Google Buys Developer of 'Snapseed', Apple's 2011 iPad App of the Year

[MacRumors]

According to The Verge, Google is acquiring Nik Software, the developer behind a number of different photography applications. Their biggest app, however, is Snapseed -- an Instagram-like iOS photography app that was named Apple's 2011 iPad App of the Year.

Snapseed has more than 9 million users on the iPhone and iPad, and the company is working on a version for Android devices as well. From Nik's blog post announcing the acquisition:

We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we've been guided by our motto, "photography first", as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools. We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures.

We're incredibly grateful for all of your support and hope you'll join us on the next phase of our journey as part of Google.

All our best!

The Nik Software Team

Snapseed is available on the iPhone and iPad as a universal app for $4.99, and on the Mac for $19.99.

Article Link: Google Buys Developer of 'Snapseed', Apple's 2011 iPad App of the Year

[unlimitedx]

great app. hopefully this doesn't mean the app will go away..

[Summersify]

Another sad day in the world of indie apps

[Schtumple]

Snapseed is available on the iPhone and iPad as a universal app for $4.99, and on the Mac for $19.99.

But probably not for much longer.

[marioguarneros]

Bad news as this is my go-to editing app for iOS.

[OtherJesus]

Got this app for free from Starbucks. It's pretty nice. Never used it on Mac though.

[jeffgao]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Their biggest app, however, is Snapseed -- an Instagram-like iOS photography app that was named Apple's 2011 iPad App of the Year.

Snapseed, as far as MacRumors concerns, might be "big" but definitely not on the top 3 list of what built Nik's reputation in digital photography. They are most famous for their photoshop plugins. Also Nikon's Capture NX is made by Nik Software.

[John.B]

I'm worried that this will be bad news for anyone who relies on the professional Nik tools.

[anotherarunan]

RIP Snapseed

[GoCubsGo]

Only time will tell if Google botches this one up.

[kevinfulton.ca]

Well I was on the fence about buying the Mac version as well, but now (with what happened to Sparrow) I'll buy it right away before Google has a chance to pull it from the Appstore. I REALLY hope they don't though. Yes, I can do a lot of the same things in Aperture and Pixelmator, but nowhere near as quickly. Please Google don't kill this one too!!

[oxocube]

I'd be curious what the implications will be for Picasa (which I still use to manage/edit all photos I took before transitioning to Aperture in 2011).

[John.B]

Originally Posted by oxocube

I'd be curious if there'll be implications for Picasa (which I still use to manage/edit all photos I took before transitioning to Aperture in 2011).

Yeah, sure, instead of Capture NX 2 you'll have to use Picasa NX 3 (now with AdSense).

[kevinfulton.ca]

Originally Posted by jeffgao

Snapseed, as far as MacRumors concerns, might be "big" but definitely not on the top 3 list of what built Nik's reputation in digital photography. They are most famous for their photoshop plugins. Also Nikon's Capture NX is made by Nik Software.

Also their Aperture plugins which utilize the same Selective Adjust UI (called U Point in their pro plugins). I really hope Nik keeps that feature and just licenses it to Google to use with Snapseed. I will eventually get those pro plugins, but for $20 and little (if any) quality loss it's a no brainer. Even for the pros.

[mattraehl]

First Sparrow, now Snapseed, I guess if Google wants to complete their aquisition of my favorite apps, Reeder is next.

Joking aside, the interesting thing here is that until they made Snapseed, Nik's business was entirely in the high-end editing market, selling various filter plug-in packages for Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, etc.

I also think it's kind of wierd how the Verge positions this as a thing to help Google+ compete with the Facebook/Instagram combo. Facebook didn't buy Instagram because it was a great photo editing app, they bought it because it was an extremely successful social network that was challenging it in the area of photo sharing. I don't think a nice photo editing interface is the thing standing between Google+ and more photo sharing users.

To me it seems more like Google is just trying to aquire more mobile app development talent. I dunno.

[odinsride]

goodbye silver efex

[bushido]

just dont update the app

[nwcs]

Crap. Nik is a great company. I don't use snapseed much but I use their Lightroom and Photoshop tools. I don't think this will be good for photographers in the end.

[D.T.]

Google buys Adobe!

Google buys Facebook!

Google buys Twitter!




...Apple buys the Internet.

Well played Apple, well played.

[kevinfulton.ca]

Originally Posted by mattraehl

First Sparrow, now Snapseed, I guess if Google wants to complete their aquisition of my favorite apps, Reeder is next.

Joking aside, the interesting thing here is that until they made Snapseed, Nik's business was entirely in the high-end editing market, selling various filter plug-in packages for Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, etc.

I also think it's kind of wierd how the Verge positions this as a thing to help Google+ compete with the Facebook/Instagram combo. Facebook didn't buy Instagram because it was a great photo editing app, they bought it because it was an extremely successful social network that was challenging it in the area of photo sharing. I don't think a nice photo editing interface is the thing standing between Google+ and more photo sharing users.

To me it seems more like Google is just trying to aquire more mobile app development talent. I dunno.

Just realized that Google bought all of Nik. Awww crap! Now I'll need to drop $299.99 for the "Complete Collection" while I still can!

[nwcs]

Originally Posted by kevinfulton.ca

Just realized that Google bought all of Nik. Awww crap! Now I'll need to drop $299.99 for the "Complete Collection" while I still can!

Or just wait 6 months and get it for free. Of course, there will be ads delivered in the editing window and you never know what ads will get watermarked automatically in all your pictures....

Facetious, yes, but maybe not far from the truth.

[SirDaav]

Guess this means I have to delete so Google can't use this way to capture email passwords and other wifi traffic...

Nice guys that they are

[finalcut]

had bought both app, damn another 25$ wasted

[BJMRamage]

crappers.

i Love Snapseed. use it a lot. regular camera app > Snapseed > app I want to post it into.

(I have around 3k+ / 10GB of photos in my Camera Roll...on an iP4)

Love, love love snap seed and have recommended it a lot.
hope Google just reaps in money and doesn't touch/destroy it.

bought the Mac app but dont think ive used it yet...sheesh guess i will have to watch and see about any "updates"

[D.T.]

Originally Posted by BJMRamage

crappers.

i Love Snapseed. use it a lot. regular camera app > Snapseed > app I want to post it into.

(I have around 3k+ / 10GB of photos in my Camera Roll...on an iP4)

Love, love love snap seed and have recommended it a lot.
hope Google just reaps in money and doesn't touch/destroy it.

bought the Mac app but dont think ive used it yet...sheesh guess i will have to watch and see about any "updates"

FWIW, Camera+ has a number of editing features (styles, basic image correction, rotation/layout changes), plus is a better camera app vs. the stock and can post directly to FB, Twitter and Flickr.

I have Snapseed too (scored it as the FAotW), though I use it to infrequently, I'm sure if the image tools are significantly better[?]