While iPads, especially iPad Pro tablets, are marketed as tablets for professionals to create masterpieces on, something that's notably absent is software: there's a huge lack of decent editing apps for photo and video, so computers remain the best option for these tasks. However that could change soon, as it seems Adobe Photoshop could be about to launch on the iPad.
That's according to a Bloomberg report that suggests Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for iPad could be debuted at a launch event in early November. Photoshop is a photo editing app, whereas Illustrator is for graphic design.
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Rumors had been swirling on a 'true' or 'full' Photoshop experience on iPads (and perhaps Android tablets too) for a while, partly thanks to Adobe tentatively announcing it in 2018. But reports point to us getting more information, and perhaps even a full release, at the Adobe MAX Conference from November 2-6 in New York City.
If an iPad or tablet version of Photoshop is finally announced and unveiled, we'll bring you the news straight from the event.
Isn't Adobe Photoshop already on iPad?
Currently, there are a range of Photoshop apps available on iPad, including Photoshop Express, Photoshop Sketch, Photoshop Mix and Photoshop Fix. Each of them has a specific role in editing a photo, but if you want to properly brush up your glorious snap, you're going to need to take it through all of these apps, one at a time.
Instead, people have been asking for a 'full' Photoshop experience on iPads, identical to the software on PCs and Macs. This app would make the most of the high processing power of top-end iPad Pro devices, although the weaker ranges of Apple's tablets might have worse experiences.
Some reports suggest the intial Photoshop iPad app could actually be a pared-down version of 'true' Photoshop on computers, with many missing features, but these reports also suggest Adobe will expand the app's features over time.
If Photoshop for iPad is a success, we could see Adobe's many other Creative Cloud apps coming to iPad, like Premiere Pro for video editing, another area the App Store ecosystem is severely lacking. That'll likely occur some time in 2020 or beyond though, judging by how long it's taking Adobe to get Photoshop onto iPads.
