# PhotoViva - Paintings from your photos! — user reviews > 165 indexed App Store user reviews of PhotoViva by Lamina Design, rated 4.40/5 from 18 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photoviva-paintings-from-your-photos/id459007515/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photoviva-paintings-from-your-photos/id459007515.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 14 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 1 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 1 ## What do users think of PhotoViva? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🎨 Unique and powerful painterly effects not found in other apps - 👍 User-friendly interface with intuitive controls - 🎯 Versatile tool for both photo editing and painting from scratch - ✨ High-quality, high-resolution output - 🖌️ Realistic and customizable brush dynamics - 💰 Affordable one-time purchase without subscription fees - 🎭 Creative freedom with endless effect combinations - ⚡ Responsive developer who listens to user feedback - 🖼️ Excellent results for transforming ordinary photos into artwork - 🎬 Helpful video tutorials available on developer website **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes and app instability - 💾 High memory consumption and storage requirements - 📱 Poor optimization for modern iPhone screen sizes - ⏱️ Slow performance and freezing issues - 🔧 Steep learning curve for beginners - ❌ No text/lettering feature - 🖼️ Auto-paint feature is ineffective - 📏 Difficult to fill large spaces precisely - 🚫 No layers functionality - ⚠️ Lack of built-in help documentation within app **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes during painting sessions, losing work - Memory usage exceeds 400MB after extended use - Cannot access camera or photo library after app update - App freezes when applying certain effects - Download size doubled in recent update - Performance degradation over time - Liquify filter changed to Mirror & Warp without explanation - Inconsistent behavior on different iOS devices **Most requested features** - Layers functionality for more complex editing - Text and lettering tools - Better brush dynamics and Apple Pencil integration - Smart masking to break images into layers - Gallery feature to save work-in-progress projects - Random brush rotation and size variation options - More brush options (currently limited to 20) - Ability to clone from multiple images - Canvas expansion outside imported image boundaries - Lossless high-resolution export formats - Dedicated eraser tool - Improved interface design - In-app help videos instead of requiring website access - Undo/redo functionality - Long brush stroke capability ## Newest reviews (16 of 165) ### 3/5 — 希望开发者赶快更新 *2019-03-03* 希望赶快更新呀！ ### 2/5 — Paints ok; auto-paint is fail *2018-12-31, version 3.40* The painting part is fine. Unless you’re already a painter I don’t see this doing much - works like you’d expect but you’re painting on top of one of your pics... if you’re not talented then not sure if it’s merits. IMHO it’s nothing special - maybe better on an iPad? The ‘auto-paint’ is a complete waste. ### 3/5 — 不能保存到相册 *2018-10-22* 点了保存 现实保存到相册 但是相册里没有？？？ ### 3/5 — 昂贵的马赛克软件 *2018-08-31* 😂😂😂对我而言😂😂😂 ### 4/5 — 便利 *2017-05-26* 画像から色を抽出してペイント出来るので便利です。写真加工に欠かせません。 ただ、仕方ないといえば仕方ないのですが、画質が荒くなってしまうのだけが残念です… ### 5/5 — 好评 *2017-05-18* 感觉很不错 ### 5/5 — 赞 *2017-05-10* 限免又更新了 真是棒哦 ### 5/5 — 很棒的应用！ *2017-05-05* 感谢限免！ ### 5/5 — 即刻推荐的。非常喜欢 *2017-05-02* 作者加油欧^_^ ### 5/5 — 不怎么懂一些操作啊 *2017-05-02* 那个使用画布和使用照片有什么区别啊? 还有使用完色彩源后，怎么取消这个色彩的选项，使用照片上的颜色来涂抹? ### 5/5 — 几乎忘了还有这个软件 *2017-05-02* 今天又重新安装啦。感谢作者更新。 ### 5/5 — 哇哈哈，竟然免费了 *2017-05-02* 意外的惊喜 ### 5/5 — 可爱！ *2017-05-02* 限免的时候下的，看到开发者说感谢中国那些可爱的用户开心的笑了😄觉得油画效果很赞！ ### 5/5 — 居然更新了 *2017-05-02* 居然更新了，谢谢 ### 5/5 — 更新了 *2017-04-07* 已经适配了64位处理器，Good ### 4/5 — wow =͟͟͞͞(꒪⌓꒪*) *2017-04-07, version 3.40* last updatE : 20 Nov 2014, ver. 3.16 thought this APP was dead. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — 无法保存进相册？ *2019-03-07* 点了保存，显示保存到画布，但是在系统相册中却没有保存成功 ？ ### 1/5 — 唯一好用的是马赛克功能然而美图有免费的 *2017-11-30* 下载过来唯一用处是马赛克 画画完全不好用 然而我发现美图秀秀免费就能有 笔刷也很多 12块钱不值得 而且每次打开还要安装 手机系统还提示安装这个会使手机变慢 我12块钱买个废物啊 还不能退 ### 1/5 — 别下载 *2017-08-31* 这软件没什么用的 ### 1/5 — うむむ。。。 *2017-05-03* iPad mini2 / iOS 10.3.1で、これをインストールして初使用後半日ほど。iPad本体に触れていなくても音量レベルの画面表示が繰り返し表示される。再起動してもダメ。ちなみに設定はミュートです。 本アプリをアンインストールしたら正常になった。 何かしてる？ ### 1/5 — can not add words to pics *2015-06-13, version 3.16* An image processing app that can not add words to pics, how can it be?i bought this for add funny words to my pictures but it just do not have this function. ### 1/5 — Not worth it *2015-03-14, version 3.16* You can't fill in large spaces with out going through a tedious amount of effort and it's very hard to be precise. Microsoft paint is better. ### 1/5 — Don't waste your $$ *2015-01-25, version 3.16* Don't bother with this app, they make it look really cool but it is terrible! ### 1/5 — crap *2014-06-29, version 3.03* crap ### 1/5 — not for portraits *2014-04-14, version 2.45* might look cool for nature pictures but not for portraits. ### 1/5 — Photoviva *2013-11-07, version 2.40* It's great but takes up a lot of storage on iPhone so have had to delete it a few times hence not got it now ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Wish could be updated *2026-01-28, version 3.40* Feels like I’ve been using this app for a decade. And I’m still using this app. Just wish this app could be updated and fit the size of modern iPhone. ### 5/5 — Pretty good *2023-12-13, version 3.40* I’m going through my hundreds of apps to see what’s good and worth keeping, what’s useless or obsolete from Apple’s improvements and even figuring out if some of the one-trick ponies are worthwhile. I’ve been stuck in my ways for awhile: Afterlight for altering small areas (sharpen, blur, saturate, brighten, darken, lighten), Dyed and Afterlight for frames, MarkUp and Afterlight for lettering, PS Express for some enhancements, Gloomlogue for wonderful beyond-basic filter alterations and distortions, Retouch for removing & cloning, Resize for.. yeah that… What I don’t expect is that any one app will do everything. I think it’s strange when someone dings something because it doesn’t do what *they* thought it should do or that they have to pay for it. smh I don’t know how many times reviewers have complained about those. I don’t remember what I paid for PhotoViva but what I’m not paying is rent. I think that’s one reason I’m going through my apps- to find out if I can do everything I want to do now with more to discover but without paying the rent so many developers believe their app is worth. So many apps aren’t worth the expected rent especially when they promise new and glorious updates but they don’t deliver. Instead of complaining I’m celebrating developers who are decent, who let me just buy their app and don’t force me to watch endless *LOUD* ads for ad-filled apps- so thanks guys, ### 5/5 — Não abro mão! *2022-12-27* Já usei PhotoViva muitas vezes e ainda é minha primeira opção quando preciso criar algo mais artístico com uma imagem. Ele é simples, mas fantástico. Espero que nunca saia da App Store, como infelizmente já aconteceu com muitos apps excelentes. ### 5/5 — Great tool in the toolbox! *2021-02-05, version 3.40* I’ve been using this app for a few years and keep coming back to it for its manipulation of color. Fun and effective! I do want better brush dynamics and integration w Apple Pencil, as well as smart masking to break images into layers. Overall awesome App! ### 5/5 — 超级棒，非常喜欢！ *2020-02-20* 希望开发者可以维护下现在还没有支持全面屏 ### 5/5 — 可以更新吗 *2019-02-01* 请适配xr，谢谢🙏 ### 5/5 — 好应用 *2019-01-17* 感谢作者感谢出品这么好的软件 ### 5/5 — アップデートありがとう *2017-12-29* 好き！ 使ってます。 ### 5/5 — Stunning *2017-10-21, version 3.40* This app is deceptively simple. Whilst it advertises itself as a photo editing app, you can create incredible works of art from scratch. I have all the usual art applications but find the brushes in this one so much more realistic. ### 5/5 — aa *2017-07-08* 啊啊啊 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-06.*