First look: This upcoming Snapseed tool could leave Google Photos in the dust

Snapseed took its sweet time bringing the big 4.0 update to Android. But now that it’s here, we’re seeing a wave of potential upgrades that could reach the photo editing app. In July, we discovered strings for a new collage-making tool. We can now exclusively reveal what that looks like, along with some of the features that would complement it.

We dug into version 4.1.9 of Snapseed to uncover a trove of new features hidden in the app. To start, the app is gearing up for a brand-new collage-creator interface with a wide range of options for arranging your favorite pictures. Supported aspect ratios include 1:1 (Square), 4:5 (Post), 9:16 (Story), 16:9 (Wide), 3:4, 4:3, and 5:4.

A range of grid configurations is also available, including Center Square, 1+2, 1+3, 2+1, 2 Column, 3 Column, 2 Stack, 3 Stack, and more. The canvas formatting page lets you change the background pattern, adjust spacing, and includes a “Snap to grid” toggle at the bottom.

Next, we’re looking at the slides interface, where you can move (left or right), duplicate, or remove them entirely (pictured above). There’s also a Connected Slide feature that lets you merge or disconnect slides, giving you more control over your project. Think of this as a place to create multiple collages or carousels within the same project.

Layers, Masks, and more are on the way

Meanwhile, the Layers option lets you add photos, text, stickers, or another slide. Users should be able to swap them with other layers and even lock layers to prevent accidental modification while editing.

In addition to reordering layers and hiding or removing them, this in-development interface also lets users duplicate layers or quickly rotate them 90 degrees. The template you’ve created can be saved for later use.

If that’s not enough, we’re seeing a masking option that lets you crop images in Rectangle or Radial shapes, with a slider to tweak the corner radius.

In the Advanced layer styling options, you can modify border color and width, control opacity, or choose from multiple blend modes. Dedicated sliders for shadow blur, distance, and opacity are also present.

A color selection tool is also available, which accepts Hex code inputs. It further lets you save or manage custom colors and adjust luminance with a slider. This is complemented by a textures menu offering a selection of preset textures, which you can modify extensively to your liking. You can also use the Randomize button to spice things up texture-wise.

The templates you’ve created can be saved for future use, and there’s also a QR-code-based sharing feature that lets others scan the code to use your template. The code references a separate “Copy link” option, too, though we don’t see it in this unofficial preview.

Lastly, users can save their project, export all or part of the collage pictures, or save the project as a copy. As you would expect, you can remove the project entirely, and common actions like reset and undo/redo are also available.

While most of this collage-making tool looks ready for primetime, we can’t say when the Google-run app will roll out these updates. Based on this early look, however, it’s clear that Snapseed is aiming to become the only Android app you’d need to create elaborate collages from scratch.