Nik Software’s “Snapseed” for iPad Sets a New Bar for Photo Apps
I have way too many photo Apps for my iPad. If somebody tells me about a good one—I go download it and give it a shot right away, and that’s how I found some of my favorites, like Photogene, Filterstorm Pro, and Photosmith—all excellent apps—the best of breed. However, although it has only been out a few days, Nik Software’s new Snapseed is already my go-to photo app, and my hands down favorite, for five reasons:
(1) They nailed the iPad experience
The way Nik used the iPad’s touch controls is brilliant. I have to imagine when Apple themselves first saw this they said, “Yeah, this is the type of stuff we hoped developers would tap into.” It feels immersive, intuitive, and more like you’re crafting something, rather than just moving sliders. It sounds silly as I write this, but it feels very organic, like you’re creating the effects on the fly, and using it you feel more like an artist and less like a post-processor. A brilliant interface, and I imagine others will follow their lead.
(2) The quality of their effects are outstanding
A big buzz right now for iPad photo apps are one-click effects, but Nik’s presets are among the very best. Great looking one-click effects, but the ability to tweak those so easily so create your own custom effects takes it up a big notch.
(3) It’s much deeper than it looks
At first glance, it seems like there’s a few filters, a few adjustments, some frames and textures. However, don’t let the simple, clean interface fool you—this App is like an onion, and you just keep peeling away layers to find more and more depth. I think that’s part of the strengh of the App—-you can just do your thing and keep the power tucked out of site, or dig in and really do some serious editing. The fact that Viveza-type controls are in Snapseed just blows my mind.
(4) The Fun Factor
This App is just plain fun. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had using an iPad photo app yet, and I found myself spending more time experimenting and playing with Snapseed than any other. Plus, it has all the online sharing features any cool photo app would have these days.
(5) The price is too right.
If this were a desktop App, it would cost over $100. Maybe more. And people would buy it. A lot of them. I would buy it as a Photoshop plug-in in a heartbeat, but it’s a standalone App for the iPad, and costs only $5 bucks. That is insane. Seriously.
Anyway, as you can see I’m pretty psyched about Snapseed, but I’m not alone—the buzz it is generating is amazing. For those of you that already have Snapseed, let me know what you think. For everybody else, here’s a link to it on the iTunes Store, and here’s where you can go and watch some videos about it over at Nik’s site.