Best Magnifying Glass App for Android and iPhone
Apple, Google and Samsung each have a free magnifier for their own phones. On any other Android phone, weZoom is free with no ads and nothing to buy.
A magnifier app is the camera with the controls rearranged. Zoom and the torch come first, and you can freeze the picture to read it without holding the phone still. Most phones have one already, so look there before you install anything. Get another app when your phone has none, or when you want something the built-in one lacks, such as high-contrast colours or text read aloud.
We read Apple’s, Google’s and Samsung’s own pages for the built-in tools, then went through the Google Play and App Store listings of the magnifier apps. Of the 15 apps this article listed in 2019, eight can still be matched to a listing.
The magnifier already on your phone
iPhone: Apple’s Magnifier
Apple makes its own Magnifier app. Open it, point the camera at the text and drag the slider to zoom. Apple’s iPhone User Guide and the app’s listing cover the rest: you can freeze the frame without saving a photo, switch on the torch, adjust brightness and contrast, and apply colour filters. If the frame holds text, Magnifier can lay it out in a cleaner reading format or read it aloud. A Detection Mode describes what the camera sees, and on iPhones with Apple Intelligence you can ask it questions about the scene.
Apple’s guide gives three quick ways in. Choose Magnifier under Settings, Accessibility, Accessibility Shortcut and a triple-click of the side button opens it. You can add it to Control Center. On models with an Action button, that button can open it too. If the app is not on your phone, it is a free download from Apple on the App Store.
Google Pixel: Magnifier
Google’s Magnifier is free on Google Play, with no ads and nothing to buy. It only runs on the Pixel 5 and later, and not on the Pixel Tablet.
Google’s help page describes zooming with buttons, a pinch or a swipe, a torch that comes on at its dimmest setting, 11 colour filters, and brightness and contrast controls. A captured image freezes on screen and is deleted when you close the app unless you save it. There is a search box for finding a word on a menu or a departure board, and the front camera gives a 5x mirror. On the Pixel 7 Pro and 8 Pro the zoom reaches 30x.
Samsung Galaxy: Magnifier
Samsung’s accessibility pages list a Magnifier under Settings, Accessibility, Vision enhancements. It zooms in on objects around you and has colour filters, brightness and contrast controls. You can add it to the home screen from the widget menu.
Android’s Magnification is something else
Google’s Android help describes a Magnification setting under Settings, Accessibility. It enlarges what is already on the screen, up to 8x, and you start it with a shortcut such as a triple tap or holding both volume keys. Use it when the text in an app is too small. For a menu or a medicine label you want one of the camera magnifiers on this page.
Magnifier apps compared
| App | Maker | Phones | On the stores | What its listing offers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnifier | Apple | iPhone, iPad | Free | Zoom, torch, colour filters, freeze frame, text read aloud |
| Magnifier | Pixel 5 and later | Free, no ads, no purchases | Zoom, torch, 11 colour filters, text search, mirror | |
| weZoom Magnifying Glass | loviapps | Android | Free, no ads, no purchases | High-contrast colour modes, zoom to 8x, freeze, one-hand use |
| Magnifier | Good Owl Apps | Android | Free, no ads, no purchases | Zoom by slider or volume keys, torch, seven colour modes, large-button layout |
| SuperVision+ Magnifier | Massachusetts Eye and Ear | Android, iPhone | Free, no ads, no purchases | Large buttons, freeze, torch; image stabilisation on iPhone |
| HumanWare explorē Magnifier | HumanWare | Android, iPhone | Free, no ads label, no purchases | Plain zoom with the phone’s light |
| Magnify: Magnifier & Reader | 2Bears Software | Android | Free, no ads, optional in-app purchase | Reads text aloud, works offline, colour filters |
| Magnifier + Flashlight | App2U | Android | Free with ads, in-app purchases | Torch, capture, inverted colours |
| Magnifying Glass + Flashlight | RV AppStudios | Android, iPhone | Free with ads, in-app purchases | High-contrast mode, torch, saves pictures |
| Magnifier & Microscope [Cozy] | HANTORM | Android | Free with ads; the Plus version is paid | Microscope mode, colour filters, freeze, macro photos |
| Magnifying Glass With Light | Falcon In Motion | iPhone, iPad | Free, in-app purchase for Pro | Zoom to 5x, light control, capture; freeze and high contrast in Pro |
| BigMagnify | David Cheng | iPhone, iPad | Free with ads, in-app purchase removes them | Zoom to 8x, freeze, filters, stabilisation, mirror |
Free with no ads
weZoom Magnifying Glass is the one to install on an Android phone that has no magnifier of its own. Its listing says the main goal is to support people with visual impairments. It has colour modes for high contrast, among them black-white, black-yellow and blue-yellow, with an adjustable threshold. Zoom goes up to 8x, and you can freeze the picture and keep zooming into it. A full-screen mode hides the buttons, and the listing suggests pairing it with the volume keys. Google Play shows no ads label and nothing to buy.
Magnifier from Good Owl Apps is the plainer choice. The listing describes a zoom slider, a torch that can switch on at launch, seven colour modes, a freeze button and a large-button layout aimed at older users. It can sit on the home screen as a widget or in Quick Settings as a tile. The listing says it is completely free with no ads, sign-up or account.
SuperVision+ Magnifier is published by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and is free on both stores with nothing to buy. The iPhone listing makes the claim the others do not: live image stabilisation. You press and hold the screen to steady the magnified picture, and you can stabilise only up and down so that you can still move along a line of text. The Android listing is shorter. It promises large buttons, a high-resolution freeze, a torch and no advertisements, and does not mention stabilisation.
HumanWare explorē Magnifier has the shortest listing here: zoom in on text and objects, and use the phone’s light in dark places. It is free on Google Play and the App Store.
Magnify: Magnifier & Reader is for when you would sooner listen. It captures the text in front of the camera, shows it in large type and reads it aloud at a speed you choose. The listing says this runs entirely on the phone with no internet connection, and that nothing is uploaded. It also says there are no ads and no subscription, and that the in-app purchase is an optional way to support the developer.
Free with ads
These do the same basic job with adverts on screen, and each sells an upgrade.
Magnifier + Flashlight from App2U lists a light mode, a capture button and an inverted-colour mode for the visually impaired. Its listing suggests it for soldering small components as well as for reading.
Magnifying Glass + Flashlight from RV AppStudios pitches itself at restaurant menus and prescription bottles. It has a high-contrast mode and saves captured pictures. The Google Play listing gives the zoom as 1x to 5x, and the App Store one as 1x to 10x.
Magnifier & Microscope [Cozy] adds a microscope mode at x2 and x4, four colour filters and volume-key shortcuts for the torch and the shutter. Its listing is candid that this is not a real microscope and that the picture is only as good as your phone’s camera. The paid Plus version removes the ads and adds filters.
Magnifier apps on the App Store
With Apple’s Magnifier on the phone, the App Store apps have little left to add. It already has the torch, the filters, the freeze frame and the reading voice, with no ads. Two of the old names are still there if you prefer them.
Magnifying Glass With Light from Falcon In Motion gives you zoom from 1x to 5x, a light level control, focus lock and image capture for free. Freezing the image, a high-contrast mode and an image stabiliser sit behind an in-app Pro upgrade.
BigMagnify zooms at 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x, freezes the image with a tap, and has invert, sharpen and mono filters plus image stabilisation. The front camera turns it into a magnifying mirror. The listing says the full-screen view comes with the in-app purchase that removes the ads.
Which one to pick
- iPhone: Apple’s Magnifier. Add SuperVision+ if your hands shake and you want its stabilisation.
- Pixel 5 or later: Google’s Magnifier.
- Samsung Galaxy: the Magnifier in the accessibility settings.
- Any other Android phone: weZoom, or the Good Owl Apps magnifier if you want big buttons and a home screen widget.
- Low vision, and plain zoom is not enough: weZoom for its high-contrast colour modes.
- You want the text read out: Apple’s Magnifier on iPhone, Magnify on Android.
- The text on your screen is too small: Android’s Magnification setting. No download needed.
If you want to copy the words instead of reading them, see our guide to OCR apps. For things that are far away, we explain what a phone can and cannot do in binocular apps for Android.
What happened to the old list
Six of the 15 apps from 2019 are in the table above. Two more are still on the stores and we left them out: The Best Magnifier from Zipo Apps on the App Store and Magnifier Camera from JK.Fantasy on Google Play. Both carry ads, and their listings describe the same zoom, torch and freeze as the rest.
Super Magnifier Zoomer, Telescope Microscope Magnifying Glass Simulation and Mega Zoom Real Magnifier Camera no longer turn up when you search Google Play. The other four had names so generic that many apps now share them or come close: Best Magnifying Glass, Magnifying Glass Flashlight PRO, Magnifying Glass – Magnifier and plain Magnifying Glass. We could not tell which ones the old article meant.
Quick answers
Does Apple have a magnifier app?
Yes. It is called Magnifier and it is free. Apple’s guide says you can also open it from Control Center, with a triple-click of the side button, or with the Action button on models that have one.
How do I use my phone as a magnifying glass?
Open the phone’s magnifier, point the camera at the small print and zoom in. That is Magnifier on an iPhone or a Pixel, and the Magnifier under Accessibility, Vision enhancements on a Samsung Galaxy. On other Android phones, install a free app such as weZoom.
Is there a magnifying glass app without ads?
Several. On Google Play, weZoom, the Good Owl Apps magnifier, SuperVision+ and Google’s own Magnifier show no ads label and have nothing to buy. On iPhone, Apple’s Magnifier and SuperVision+ are free with no in-app purchases.
Does Samsung have a magnifier app?
Yes. Samsung lists a Magnifier under Settings, Accessibility, Vision enhancements, and it can be added to the home screen as a widget.
Can a magnifier app read text aloud?
Apple’s Magnifier can read captured text aloud. On Android, Magnify: Magnifier & Reader says it does the same on the phone, with no internet connection.
