Snapseed lives to fight – or should I say edit – another day, after a recent update rolled out to the Play Store for Android devices, according to Android Police.
I’m grateful: The old app, which is owned by Google and has over 100 million downloads, remains one of my favorite free photo editors with some very powerful tools that you simply don’t get with your Android’s camera app device.
Snapseed’s smart tools include a wide range of one-push looks and a handy ‘Selective’ feature that lets you do things like make localized edits, brightening just your subject to make it stand out.
However, it will be difficult to see exactly what’s new in this recent update. There’s a promising lack of AI-powered tools regularly coming to the fore these days in Google’s own Google Photos app, and a slew of AI-powered apps emerging for iOS and Android devices, like Canva.
Google’s own editing app features some useful, but polarizing AI editing tools, such as Magic Eraser – which recently made its way to older handsets – and Best Take.
Since Google bought Snapseed in 2012, there have been few updates. Major updates include the 2017 redesign and a 2023 refresh that made it compatible with Android 13.
And while the latest Snapseed update offers some comfort to regular users that the free editor isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, it feels like the writing is on the wall for one of the most beloved free photo editing apps considering that 2024’s rival apps rely so heavily are on AI.
With the latest update, it’s fair to assume that Google is putting most of its efforts into developing its own Google Photos app, likely future AI-powered tools. What the plans are for Snapseed remains to be seen.
Maybe it’s nostalgia on my part, but I hope I can use my old favorite free editing app for years to come. It remains a powerful editor despite the lack of AI, as you can see in one of my photo edits above. Maybe Google will turn the tide for the editorial veteran and introduce new, powerful tools, but that seems unlikely. Please don’t retire it.