Adobe Launches Free Photoshop App for Phones, Targeting Young Creators

Adobe will offer a premium version for $7.99 a month that includes more features as well as access to more cloud storage.

Adobe has announced the launch of its Photoshop app for mobile phones, offering a free version alongside a new, lower-cost premium plan priced at $7.99 per month. This marks the first time Photoshop is available on smartphones, with the free version now live on iPhones and an Android release coming soon.

Since its debut in 1990, Photoshop has become synonymous with digital image editing. However, it has traditionally been a paid service, with the lowest previous subscription starting at $9.99 per month for iPad users. Now, Adobe aims to make its powerful tools more accessible, particularly to younger creators who rely on their phones for photography and editing.

The free mobile app includes essential features such as layering, masking, and text overlays—tools commonly used for designing podcast covers, music playlist art, and YouTube thumbnails. For those who need more advanced capabilities, the $7.99/month premium plan provides additional features, extra cloud storage, and access to the web-based version of Photoshop for larger-screen editing.

Adobe's move comes as smartphone operating systems from Apple and Google increasingly offer built-in photo editing tools for free. Despite this competition, Adobe’s creative software remains a significant part of its business, even as the company’s 2025 revenue forecast fell short of Wall Street expectations.

Deepa Subramaniam, Adobe’s VP of product marketing for creative professional apps, emphasized that the company is focused on engaging a new generation of content creators. “We’ve designed this app specifically for young creators who do everything on their phones. It’s how they express their creativity, and we built the app with them in mind,” she told Reuters.

With this launch, Adobe is making a strategic push to attract mobile-first users, ensuring that Photoshop remains a go-to tool for creativity in an increasingly smartphone-driven world.