Applications Reviews – SnapTax, Gelo

|    Hayley Tsukayama, The Washington Post   |

Snaptax

TAXES in 10 minutes, but don’t procrastinate.

Taxes in 10 minutes? That’s the promise of SnapTax, an app from Intuit that lets users take a smartphone photo of their W-2 and fill in the paperwork from there. It’s an enticing promise for those with the simplest tax needs, but there are a few things to note before deciding you can use this tool to put off your taxes until the night of April 14.

For one, as with many photo-recognition features, the photo-to-text transfer isn’t perfect. It works surprisingly well – and you can input your info by keyboard, too – but you will likely have to make corrections, which are significant given that these are tax forms. Check them carefully. This is also an app for the simplest filers, so it’s probably not the best tool if you have a side business or contracting work to note on your forms. Finally, while the app is free to use, actually filing taxes will cost $25 deducted from your iTunes or Google Play account.

Gelo

GIVE your photos an extra pop of colour.

Well, it’s one way to make your life more colourful. Gelo, a photo app for the iPhone, gives users an easy way to add the effect of bright, vibrant gels to your digital snapshots to give them a little extra pop. The app itself is a little complicated to get into, but users can make some pretty cool effects once they puzzle through the controls. It’s certainly a great app for those who like to play with colour, but not an essential photo tool for your editing arsenal. And don’t worry: If you get carried away, you can revert your photo to its original state. 99 cents, for iOS devices.