So I edit my photos in Snapseed and I notice the colors look way too saturated, especially in portraits. I import straight from my phone's gallery. Is it iOS's fault or how the app is configured? They look more natural in Lightroom, but I love Snapseed for the interface.
The saturation you're seeing probably comes from the color profile Snapseed uses when importing - it's different from Lightroom's. What almost nobody mentions is that if you edit in Snapseed but save the photo directly as JPG, your phone compresses and "crushes" the colors even more. Try exporting as HEIF or PNG, then opening the file in Lightroom afterward and giving it a final desaturation adjustment there if you need it. That way you have better control over the final result without sacrificing the Snapseed interface you love.
I don't think it's iOS's fault - Snapseed has its own filters and saturation adjustments that come pretty aggressive out of the box, especially the "Vibrancy" tool or if you accidentally messed with the saturation slider. Check the presets you're using and try lowering the saturation a bit manually before exporting, or just disable the automatic filters it comes with by default.
Snapseed has its own color spaces that sometimes interpret saturation differently than other apps, so it's not iOS's fault. Try turning off the Vibrance tool if you're using it, or lower the Saturation slider to negative values before you start tweaking the other settings, because it often comes with an oversaturated baseline from the factory. If you love the interface but that behavior bothers you, you can make the base corrections in Snapseed (contrast, highlights, shadows) and save the final saturation adjustment for Lightroom, where you know it'll look more natural.
I've been in that situation with landscape photos, and what was happening to me was that Snapseed applies pretty strong color adjustments by default when you import from the gallery, especially if your iPhone has "Vivid" color mode or something similar enabled in your display settings. What I'd recommend is that before you touch anything, open the photo and manually drag the saturation slider down to the negative (like -15 or -20) before making any other adjustments, so you can see if that's what's bothering you. Also pay attention to whether you're using the automatic Enhance that sometimes gets turned on without you realizing it, because that really messes up the tones in portraits.
Basically Snapseed interprets your iPhone's color profiles more aggressively than Lightroom does, so what you're seeing is real but exaggerated by the app, not by iOS. When I edit photos on my phone and switch between apps I notice exactly the same thing - in Snapseed everything looks more vibrant and saturated, while in Lightroom the tones stay closer to what I see on screen.
What works for me is making adjustments in Snapseed but then pulling down the overall saturation a bit before saving, or just going into the "Selective" tool (the finger one) and desaturating only where it looks too strong, especially in skin tones where the color boost is most noticeable.
Try checking if your iPhone has "Vivid" turned on or some specific color profile in your display settings - that also affects how you see your photos while you're editing them in Snapseed, even if they save fine afterwards. Sometimes it's more of a display issue than an app thing. What works for me is turning off vibrance first and then adjusting saturation manually if I need it, that way I have more control instead of just going with the presets that come pretty strong.
I think the issue is more about the color profile Snapseed uses when interpreting the image, but how you save the result also matters quite a bit. If you export as JPEG without specifying anything, the app applies its own color processing that tends to be aggressive 💾 Try to see if in the "Edit" section there are color space options or if you can manually reduce saturation even if you haven't touched vibrance - sometimes Snapseed comes with high factory values on other controls you don't see. Another thing: when you save, check if there's a "quality" button or advanced export, because saving at maximum quality instead of the default preset often gives you more accurate colors 📱
Before you blame the app, check if you have "HDR" turned on or if your iPhone is using the "Vivid" color profile in display settings - that amplifies everything in Snapseed because the app interprets those profiles more aggressively than Lightroom does. Sometimes it's as simple as turning down the saturation a bit manually within the general adjustments tool instead of messing with vibrance.
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