Google’s Snapseed photo editor has been around for a long time. While it is still a great editing tool that we compared against Adobe’s Lightroom previously, it has never really kept up with the pace of the evolving photo editing market, with the common opinion being that it was abandoned in favour of other projects, like Google Photos. However, Google has said otherwise.
Back in June, Google (to the surprise of many) released the Snapseed 3.0 update for iOS, and has now confirmed that the newest version is coming to Android.
Snapseed finally has some life
At the end of December, Reddit user and Snapseed team member Giles-O shared within the Snapseed subreddit that “we started working on updating Snapseed on Android.” Giles also shared that development began in November and that the update is still a few months away from its release to the public.
The Snapseed 3.0 update on both iPhone and iPad introduced a complete redesign of the photo editor, along with a brand-new icon.
The new interface has an actual homepage that shows the pictures that you have edited in a grid. You can also tap the circular floating action button to open the system image picker. From there, the editor is organized into three tabs: Looks (preset filters with the ability to add your own), Faves (up to four tools can appear here), and Tools (Grid view with access to everything).
In terms of tools, available options include Adjust & Correct (Adjust, Details, Tonality, Curves, White Balance, etc.), Retouch & Transform (Selective, Brush, Healing, Portrait, Crop, Perspective, etc.), Style (Film, Glow, Retrolux, Vintage, etc.), and Creative (Double Exposure, Frames, and Text).
You can also still drag left or right to adjust the value; however, there is now a dial-based controller.
Interestingly, the iOS version of the app recently gained a Snapseed Camera with retro film filters, so this could also be included in the upcoming Android update.
One thing to look out for with this update, set to come in the near future, is whether it will drum up some attention for the app and whether take some users away from Google Photos, which has a built-in photo editor alongside AI editing tools like the widely marketed Magic Eraser.
