Snapseed: Photo Editor

Photo & Video

7.9~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.8 Google Play·100M+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-10-02

Screenshots

Snapseed camera viewfinder in a bamboo forest with the Film Styles tab and KG1, KE1 and FS1 film-stock presets

Orange banner repeating free of charge, no purchases, no ads, no subscriptions and no watermarks around a street photo

Temple courtyard photo with Save as Look buttons and saved looks named Afternoon Glow, Sunrise and Blue Lagoon

Edit stack over a misty forest photo listing Film, Adjust, Healing, Selective and Crop, with Edit, Mask and Remove options

Pink roses with a loupe sampling a custom color above a hue row running from orange and yellow to green and cyan

About Snapseed: Photo Editor

Snapseed is Google's free photo editor for Android and iOS: 30+ tools, RAW development, film-style looks and a built-in camera, with no ads, subscriptions, in-app purchases or watermarks. Selective places U Point control points for local edits, and every step stays editable in a stack. The catch is the May 2026 redesign, which long-time users blame for a slower workflow, color shifts on export and lost file controls.

App information

DeveloperGoogle LLC

Version4.1.9.986960696 (Android) · 4.1.3 (iOS)

Size133 MB (Android) · 214 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsNo

In-app purchasesNo

Content rating4+

Requires (Android)Android 12+

Requires (iOS)iOS 17.0+

Interface languagesAR, BN, BG, CA, HR, CS + 32 more

Store rating (Google Play)4.8 from 1,836,744 ratings

Installs100M+

Updated by developer2026-09-15

Data checked2026-10-01

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-10-01. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Snapseed Review: Pro Tools at No Cost, a Redesign Many Users Resent

No Ads or Purchases: Where the 30+ Free Tools Stop

Neither Google Play nor the App Store lists an in-app purchase, Play shows no ads label, and saved photos carry no watermark. Masking, RAW Develop, Healing and the camera therefore cost the same as a crop: nothing. There are no layers; Double Exposure, which blends two photos, is the only way to combine images. Resolution is capped too: Google's help page on file size lists 20 megapixels as the largest save on Android, and a September 2026 Play review reports 48- to 200-megapixel photos coming out at about 25.

Selective and the Edit Stack: Local Changes You Can Reopen

Selective comes from Nik Software, whose name survives in the Play package ID, com.niksoftware.snapseed. You tap the photo to place a U Point control point, pinch to resize the area it touches, shown as a red overlay, and change brightness, contrast or saturation only there. Brush adds Dodge & Burn, Exposure, Temperature and Saturation by finger, and Healing removes spots you brush or tap. Every tool you apply joins an edit stack, and each entry offers Edit, Mask and Remove, so a crop or a film look can be changed or dropped later without redoing the steps above it. A finished combination can be saved as a named look and applied to a batch of photos.

The May 2026 Redesign: Camera, Bloom and a Wave of One-Star Reviews

Google rebuilt the interface on May 8, 2026, in version 4.0, expanding Favorites and adding the Bloom and Halation glow tools, according to its App Store release notes. The camera had arrived on iOS that February; it shoots through saved looks or film styles and keeps an editable stack on every capture. The App Store lists 25 releases between February 19 and October 1, the latest adding Motion Blur, which the Android listing does not mention yet. Of 670 Play reviews we read in five languages, all but one posted after the redesign, 95 gave one or two stars, and about half of those blame it: photos must be imported first, export folders and file names are no longer yours to choose, and colors shift on save. None carried a reply from Google.

Free Against Lightroom's $49.99 a Year, Picsart and Google Photos

Adobe's Lightroom FAQ lists masking, the healing brush, batch editing and raw editing as Premium features, and the US App Store sells Premium at $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Picsart's Google Play listing carries a Contains ads label, and its Pro plan costs $15 a month on picsart.com. Google Photos is the closer free rival: since May 2024 its Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and Portrait Light have been free to all users, though Magic Editor stops at 10 saves a month without a Pixel or a 2 TB Google One plan. Snapseed meters none of its tools. Prices are US list prices; they vary by region and can change.

Pros

No ads, subscriptions, in-app purchases or watermarks on either store
Selective places U Point control points for brightness, contrast and saturation
Each edit-stack step offers Edit, Mask and Remove after the fact
Android app opens DNG, ARW, RAF, NEF, CR3, ORF and PEF raw files
Camera shoots through saved looks and keeps an editable stack per capture
Google Play data-safety form declares no data shared with third parties

Cons

About half of the one- and two-star reviews we read blame the May 2026 redesign
Google's help page lists a 20-megapixel save limit on Android
No layers; Double Exposure is the only way to combine two photos
Reviewers report color shifts and stripped GPS data in saved files

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Verdict

We score it 7.9 because the editing core is complete and costs nothing: Selective, the edit stack, Healing, RAW Develop and a camera, with no ads or purchases anywhere. Take it if you edit on your phone and want the local adjustments and raw editing that Lightroom charges $49.99 a year for. Think twice if you depend on full sensor resolution, intact GPS data or the pre-2026 interface, which the May redesign replaced.

Core function8.530+ tools including RAW Develop, Selective, Healing and a camera, but no layers and a documented 20 MP Android ceiling.

Ease of use6.0The May 2026 redesign added an import step and moved tools; it dominates recent one- and two-star Play reviews.

Monetisation10.0Nothing to buy: no subscription, in-app purchase, ads or watermark on Google Play or the App Store.

Performance6.5Reviews since May 2026 report crashes, slow looks and colors that shift on export; fixes ship every week or two.

Privacy & permissions7.5No third-party sharing or tracking declared, but approximate location and device IDs are collected and deletion cannot be requested.

7.9out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Is Snapseed really free with no ads?

Yes. Neither Google Play nor the App Store lists an in-app purchase, Play shows no ads label, and edited photos carry no watermark. Every tool is included, from Selective and Healing to RAW Develop, Halation and the camera. What it lacks, such as layers, is missing outright rather than paywalled.

Can Snapseed edit RAW photos?

Yes. RAW Develop opens with a raw file and adjusts exposure, shadows, highlights, contrast, structure, temperature and tint. The current Android version reads DNG, ARW, RAF, NEF, CR3, ORF and PEF files, and the iOS app widened its raw format list in August 2026. A few Android users still report a message saying raw editing is not supported on their device, so test one file first.

Is there a Snapseed Pro or paid version?

No. There is no Pro tier, subscription or one-time unlock on either store. For comparison, Lightroom puts masking and raw editing behind Premium at $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year on the US App Store, and Picsart Pro costs $15 a month on picsart.com. Those prices vary by region and can change.

Can I undo Snapseed edits after saving a photo?

Yes, as long as the edit stack is kept. Google's 2026 release notes say camera captures keep a full stack after saving, so any step can be changed or reverted later, and the help center describes an Export option that flattens edits into a JPEG for apps that cannot read the stack.

Is Snapseed safe to use and private?

By Google's own declarations, it shares no data with third parties. Google Play's data-safety form also lists encryption in transit and an independent security review, and Apple's privacy label shows no tracking. The app does collect approximate location, device IDs, crash data and app interactions for analytics and app functions, and Play states that you cannot request their deletion.