As Photoshop turns 30, Adobe begins rolling out new desktop and mobile features, including bringing the Object Selection tool to iPad
Photoshop turns 30 today, and Adobe is celebrating with some worthwhile updates to the photo-editing app on both the desktop and iPad.
Context & Ripple Effects
Photoshop for iPad launched in November 2019 at $9.99 per month with full PSD editing and layers, but the first version landed badly — a 2.3-star App Store rating that an Adobe exec publicly defended. The birthday rollout is the visible response: rather than waiting for a version 2.0, Adobe is shipping features into the existing app, starting with the Object Selection tool.
The move also fits the broader iPad push Adobe laid out alongside launch day, when it confirmed it was building Illustrator for iPad with touch-native tools targeted for release by end of 2020. Thirty years in, Photoshop's anniversary is being used to signal that the tablet version is a product under active development, not a companion app.
First-order effects
- Photoshop on iPad subscribers paying $9.99 per month get the Object Selection tool now, directly addressing the feature gaps behind the poor launch reception.
- Desktop Photoshop users receive their own batch of updates in the same rollout, keeping the flagship install base engaged while the mobile version catches up.
Second-order effects
- Sustained feature parity between desktop and iPad becomes the test of whether the $9.99-per-month iPad subscription retains users who judged the first version incomplete.
- If the rapid post-launch cadence holds, it raises expectations for the promised Illustrator for iPad release, since reviewers will benchmark any new Adobe tablet app against how quickly Photoshop closed its gaps.
Third-order effects
- If Adobe keeps shipping desktop-grade tools to touch devices at this pace, the iPad shifts from secondary canvas toward a primary professional surface within Creative Cloud — a structural change in where serious creative work happens.
The trend: Professional creative software is converging across desktop and tablet, with subscription vendors using continuous feature rollouts to close the gap after rocky mobile launches.