Applications

After trying dozens of photographic applications, my favorite is one that is more than 9 years old: Snapseed

Despite the enormous possibilities of having a machine with the level of sophistication of a mobile phone in your pocket, I confess that for me the greatest power has always been the photographic. From the first smartphone that I had, I have always sought to obtain, at least, better cameras at the cost of sacrificing power, sometimes autonomy.

I am referring specifically to smartphones because before them I could not edit photos on my mobile and had to go to an external device, but that has been the case for a long time. Since my first HTC Hero I have edited my photographs on my mobile, and since then I have tried dozens and dozens of apps in search of the one that best suits what I am looking for, and for several years now I can say, without a doubt or fear of being wrong, what my favorite in almost every aspect of them all is Snapseed.

I have tried many, many, and I prefer Snapseed

As I said, during the years that I have been in the Android world I have been able to test a large number of mobile photo editors and, of course, all the bets of the giants. Keep in mind that in Android we have heavyweights such as Adobe’s proposals, which has adapted both its Photoshop (in the form of Photoshop Express and the occasional iteration) and its Lightroom.

I have also tried payment proposals that now lie forgotten in my application library of my Google Play Store, and I have even been trying other different apps such as those that allow you to add effects and other more crazy ones. At the end of it all, what has won me over is the simplicity and power of Snapseed, an application that is and has always been free and that I believe has never been given the great credit it deserves.

It is fair to admit that for some time I was a member of the VSCO team, mainly because their presets they are really delicious and they have come very close to the experience I have always had with the Lightroom on my personal computer, but finally I have bet everything on Snapseed. The reason is that it is one of the most complete apps that we can have on our mobile for photo editing.

Dark Snapseed

With Snapseed you get the basic functions such as level adjustments, the ability to adapt brightness and contrast or lighting curves. Functions, as I said, basic that join others such as cropping and rotating, such as white balance. We also have presets in Snapseed, don’t believe, and under the tab “Designs” we find them all. But the potential of the app is in Tools, in the manual settings.

It is in this tab where we find all the basic settings, which are also usually divided into other minor settings when we are already in the editing window. We also have the stain remover, a tool based on artificial intelligence that works really well given its own limitations, and that handled with care (and some experience) can help us clean photographs in a spectacular way.

Raw

And of course, with Snapseed we can also edit photos in RAW format. My colleague Cosmos commented years ago that “for many, Snapseed is the best professional photo editor currently available for our mobile devices” and I go further, I consider that it continues to be so to this day, more than 6 years later and after supporting the irruption of the true giants of the sector.

The app was independent and was bought by Google years ago, strengthened since then and my main app for quite some time. But not only on Android, be careful, it is also on the iPad and that is saying a lot. And the best of all for those who dare to try it? That it is completely free. If this personal reflection helps you discover Snapseed, it will have served a purpose.

Snapseed

Snapseed

  • Developer: Google LLC
  • Download it at: Google play
  • Download it at: App Store
  • Price: Free
  • Category: Photography

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