Google surprisingly brings back Snapseed with major 3.0 update on iPhone

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-component, it seemed like the company was happy to let it linger. The last notable update to Snapseed for iOS was in 2021, with 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 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. 

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 

You still drag left/right to make value adjustments, but you now get an arc-based controller. In certain tools, you can still swipe up/down to access different options. 

It remains to be seen if Snapseed 3.0 update is coming to Android.