Check Out These New, Free Tools in Adobe’s Photoshop App for iPhone

Photoshop, like Netflix and Uber, has such a stranglehold on our ideas of not just a specific app but a specific type of app that we use it as a verb. You don’t edit an image of your boat holding you up in Photoshop, you Photoshop it.

There have been lightweight versions of Adobe image editing software for mobile devices before, such as Photoshop Express, but version 6.0 (released on February 25, 2025) makes some majorly powerful additions that bring it far closer to the capabilities of the full-powered desktop version. And the big surprise is that most of them are free.

the full list of new, free tools

• “For the first time, a robust set of features are available for free in the mobile app, allowing you to accomplish core Photoshop workflows,” Apple wrote in its update notes for the Photoshop App. Newly available free tools include:
• “Transform any image into something that stands out from the crowd by blending images, graphics, text, and more.
• Change the color of anything, like your hoodie, sneakers, or backpack by selecting specific areas of your image using the Tap Select or Lasso tools. Adjust the brightness or vibrancy to add a bold pop of color.
• Easily replace the background of your image. Use an image from your phone, create a new background with AI-powered Generate Image, or choose from a large selection of free Adobe Stock images, including textures and patterns.
• Quickly remove unwanted elements by selecting any object or person with the Tap Select tool, then use Generative Fill for a seamless result.
• Clean up blemishes, spots, or small distractions effortlessly using the Spot Healing Brush.”

ai features that are actually useful

Much of the shine put on the new app revolves around “generative fill,” which feeds your prompts into an AI that creates pieces of images to stick into your photos. It works in reverse, too, where you can use it to remove parts of your images that you don’t want.

Check out the image above, as an example. AI was used first to remove the trees behind the woman skateboarding on the halfpipe, and then the user punched “fun pink fuzzy clouds” into the generative AI prompt and boom. It’s like Willy Wonka for ’90s kids.

Look closer at the image and you can also suss out that more traditional Photoshop tweaks, such as contrast and color balance, were also tweaked. Generative AI is cool and all, but it would’ve been a Trojan horse if it meant the removal of the core tools that Photoshoppers rely upon.

Lucky for us, Adobe doesn’t seem to view generative AI as a replacement for its human-operated tools, but rather a bonus. If the free feature set isn’t enough for you, step up to the new Photoshop Mobile and Web Plan for $8 per month, which adds (in Apple’s words):

• “Transition from Photoshop mobile to Photoshop on the web to create with added precision and control across workflows and surfaces
• Expanded access to commercially safe, Firefly-powered tools including Generate Similar and Reference Image in Photoshop web to easily add unique design and image elements to create fun visuals
• Access more than 20,000 fonts or import additional options for limitless typography options
• Make precise selections with enhanced precision of people and objects with Object Select
• Isolate objects and make targeted adjustments with selection tools like Magic Wand
• Remove distractions with ease with Remove Tool, hide unwanted objects with Clone Stamp, and seamlessly fill portions of an image with Content-Aware Fill
• Control transparency, color effects and add unique styles with Advanced blend modes
• Lighten or darken areas of an image without affecting hue or saturation with Lighten and Darken”

If you’ve read this far for information about the Android version, I’ve got a bitter pill for you. Apple only says that the Android version is “coming later this year.” We’ve got a lot of 2025 left, unfortunately, so your guess is as good as ours at this point.