33:37
Well, my friends, if you've been following Android news, you would know that Snapseed for Android has finally gotten their major Snapseed 4.0 update. As an Android user, I've been waiting for this for quite some time. I'm sure you already know by now. The iOS version got a huge overhaul almost a year ago, plus a handful of new features. Meanwhile, the last major update for the Android version was all the way back in 2015, so more than 10 years ago, which really made me feel a little salty. I'm not going to lie, like Android was being abandoned in this aspect, to put it politely. Luckily for you, that is not the case. And thankfully, I've been spending the past week or two using the
new Snapseed update. And I want to give you a quick rundown on what's new and whether it's actually worth your time. And of course, if you appreciate premium Android content like this, stick around and subscribe to the 9to5 Google YouTube channel because we have a lot more of it coming your way. So, first things first, let me give you a quick tour. What you see here is Snapseed version 4.0. And there's actually a lot to go over. One of the first things you'll see when opening the app is an updated splash screen previewing the new user interface. And it actually names off a lot of new additions that we're going to cover anyway. Starting with the home screen, you now have an updated photo
grid showing your full gallery and your edited images. Personally, I absolutely love the look of this. It feels very fresh and modern, tastefully adapted for what Android is today. In the top right, you can filter your images by date, last modified, or oldest to newest. And there's a new option to expand the layout to fill the whole screen, and it makes the photos a bit bigger and easier to see while ultimately again still looking great. Something cool to note here is a new feature called batch editing. You can press and hold on any image, copy its style, and then tap other images to paste it. When you do, you get an aesthetic looking home screen and a satisfying little animation when the task is complete. really useful if
you're trying to keep a consistent look across a set of photos. Otherwise, you can tap any individual image to jump right into the editor. And this is where it still feels familiar, and they didn't really reinvent the wheel here, which I think is a good thing. You've still got your looks, tools, and export tab at the bottom, plus a customizable toolbar where you can pin your mostused tools for quick access. The look section still has all the classic filters if you use Snapseed in the past, plus new film inspired looks based on iconic stocks from Kodak and Polaroid as a few examples. In here, you can also access your own custom-made looks that you've created and then saved here or your most
recent edit for convenience. Tools is where you're going to be doing your actual editing. Business as usual, but this screen has been revamped a bit. It's more organized, it's easier to read, and now has category tabs to help you find what you need faster. The editing flow itself is still the same as you remember it. You select a tool, drag left or right to adjust the value, and up or down to switch between options. To me, it still feels very intuitive, and I'm glad that they kept this very comfortable, classic style of editing.
It is worth calling out. Non-destructive editing is now here, meaning that you can go back and re-edit a photo while your full edit stack is preserved. Absolutely huge if you like to revisit or re-edit certain aspects of your work. Maybe there was something you wanted to fine-tune. You can easily go back. When it comes to updates and functionality, the mask, portrait, and crop options are existing tools that have been meaningfully improved. Mask in particular is a lot easier to work with now. It just seems simpler to understand and has a better flow. So, definitely mess around with it. Crop and rotate have also been unified into a single
tool now, which just makes sense for simplicity. And then there are some effects that are actually new here. We have dehaze for removing haze or smog. Color for tuning the hue, saturation, and luminescence of specific colors. Bloom for making bright lights spill into neighboring areas to mimic traditional film. And hellation for adding that red glow around highlights that again replicates traditional film. There's also a couple small but nice touches here. There's now a one-tap toggle between dark and light mode built right into the editor. And to my surprise, haptic feedback is now baked in all throughout the app. It triggers when switching modes or making
fine-tuned adjustments using the sliders. Personally, I absolutely love it, but if that's not your thing, you do have an option to dial it back in the settings. Last thing, and honestly one of my favorite additions, there is now a new built-in Snapseed camera. On the main screen, you'll see a large camera button, and tapping on it will bring you into a brand new viewfinder. Here, you can take photos with either your front or rear-facing camera. You have your flash toggle or zoom options. And even better, you have a relatively basic pro mode where you can manually adjust your ISO, shutter speed, and manual focus controls with onscreen dials. What's also interesting is you can take photos
directly from this viewfinder with your own pre-saved custom looks, or you can use the default film inspired options in real time before you even take the shot. And it does preserve the original image as well, so you can always go back and re-edit whatever you'd like in post. and it's a great touch if you ask me. Lastly, for features, tapping on the icon in the top right corner lets you change the color theme of the viewfinder. You have about six different options to choose from, which just adds a little bit of customization to your shooting experience. Nothing really too crazy. Overall, on first impression, I think this is an awesome update.
Personally, I love the UI in this update the most. It looks very clean and modern, and it suits current day really well, in my opinion. The new camera viewfinder is a fun addition as well. I love that we can use these retro filters built right in. And I honestly can't wait to take a lot more photos with it. In general, this update makes me actually excited to jump back into mobile photography again to some degree. And the best part, guys, it's still completely 100% free. There's no subscription. There's no ads. There's no inapp purchases. If you're on Android and you love mobile photography, in my opinion, this is a great place to start.
I'd say probably nine out of 10 people who actually want to tweak their images and refine them on a casual level can get pretty much everything that they need here. And I almost forgot, the foldable experience is awesome, by the way. I tried it on the Motorola Fold and it was a complete joy to use. Highly recommend it if you have any kind of foldable. That larger canvas is just so much better to work with. So, with all of that said, guys, let me know what you think down in the comments. Have you tried the new Snapseed app yet? If so, what do you think of the redesign so far? And I would also ask you, what features are you using most, if any at all? Please leave a comment and let me
know as I'm super curious to hear what the Android community is thinking. Until next time, this has been Jordan Floyd from 9to5 Google. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next one.
