Adobe Updates Lightroom iOS App With One-Handed Editing Features, Bug Fixes

Adobe is finally pushing for its Lightroom mobile app to be comparable with its PC version. The computer software company is rolling out a new version of its Lightroom app for iOS and Mac, and the changes are too big to be left unnoticed, especially on the iPhone and iPod touch.

According to CNET, the Adobe Lightroom app for the iPhone and iPod touch now have one-handed editing features. Instead of using the three-finger tap to view edited photos compared to the original copies, users will only have to use a single finger gesture from now on.

When the iPhone and iPod touch are in landscape orientation, options for filters, cropping and other adjustments are displayed on the right. When one option is tapped, the edge panel expands to show different controls for the specific option. Switching from editing mode to browsing mode can now be carried out using a central drop-down option. The browse mode shows the image caption, title and its star rating.

AppleInsider reports the changes to the iOS app of Adobe Lightroom were the result of the company’s conversations with photographers. The photographers were surveyed, so Adobe would know what kind of changes should be implemented from with the new version. The most notable change that has come to the app is the grouping of the editing tools. Instead of grouping them based on functionality, they are now arranged by workflow for a more seamless user experience.

A new reference view makes it possible for users to directly compare two images side by side. When this view is activated, two photos are placed next to each other on the same screen. This helps when users have to change the white balance settings of photos. Finally, both iOS and Mac versions of the app contain fixes for bugs affecting the user experience in the previous installments.

Lightroom 2.6 is now available for iOS-running devices. Interested users should know that the app requires iOS 9.3 or later iterations, and it is clocking in at 126MB for the iPhone and iPod Touch version. The iPad version, on the other hand, requires 130MB of device storage space. The mobile version is free, but an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription is needed to use it. The Mac version is downloadable from the Adobe website, and it also requires a monthly subscription of $9.99.