By Graham K. Rogers

Over the weekend I saw an interesting update to one of my current favourite apps for the Mac and iOS: Polarr. The iOS update added a feature of importing and sharing filters using the QR Code, a solution I have been a promoter of for a couple of years.

A couple of changers were made within the app with the way filters are organised and with how adjustments made by the user can be saved as filters. There may be a particular effect one likes, or a particular lighting situation that needs the same tools to be applied regularly to images. These can be saved as a user-generated filter, so can be used over and over without the need to remember which effects (and how much) were used.

These saved filters may be shared with other users with QR-codes and (likewise) effects created by others may be imported. The problem for me on this is that it needs a user to create a userID and sign in. I avoid this whenever I can, so did not have the opportunity to check this out. This of course may suit some.

Nonetheless, being able to save one's own adjustments as a filter - a number of other apps allow this - is a plus point and adds to this nice app.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.