Adobe to discontinue Photoshop Touch May 28, previews new retouching app, Project Rigel, to be released late 2015
Brent Dirks / App Advice :
Context & Ripple Effects
Photoshop Touch was Adobe's first serious attempt to bring image editing to tablets, but by mid-2015 it had become a dead end: Adobe is pulling it from sale effective May 28 while previewing its replacement, Project Rigel, a retouching app slated for late 2015. The follow-up coverage shows Rigel arriving that October as a free iOS app tied to Creative Cloud — a very different model from selling a standalone touch app.
The move matters because it marks the start of a decade-long consolidation of Adobe's mobile efforts into one brand. Three years later, sources reported Adobe would bring the full desktop Photoshop to the iPad, unveiled at MAX and shipped in 2019 despite beta complaints about missing features, and by 2025 Adobe had an updated iOS app carrying desktop design, editing, and AI tools. Killing Touch cleared the naming and product space for that trajectory.
First-order effects
- Existing Photoshop Touch users lose their app on May 28, with no upgrade path within the Touch line — their mobile editing needs are redirected to whatever Project Rigel ships as late in 2015.
Second-order effects
- By launching Rigel free on iOS with Creative Cloud integration rather than as a paid app, Adobe shifts mobile monetization from app-store purchases to subscription attachment, pressuring rival mobile editors that still sell upfront licenses.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — Touch retired, Rigel folded in, then 'real Photoshop' on iPad in 2019 and AI-equipped parity on iOS by 2025 — Adobe ends up with a single Photoshop brand across desktop and mobile instead of a family of spin-off touch apps, making feature parity the competitive bar for mobile creative tools.
The trend: Adobe is consolidating its mobile imaging portfolio around one subscription-tied Photoshop brand, retiring standalone spin-offs as it chases desktop-class capability on phones and tablets.