AI Hug & Photo Enhancer is a photo editing app designed to help you quickly improve your photos using artificial intelligence. I downloaded it from Google Play a few weeks ago because I was looking for a simple tool to make my vacation pictures look more professional without spending hours learning complex software. The app launched recently and is available on both Google Play and the App Store. It has over 500,000 installs on Google Play, which gave me confidence to try it. The best part is that it's completely free to download and install. You don't even need to register or create an account to start using the basic features, which is a huge plus for privacy. While the core app is free, there are some in-app purchases if you want access to the most advanced AI models or to remove ads. I've seen a few banner ads, but they aren't too intrusive during the editing process.

Using the app is straightforward. After you install it, you just open your photo gallery, pick a picture, and choose an enhancement style. The AI does the rest in seconds. My tip is to try the "AI Hug" feature first—it's their signature tool that seems to add warmth and depth to portraits. I use it mostly for selfies and group photos before sharing them on social media. Another simple tip is to not overdo it; sometimes the "Ultra Enhance" option can make skin look a bit unnatural, so I stick with "Natural Enhance" for most of my pictures. The interface is clean, so you're not overwhelmed with sliders and buttons. It feels like having a smart friend who's good at Photoshop right in your pocket.

Compared to other apps in the photo editing genre, like Remini or FaceApp, I find myself choosing AI Hug & Photo Enhancer more often. It's not as hyper-focused on just faces like some others are. It works well on landscapes and pet photos too, which is great for me. While Remini is fantastic for restoring old photos, I think this app is better for everyday touch-ups on new pictures. It's less complicated than Lightroom but gives more impressive results than the basic filters on Instagram. For a free app on Google Play, it really punches above its weight. I keep it installed because it's reliable for a quick fix when I don't have time for a full editing session on my computer.

• 🤖 The core AI enhancement is incredibly fast. You tap once and see a dramatic improvement in clarity and color, much quicker than manually adjusting settings in apps like Snapseed.
• 📸 The "AI Hug" feature for portraits is unique. It subtly improves skin tone and adds a pleasing glow, setting it apart from other enhancers that just sharpen everything.
• 🎨 It offers a good range of style filters powered by AI, not just basic presets. This gives more creative control compared to simpler one-tap apps.
• 🔒 No mandatory login is a major advantage for privacy over many similar apps that require an account before you can even start editing.

• 👍 The one-tap enhance is brilliantly simple and effective, producing better initial results than the auto-fix in Google Photos.
• 👍 Processing speed is excellent. It enhances photos much faster than some other AI photo apps I've tried that make you wait.
• 👍 The free version is very generous. You can do a lot without paying, unlike some competitors that watermark free outputs.
• 👍 It handles different photo types (people, scenery, objects) well, whereas some apps in this genre only work well on faces.

• 👎 The ads can sometimes pop up at inconvenient moments, which is a bit annoying compared to completely ad-free alternatives.
• 👎 The highest quality enhancements are locked behind a paywall, which is common, but the jump in quality is very noticeable.