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Google buys Nik Software, makers of iOS photo app Snapseed, winner of Apple’s 2011 ‘iPad App of the Year’ award

Monday, September 17, 2012 · 1:32 pm · 31 Comments

“Google has agreed to acquire Nik Software, the German developer of photography app Snapseed, for an undisclosed amount,” Ellis Hamburger reports for The Verge. “Sources close to the deal tell The Verge that while Nik Software produces all sorts of apps for photographers like Color Efex Pro and Dfine for Mac and Windows, iOS app Snapseed was the golden egg in the acquisition.”

“The $4.99 app won Apple’s coveted iPad App Of The Year award in 2011 for its inventive multitouch photo editing interface, and gaine[d] over nine million users during its first year on sale,” Hamburger reports. “Nik Software also sells Snapseed for Mac and Windows, and the company is apparently working on an Android app as well.”

Hamburger reports, “Snapseed is no Instagram in terms of popularity, but the two apps’ use of filters and various means of manipulating images serve a similar purpose.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust…

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers "Fred Mertz" and "Lava_Head_UK" for the heads up.]

Related article:
Snapseed, the 2011 iPad App of the Year, currently free in App Store – February 14, 2012

Categories: News

Tags: acquisitions, google, iPad App of the Year, Nik Software, Snapseed

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Comment Feed

31 Comments

MikeCaine

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 1:44 pm · Reply

OnOne here I come
- RePlay
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:20 pm · Reply
  
  “OnOne here I come”
  
  I’m right behind you.
Ubermac

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 1:46 pm · Reply

Thanks for the heads up.

One other app to stay clear of. I trust Google as much as the crack dealer on the corner.
- Hey now...
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 1:58 pm · Reply
  
  No need to insult the corner crack dealer.
- You guys figure ...
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:02 pm · Reply
  
  … Google can do something evil to a program you loaded before they became involved? I don’t trust Google, either. But, unless you update your installed program, what changes can they make to your installed program that would offend you? Yes, you give up the ability to update. So?
  - omalansky
    
    Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:08 pm · Reply
    
    So the day comes when your non-updatable plugins don’t work with the latest version of Photoshop and Lightroom anymore. Then you’re either stuck with an outdated version of Photoshop/Lightroom or you throw your expensive plugins away. Neither option is very appealing.
- Pat
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:30 pm · Reply
  
  Crack dealer on the corner? You need to move!
  - kingmel
    
    Monday, September 17, 2012 - 9:43 pm · Reply
    
    Or, perhaps, it’s the crack dealer that needs to move or get arrested?
omalansky

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:01 pm · Reply

NIK is one of the real heavy hitters in the Photoshop plugin arena. My guess is that NIK’s high-end products will languish while Google is busy exploiting Snapseed for the camera phone crowd. Too bad for NIK and too bad for Photoshop users.
- Jim
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:06 pm · Reply
  
  Here’s hoping the purchase agreement allows the developers to move on and do other things, or limited the acquisition to Snapseed, allowing the developers to restart with continued development of Nik’s great plugins (I use them with Aperture).
- jaundiced
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:14 pm · Reply
  
  I have the complete set of NIK PS plugins and together they cost as much as PS does. If Google treats the “pro” part of its NIK acquisition like Apple treats its pro users, a lot of people are going to be screwed, including me.
  
  And then, of course, there’s the bad, bad, fact that Google is the owner.
  - HDBoy
    
    Monday, September 17, 2012 - 3:39 pm · Reply
    
    Nik Software and OnOne Software’s PhotoTools are terrific, but they’re just way too expensive. I already had made a difficult decision to stop upgrading them, and didn’t upgrade to the most recent versions. This development makes me glad I made that decision on the Nik products, because I already truly disliked all things Google.
    - ploth
      
      Monday, September 17, 2012 - 6:56 pm · Reply
      
      Totally agree. Such a shame
Mini

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:20 pm · Reply

Apple needs to start spending their money.
- Derek Currie
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 3:56 pm · Reply
  
  I think I remember this $Billions of dollars new Apple headquarters building they have in mind…
qka

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:30 pm · Reply

the company is apparently working on an Android app as well

Not for much longer.
qka

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:31 pm · Reply

My error – I misread it as Apple was buying them.

Assume the opposite of what I said – iOS to go away.
coffeelover

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:32 pm · Reply

well thats a tragic end of great software !
- Alcancun
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 5:03 pm · Reply
  
  they only have 699,999 more app developers to buy to kill the IOS app stores dominance.
  
  Hey Google ….me next…
  http://www.mobiletasktracker.com.
J. Scott

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:35 pm · Reply

NOOOOOOOooooooo!!!!!

I have and use most of the NIK plugins from within Aperture and Photoshop. They are absolutely fantastic.

This news makes me want to throw up.
- castelbuono
  
  Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:38 pm · Reply
  
  Not a good day for Nik customers. Google will basterdize this software. Not happy about this…not happy.
Bill

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:58 pm · Reply

Snapseed is a killer app! I hope Google doesn’t screw it up for iOS users.
Wil

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 2:59 pm · Reply

Honestly, Apple should have bought Nik out and incorporated their software into Aperture and iPhoto.

That should have been obvious.
rolf

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 3:04 pm · Reply

FB was dumb enough to exaggerate $1B for a standard app, so how much did Goo pay Nik for Snapseed?

is it really going to dent FB’s Instagram?
Apple is Always Right

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 4:39 pm · Reply

Fear of the Apple. Smelling blood right now.
Joseph Blough

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 5:20 pm · Reply

Awful news… whither Capture NX2, a Nikon-branded app developed by Nik? It’s my primary RAW developer for Nikon RAW files. Aaack!!!
ploth

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 7:01 pm · Reply

This is devastating news – made worse by the fact that mis-read the title thinking APPLE had bought them.

Fantastic plugins and even the iOS app – out of the 50 photo editing apps I own Snapseed is by far the best n easiest to use.

I won’t be updating any Nik software from now on
Shock Me

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 7:44 pm · Reply

I wonder if this will work out like Microsoft buying Bungie just before Halo release on Mac.
NHL

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 9:42 pm · Reply

I’m feeling ambivalent about this news.
I have the complete Nik effects package, and at first it was fabulous for use with Aperture (it came in a discounted bundle with Aperture).
But over the last few years, the Nik user experience has declined significantly. The latest “upgrade” degraded my experience of their software so much that I rarely boot up Nik anymore, and try to do all my processing within Aperture. If Google screws this software up even worse, I foresee some other company taking Nik’s place.
leodavinci1

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 12:07 am · Reply

FWIW, user comments on NIK’s web page announcing this are overwhelmingly negative.

Check it out before they disappear.

http://education.niksoftware.com/2012/09/17/google-acquires-nik-software/
hexx

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - 6:58 am · Reply

sad news for many photographers using Silver Efex Pro (pretty much most of the B&W photographs found online have been ran through this)