At this point, you might be asking why you'd want to download more software when you can just use the built-in and free iOS Camera app. Third-party apps offer manual controls and advanced tools and features that you'd typically find only in a dedicated digital SLR. You can manually adjust the exposure and focus to override the automatic settings. You can fine-tune the exposure by setting the white balancing, tweaking the ISO number, and varying the shutter speed. Some apps provide an on-screen histogram so you can better eyeball your exposure settings. You can line up your shots with gridlines and straighten them with a leveling feature. You can choose a specific image format, such as JPG, TIF or RAW. You can tap into special shooting modes, including slow shutter, burst mode and time lapse. Many apps go a few steps further by providing creative filters, cool frames and detailed metadata on each shot.

But why not just fine-tune your iPhone photos after the fact by using a good editing app? That's always an option. But a dedicated camera app helps you control and perfect your photos as you snap them so you don't have to spend time in an editing app. Plus, certain mistakes and weaknesses in a photo can't easily be fixed in the editing room. Still, many camera apps include their own built-in editors if you need to tweak your photos after you've snapped them.

The features and options offered by third-party camera apps vary depending on your model iPhone. This software can help you take advantage of the dual lenses found in the iPhone X, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus. They can also tap into the Portrait Mode available on these iPhones to better highlight a foreground subject.

As the sequel to the original Camera+ app (which is still around), the $2.99 Camera+ 2 tries to outdo its predecessor with more convenient controls, updated filters, an integrated lightbox and simpler ways to switch camera modes. The app offers a friendly home screen with all the major controls easily accessible. With just a tap, you can jump into macro view or portrait mode. You can bounce between telephoto and wide angle. An on-screen slider lets you easily zoom in and out. You can change the aspect ratio from portrait to square to landscape. And you can opt to save a photo in RAW format. Other handy settings include gridlines, a leveler and geotagging.

Tap the screen with two fingers to adjust the exposure and focus separately with two different controls. From here, you can set the white balancing, adjust the shutter speed and change the ISO. Camera+ 2 offers some cool shooting modes, including Smile to detect when your subject is smiling, Stabilizer to shoot only when your hands are steady, Slow Shutter for long exposures and Burst to snap a series of shots to score the best one.