Google today surprisingly released a major 3.0 update for Snapseed that entirely redesigns the photo editing app on iPhone and iPad.
Given the lack of major updates in several years, it seemed that Google abandoned Snapseed. Since the app worked locally and has no server-side component, it seemed like the company was happy to let the beloved editor linger. The last notable update to Snapseed for iOS was in 2021, with very minor updates in 2023 and 2024.
Google today released version 3.0.0 of Snapseed, while noting how “some new things [are] sprouting around here.” There’s also a simplified app icon:
Old vs. new
There’s a brand new interface that shows photos you’ve edited in a grid. To start editing, tap the circular ‘plus’ FAB (floating action button) at the bottom of your screen.
Top comment by James Symmonds
And since most people probably won't read nested replies: Snapseed was originally an iOS only app made by Nik. People kept pestering Nik to make an Android version but they kept putting it off. Sooo Google bought it. Google buying Nik was one of the good things old Google did. Not only did they make it so Snapseed was available on Android, they also made it free. It used to be $10 on iOS which was seen as an insane price for an app then. They also brought down the price on Nik's computer photo editing software suite. Sadly, that ended using Nik's know how in Nikon's RAW editing software which was pretty cutting edge at the time.
The editor is organized into three tabs: Looks, Faves (new), and Tools. Export has moved to the top-right corner. That middle tab lets you save tools for quick access, while everything is available from that last tab. Available tools include:
- Adjust & Correct: Adjust, Details, Tonality, Curves, White Balance, Lens Blur, Vignette
- Retouch & Transform: Selective, Brush, Healing, Portrait, Crop, Perspective, Expand, Head Pose
- Style: Film (new), Glow, Retrolux, Vintage, Black & White, HDR Scape, Drama, Noir, Grunge
- Creative: Double Exposure, Frames, and Text
Original interface
As always, you drag left/right to make value adjustments, but you now get an arc-based controller at the bottom. In certain tools, you can still swipe up/down to access different options.
There’s also a “More to come, stay tuned” teaser. It remains to be seen if this Snapseed 3.0 update is coming to Android.
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