Photo guides

Apps that help someone else take your photo

If the problem is the person holding your phone, a few apps try to help. They work in quite different ways.

By Goodside · 23 October 2026 · 6 minute read

We make Goodside, one of the apps below, so read this with that in mind. We've described the others from their own App Store listings as of October 2026, and said what each one is good for. App features and prices change, so check the listing before you subscribe to anything.

What to look for

Apps in this space solve different problems, so it helps to know which one you have.

• Is the guidance live, on the camera while the photo is being taken, or feedback afterwards?
• Who is it for: you taking photos of yourself, you photographing someone else, or someone else photographing you?
• Does it guide the framing (where you are in the photo) or the pose (what your body does)?
• Where do your photos go? Some apps analyse photos on a server, which may matter to you.

The built-in iPhone Camera

Before downloading anything, turn on the tools you already have. In the Settings app under Camera, switch on Grid and Level. The grid gives the person taking your photo lines to line you up with, and the level line turns yellow when the phone is straight. The timer, in the camera controls, covers photos when nobody's around.

What it doesn't do is tell anyone where you should be. The grid is the same for every photo, so it's down to you to explain which line your head goes on. It's free, and if you pair it with clear instructions it gets you a long way. Our guide on what to tell someone covers the instructions.

Posera

Posera, from Homer Street Labs, lets you import a photo you like and lay it over the live camera, so you can match its pose, angle and framing. It also has collections of pose ideas by occasion. Its listing says it works for selfies, with the self timer, or when a friend takes your picture. It's free to download, with a paid subscription for some features.

Good for: copying a specific photo closely, including the pose. A full photo overlay is a lot to look at, though, and the person holding the phone has to match it by eye while you're moving.

Acamera

Acamera is an AI photo coach that gives real-time advice as you shoot: composition prompts, pose direction, scene recognition and exposure fixes, with style and pose advice read aloud. It supports voice commands and includes film filters. It's free to download, and subscriptions set a monthly number of AI coaching sessions. Its listing doesn't say whether analysis runs on the phone or on a server. Its App Store privacy label lists photos or videos among the data it collects.

Good for: someone who wants a talking coach for their own photography, including selfies and scenes, not just photos of a person.

PhotoMentor

PhotoMentor, from Vumoa LLC, gives your photos an AI score and feedback on lighting, composition, framing and sharpness, and offers guided poses for selfies and portraits. It's free to download, with weekly, monthly and yearly subscriptions. Its App Store privacy label lists photos or videos among data linked to you.

Good for: learning from photos you've already taken. Most of the feedback arrives after the shot, so it helps more with the next photo than with this one.

Goodside

Goodside is built for one situation: you hand your phone to someone else, and they need to know where you go in the photo. Before handing it over, you choose a framing. That can be a shot type (full body, mid body or seated), one of 127 ready-made framings set in places like beaches, cafes, hotels and city streets, or a photo of your own, where you drag two marks to set the framing. The person holding the phone sees two marks on the camera, "Top of head" and where the photo ends (feet, waist or table edge), lines you up with them and taps the shutter.

It guides framing, not pose, so what you do in the photo stays up to you. Everything runs on the phone, and no photo, camera frame or reference image leaves it. It has a 7-day free trial, then a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime unlock.

Good for: getting the framing you want from a partner, friend or stranger, without explaining it. Not for: posing ideas, editing, or feedback on photos you've already taken.

Which one should you use?

• You want to copy a specific photo exactly, pose and all: Posera.
• You want a coach talking you through your own photography: Acamera.
• You want feedback on photos you've taken: PhotoMentor.
• You want the person holding your phone to frame you the way you chose: Goodside.
• You don't want another app: the built-in Camera with Grid and Level on, plus clear instructions.