Creating mountable snapshot view in macOS
Yes, it is definitely possible to view an APFS snapshot as a "set of files" - i.e. a file system. This is done simply by mounting the snapshot - exactly like you would do with LVM on Linux.

The syntax is:

  mount_apfs -s &lt;snapshot name&gt; &lt;mounted base volume&gt; &lt;mount folder&gt;


So for example create a snapshot with:

  tmutil snapshot /


It will say that the new snapshot is named for example: 2019-01-01-180510.

Then later you can create a folder "MyBackup" and mount the snapshot like this:

  mount_apfs -s com.apple.TimeMachine.2019-01-01-180510 / MyBackup


If you then browse MyBackup you'll see the files like they were at the time the snapshot was taken.

Note: You don't have to use snapshots created by TimeMachine. Any APFS snapshots will be mountable with the same command.