Adobe is reportedly planning to add an iPad version of the Adobe Illustrator professional drawing tool next year, as per a report.
Last year, the California-based company announced that its photo-editing software, Photoshop, would make its debut on the iPad sometime this year. Although the app has not yet been released as it is currently in beta testing, it seems Adobe is marching forward with plans to bring more of its desktop tools to the iPadOS.
According to Bloomberg, Adobe will preview Illustrator for iPad at the Adobe Max conference in November before the release of the full version in 2020. The tablet version of the app will have the same features as the desktop version, which is exactly what Adobe is doing with Photoshop.
The American computer software company uses the same code for its handheld devices as it does for the desktop versions to make the same features available to users on both platforms. The only difference is that the interface is optimized for drawing or editing with a finger or a pen as opposed to a mouse.
Illustrator and Photoshop are one of many other Adobe apps that will be available on Apple's tablets. The software company's Fresco and Premiere Rush apps are already available on the iPad. However, they do not have as many features as the upcoming releases from Adobe.
The apps may not be all that was promised when the full versions finally arrive. The beta version of the Photoshop app for the iPad was recently criticized by early reviewers for missing key features and functions from the desktop version. These include filters, the pen tool, colour spaces, RAW editing, smart objects, layer styles and some masking options.
Adobe's Scott Belsky, chief product officer of the company's Creative Cloud group responded to the criticism by assuring users that the feature set launched with the original app will grow with future updates and Adobe "would expand the capabilities" of Photoshop on iPad over time.
This will only help Apple as it has billed the iPad, especially the iPad Pro, as a laptop replacement that can handle demanding tasks. Even if Adobe's upcoming apps like Illustrator and Photoshop have significant compromises, Apple could use it to their advantage to pull in customers by convincing them that mobile tablets are capable of handling heavy-duty creative work.
