editing SDK, so your feedback is incredibly valuable.

We also updated the incredibly popular Splash tool to make it way easier to use. It's now even better at selectively adding color back into any photo. Lastly, we've reworked the Effects tool under the hood to be faster. We've got a lot of great new effects coming soon, so be on the lookout. Just click the 'Get More' button inside the Effects tool to see whats available.

Have you tried 2.4 yet? The brand new Focus tool? Hit us up on Twitter to show off your work!

A Splash of Color in Aviary's Android Photo Editor

Splash

Today we're introducing a new feature in the latest version of our Android Showcase app: color splash. We're incredibly excited about this, and once you take it for a spin, we think you will be too.

Our Splash tool allows you to strip all color from any photo, then magically add it back to any part of the image. It comes with two brush choices: Smart and Free. The Smart brush intelligently looks at the color you want to add back in, and only fills in parts of the image that are similar in color. The Free brush, on the other hand, is a total free-for-all and perfect if you just want to go nuts. It lets you re-color any part of the photo regardless of the hue. Also, don't worry about messing up: if you make a mistake with either brush, you can always undo it with the built-in eraser.

Also in this version of the Android Showcase: new stickers! Our Space sticker pack was such a hit that we've added more of 'em in a new pack we're calling Galaxy. This one has nebulae, bursts, stars, crazy-looking lines, and other fun space stuff. Check it out.

Have you tried out Splash yet? Make some really cool images with it? If so, use the #aviary hashtag to share them with us on Twitter.

Happy Monday!

More Android Action from Aviary: New Effects and Frames in SDK 2.2.1

Aviary's Brand New Effects

In the spirit of keeping things moving in 2013, we have yet another Android announcement: version 2.2.1 of our Android SDK has been released. This is a massive update, and if you're an Android developer thats using Aviary's SDK to bring beautiful photo editing functionality to your users, you want to get your hands on this.

Let us fill you in on what we've added. To start, we've completely reworked the Effects tool. We found that users didn't care about effects categories, they just wanted to get right into the actual effects and start adding them to their photos.  So we removed the effects canister screen, completely eliminating a step from the process. We also redesigned the 12 default effects that come with the tool to be more subtle and just generally way more usable.  We tested this change in our Showcase app back in December and saw a massive spike in usage, so we're confident your users are going to love this. Make sure you check out the Avenue, Cruz, and Clyde effects - our users have really been digging these.

Aviary's Antique Frame

We've also added a brand new Frames tool. Users were tired of being forced to use certain frames with certain effects, so we pulled the two apart and gave Frames its own tool. To start, the tool features 12 beautiful frames, and we'll be adding more all the time. So far, the Antique, Splatter, and Grit frames have all been the most popular in our Showcase app.

Lastly, we've taken care of some necessary business with this release, cleaning up an Orientation tool bug, adding support for x86, and changing the way you need to pass your API-KEY to the SDK (definitely consult README.MD for more info on this one).

Have you implemented version 2.2.1 into your own app? What do you think of the new effects and frames? Let us know in the comments below.

Android Love from Aviary to Kick Off 2013

Photo Editor By Aviary for Android - Orientation Tool

Good news: we just pushed out a brand new version of Photo Editor by Aviary for Android. It's our first release of 2013, and you can grab it now from Google Play for free.

This new release updates a few of our favorite features, and addresses a number of annoying bugs. The Meme Tool, Text Tool, and Orientation Tool have all been updated to resolve some minor issues. Meanwhile, the Output Folder Setting (this is what allows users to choose where we save their photos) now operates as advertised again (ahem!).

We think of the Aviary-branded apps, both for iOS and Android, as our "Showcase Apps" - because they showcase all the great things our developer partners can offer their users when they work with Aviary. This includes our beautiful effects, one-click photo enhance, super-fun stickers, crop, draw, and more - you name it, we’ve probably got a tool for it.

Releasing new versions of our Aviary Showcase Apps means we get to test drive updates to these awesome tools and any new features with millions of photo-obsessed users. This allows us to gather real-life user feedback, prove (or disprove) some of our hypothesis and, occasionally, iron out any wrinkles before delivering technology to our developer partners via our SDK.

If you’ve checked out Photo Editor and would like to give us some feedback, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to know what you think!

Introducing the official Aviary mobile app

blog_header

Since we released our mobile SDKs (currently available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7), we've received overwhelmingly positive feedback from partners and users alike: everyone loves the convenience of being able to use Aviary within their favorite mobile apps! That said, we still heard from a lot of people who wished they could occasionally use it as a standalone photo editing app on their phone.

Aviary's focus is on supporting developers, and the photo editor we're releasing today is intended to be a quick and easy way for developers to evaluate our product before integrating it into their own app, while giving us a way to quickly test new tools and features before releasing them in our SDK.  As it turns out, it's also a great photo editor that we think consumers will really enjoy.

So, today we're happy to announce that the official Aviary mobile app is now available as a free download for both iPhone and Android! (Windows Phone 7 app coming soon.)

available-on-the-app-store

android_app_on_play_large

*Note: If you're already using our Android plugin, there's no need to install the new app. Just update Aviary on your device and you'll have all the new features! You'll still be able to share to Aviary from other apps, but now you can launch it as a standalone app as well.

Beyond the editor features you probably already know and love (lightning fast editing, a super intuitive interface, one-tap auto enhance, beautiful effects, all the tools you need in the palm of your hand), we've thrown in a couple extras to show off what Aviary can do:

• Scroll through your recent photos in a cover photo-like view from the home screen. (It's way faster and more satisfying than your phone's default gallery view.)
• Adjust settings to customize and rearrange the order of the tools in the editor. If you're a developer, this will help you get a sense for how easy it is to customize our tool list in your app. Or if you just love Aviary's text tool and use it all the time, you can move it to the first page of the editor so you can get to it with just one tap.

press_screen

You can install Aviary from the App Storeor from Google Play. Have fun, and don't forget to let us know what you think! You can submit feature requests here, or reach out to us directly at contact@aviary.com.