Adobe Releases Photoshop App for iPhone

Adobe revealed on Tuesday that it will be releasing Photoshop, its well-known design and editing program, on mobile devices, initially for iOS. Many of the design, editing, and generative AI features available in the desktop version of Photoshop are also included in the robust new mobile app from Adobe. According to Adobe, the app is already available worldwide on iPhone and will be accessible on Android “later this year.” It interfaces with Photoshop on the web to enable creatives to collaborate on projects across different platforms.

Through a mobile-friendly design that is available while on the go, users may access both free and premium capabilities with the new Photoshop for iPhone app. Although it is tailored for mobile devices, the app provides a comparable range of editing features to the desktop version, such as layering and masking. For a charge, Photoshop for iPhone may also be integrated with Photoshop online.

Adobe introduced a $7.99 monthly subscription option for those who wish to use Photoshop on the web and the app’s premium features. According to Adobe, access to Photoshop on mobile devices is already included in all existing Photoshop premium subscriptions.

Since 2010, a condensed version of the well-known editing program Photoshop Express has been accessible on mobile devices; but, according to Adobe, the new app is more robust and offers a wider variety of well-known Photoshop features. While Photoshop Express is comparable to more conventional mobile editing apps like Picsart and Facetune, the new Photoshop app appears more akin to the desktop experience. The two apps have some features in common, such as tools for resizing, masking, adjusting contrast and saturation, and removing objects or blemishes.

Adobe hopes to draw in new customers by extending Photoshop to mobile devices, particularly younger ones who are accustomed to using their phones for artistic endeavours.

The app was created “from the ground up to welcome a new generation of image and design enthusiasts to the limitless potential of Photoshop,” according to Adobe’s release.

Additionally, the app enables the business to compete with well-known editing tools like Canva, Picsart, and Snapseed on mobile devices. 

For those who are already familiar with Photoshop on desktop, web, and iPad, the new app lets them work across platforms and make modifications from any location.

The fundamental capabilities of Photoshop, including selections, layers, and masks, allow free users to mix and merge photos. They may also use the “Tap Select” tool to alter, recolour, or erase portions of a picture. Additionally, they may use generative AI tools powered by Adobe Firefly, including as “Generative Fill” and “Generative Expand,” and access removal tools like the “Spot Healing Brush.”

Numerous Photoshop editing capabilities, such as the Spot Healing Brush, Tap Select, layers, selects, masks, and tools for compositing and mixing photos together, are available to users of the free edition. Additionally, it offers Adobe Stock materials, incorporates Adobe’s Firefly-powered Generative Fill and Generative Expand AI capabilities, and natively connects with Creative Cloud applications like Adobe Express, Lightroom, and Fresco.

For more flexibility and accuracy, paid users can switch from Photoshop Mobile to Photoshop Online. They will also have access to other AI tools powered by Firefly, such as “Generate Similar” and “Reference Image.”

Moreover, users will be able to import more selections and have access to over 20,000 typefaces.

A $7.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly membership is required to use other Photoshop tools including Object Select, Magic Wand, Content Aware Fill, Clone Stamp, and the Remove Tool. Along with access to the web-based Generate Similar and Reference Image feature, this premium Photoshop Mobile and Web Plan also comes with sophisticated blend modes for managing transparency, colour effects, styles, and light/dark adjustment choices.

Additional premium features include “Magic Wand,” a tool that helps you isolate items and make focused alterations, and “Object Select,” which enables you to make exact choices. Additionally, paid customers may utilize the “Remove Tool” to eliminate distractions, the “Clone Stamp” to conceal undesired elements, and the “Content-Aware Fill” tool to fill in areas of a picture.

Additionally, they may employ sophisticated blend modes to regulate transparency and add distinctive styles to photographs, as well as the ability to brighten or darken certain areas of an image.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Shambhavi Kadam, senior director of product management at Adobe Photoshop, stated, “We spent a lot of time talking to creatives and creators, especially the new generation of creators who are very comfortable with phones, and tried to understand their unique use cases on mobile devices.” “And in order to ensure that it performed incredibly well for these users, we incorporated the feedback into the product.”

Digital art, mood boards, podcast art, record cover art, fashion lookbooks, video thumbnails, memes, and more were all created by the app’s early testers, according to Kadam.

Today, Photoshop for iPhone is widely accessible through the Apple App Store around the globe.

Premium access to Photoshop on mobile will be available to all customers who currently have a paid Photoshop membership. Adobe has not disclosed any plans for Photoshop Express, which still offers a more reasonably priced $4.99 monthly premium tier membership.

If Adobe intends to offer both applications at the same time, it will be confusing, especially because it already has another mobile editing platform with the same name, Adobe Express. However, it’s a welcome and expected move to restart Photoshop on mobile devices. Photoshop Express never felt quite like Photoshop, even if it was helpful for making rapid tweaks and creating images for social media.

Photoshop Express downloads on iOS have also been declining, and there are now more mobile editing tools to choose from. Apple finished acquiring Pixelmator’s Mac and iOS applications earlier this month, and Canva has been gradually expanding its own line of generative AI editing tools.

Although you can still drag and choose tools with your finger in the new Photoshop iPhone app’s highly mobile-optimized user interface, the entire experience is better tailored for creative pros and time-consuming design projects.