Adobe's new mobile Photoshop app, dubbed Project Rigel, will launch in October free on iOS, integrate with Creative Cloud subscription
Context & Ripple Effects
Project Rigel is the replacement Adobe promised when it moved to discontinue Photoshop Touch this past May: rather than patch the old app, it is starting over with a free iOS retouching tool built to plug into Creative Cloud. The October launch confirms the shape of that pivot — no upfront price, with the subscription doing the monetizing.
That structure mirrors what Adobe later formalized with Lightroom mobile, where the app itself is free but editing and syncing between mobile and PC costs $10+/month. Rigel is the earliest data point in a decade-long arc that runs through the full Photoshop for iPad unveiled at MAX and lands at the AI-equipped iOS Photoshop app of 2025, with an Android version still pending.
First-order effects
- Photoshop Touch buyers lose their paid app to the May 28 discontinuation and are steered toward a free replacement whose value depends on a Creative Cloud subscription.
- iOS users get professional-grade retouching at zero cost in October, lowering the entry barrier that previously separated mobile hobbyists from Adobe's paid tools.
Second-order effects
- The free app turns mobile into a subscription funnel: Adobe's own Lightroom pricing shows the intended conversion path, where capture and light edits are free but cross-device workflows pay.
- Mobile-first editing rivals face an incumbent giving away software they charge for, forcing them to compete on features Adobe can bundle with its desktop ecosystem rather than on price.
Third-order effects
- If the funnel holds, mobile stops being a side product and becomes the entry tier of Creative Cloud — the trajectory from Rigel through 'real Photoshop' on iPad to the 2025 AI tools suggests Adobe sees phones and tablets as first-class creative surfaces, not companions.
The trend: Adobe is converting its mobile apps from standalone purchases into free on-ramps to Creative Cloud subscriptions, a playbook that runs unbroken from Project Rigel in 2015 to today's AI-era iOS releases.