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Snapseed’s next update could pack three major new features
Snapseed could finally get Color Grading alongside two other features photographers will love.
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Akshay Gangwar / Android Authority
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- While digging into the latest version of Snapseed, we found that the app has several major features in development.
- Google appears to be working on color grading tools, built-in RAW (DNG) photo capture, and a collage editor for Snapseed.
Snapseed has been picking up new features at a steady pace lately. Just this month, Google rolled out new camera tools, support for additional RAW formats, and two new Camera Settings toggles for geotagging and saving original photos. Now, we’ve discovered even bigger feature additions are on the way.
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Snapseed is working on a full-fledged color grading tool
We dug into Snapseed v4.1.3.955449878 and found several hidden features still under development.
One of the biggest additions we spotted is a “Color Grading” tool. Interestingly, this comes just days after a Snapseed developer asked Reddit users for feedback on adding color grading to the app.
Color grading can be used in photo and video editing to create a specific mood or cinematic look by adjusting colors across different tones.
Our screenshots show that Snapseed’s implementation will let you adjust Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights individually, or apply changes globally to the entire image. Users can select colors using a color wheel and fine-tune several parameters, including:
- Hue
- Saturation
- Luminance
- Softness
- Range
The in-app help text explains that users can also double-tap the color wheel to quickly reset the selected color back to neutral.
This is certainly Snapseed’s most advanced editing tools yet, and could be a big hit with the app’s users.
RAW (DNG) photo capture could also be on the way
We also found evidence that Snapseed is preparing to let users capture photos directly in RAW (DNG) format. This appears to be separate from the app’s existing ability to edit RAW images.
The help text we found says RAW mode preserves all sensor data while bypassing the camera’s usual color and gamma processing. Snapseed would also generate a minimally processed JPEG alongside the RAW file.
Code strings from the app’s help section reveal a few additional details:
- Exposure: Captured exposure may differ from the live preview, which is gamma-corrected for visibility.
- Re-editing: “Capture original for re-editing” is automatically enabled. If you apply filters, the original is saved in DNG format and the styled image in JPEG format.
- Selfies: Front-camera captures are not mirrored, preserving the exact pixels directly from the sensor.
- Zoom: Pinch-to-zoom is not supported. Capture is limited to physical lens ratios (ultrawide, main, telephoto) and a 2x crop of the main lens.
- Natural Look: Preserves the natural, unprocessed appearance of RAW data (bypassing default color and gamma corrections) in a compatible JPEG format.
The app also appears to be preparing a menu that lets users choose between standard JPEG capture and RAW (DNG) capture.
A collage editor with layers is in development
Lastly, Snapseed also seems to be working on a dedicated collage creation feature.
Based on the strings we found, users will be able to create collages using multiple canvas aspect ratios, including 1:1, 4:5, 16:9, 9:16, and several others. There are also options to toggle canvas orientation, change the background, crop images, and swap their positions.
<string name="collage_canvas_background">Background</string><string name="collage_crop">Crop</string><string name="collage_swap">Swap</string>The feature also appears to support layers, allowing users to add images, stickers, text, and other content blocks.
<string name="collage_layers">Layers</string><string name="collage_new_layer_title">New Layer</string><string name="collage_layer_block">Block</string><string name="collage_layer_image">Image</string><string name="collage_layer_sticker">Sticker</string><string name="collage_layer_text">Text</string>The strings also mention collage projects, suggesting users will be able to save unfinished work, reopen projects later, reset them, or save copies before making further edits.
<string name="collage_load_error_message">An error occurred while loading this collage project.</string><string name="collage_reset">Reset</string><string name="collage_save_as_copy_description">Create a copy of your collage project.</string><string name="collage_save_description">Update your existing collage project.</string>These features are currently in the works, so there’s no guarantee they’ll ship or when they might arrive. However, Snapseed’s recent spate of updates suggests Google is investing in making the photo editor significantly more capable than it has been in years.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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