Magnifying Glass 1000x Zoom

Some print is just too small. The dose on a medicine label, the serial number on the back of a router, a date stamped into a jar lid, the fine print at the bottom of a form. Magnifying Glass turns your phone into a hand lens so you can read it without hunting for your glasses.

ZOOM FROM 1x TO 100x

Drag the slider and the picture grows. The scale is weighted towards the low end, where most reading actually happens, so the everyday range is easy to land on and you can still push all the way to 100x when you want to look at paper fibre or the weave of a fabric. Pinch to zoom works too, and a double tap drops you straight back to 1x when you get lost up close.

HOLD IT STILL WITH FREEZE

At high magnification the picture shakes with your pulse, and that is what usually stops you reading something. Tap Freeze and the image locks into a still frame. Brace the phone, freeze it, then take your time. It is the difference between chasing a moving picture and simply reading one.

TOOLS MADE FOR READING, NOT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Reading light lays a warm wash over the screen and takes the blue glare off a bright page.

Macro focus parks the lens at its closest focus in a single tap. It is the setting that matters most up close and the most fiddly to reach by hand.

Manual focus hands you a slider when you would rather place the focus yourself.

Brightness rescues a label in shadow or one sitting under glare.

Torch lights up whatever you are holding.

Grid lines help you keep a line of text straight.

Colour filters can lift the contrast on an awkward surface.

Lens style lets you pick the full magnifying glass with its bezel and handle, a slim rim, or no overlay at all.

KEEP WHAT YOU FIND

Take a photo and it saves exactly what the glass was showing you, magnification included, not the plain unzoomed shot. You can record video as well.

Everything you capture goes into the app's own gallery. Pinch to zoom into a saved photo, swipe through your captures, and share or delete them in batches. The gallery only ever lists photos this app took, so nothing else in your camera roll can be caught up in a delete.

LEARN YOUR WAY AROUND A LENS

A field guide walks through what each magnification range is good for and how to hold the phone to get there, from menus and receipts at the low end to fabric weave and insect wings at the top. There is a short quiz on lenses and glass, and a piece of lens history waiting on the home screen each time you open the app.

WHAT IT IS GOOD FOR

Medicine labels and dosage instructions
Serial numbers, model numbers and hallmarks
Splinters, insect bites and skin detail
Restaurant menus in low light
Small print on contracts, warranties and forms
Coins, stamps, jewellery and watch dials
Stitching, circuit boards and other close work
Plants, insects and anything small outdoors

GOOD TO KNOW

Everything runs on your device. There is no account, no sign in, and it works offline.

Some tools depend on your camera hardware. Macro and manual focus need a lens that reports its focus range, and the colour filters on offer vary from phone to phone.

Video records within your camera's own zoom range.

The magnifier keeps the screen awake while it is open, so it will use more battery than an average app. Plug in for a long session.

Point the phone at it and read it.