Edit your photos in RAW with Adobe Lightroom, which is now free to use

By Julian Chokkattu Published December 7, 2015

After Adobe ditched the Creative Cloud requirement for Lightroom mobile on iOS, it’s doing the same now for its Android counterpart.

The photo-editing app has always been free, but users needed a Creative Cloud login to be able to use it. Now, however, the new version 1.4 update for the Android app renders it completely free to use. If you want to sync your files with the desktop version or Lightroom Web, however, you’ll still need to have a Creative Cloud subscription.

What’s useful for users interested in photo-editing software is that Android Lollipop brought the capability to shoot RAW, which provides more control over the editing process, as well as uncompressed quality, albeit at a bigger file size than JPEG. Adobe Lightroom Mobile can now help users expand on those offerings that came with Lollipop.

“Lightroom for Android supports raw DNG workflows,” reads the related blog post announcement, “making it possible to enhance images and take full advantage of all of the quality and details found in images captured on Android devices.”

The app is relatively easy to use and lets users crop images, apply changes to white balance, exposure, tone, highlights, contrast, and other elements, or use Adobe’s presets. Users can flag or star photos, and pull up a photo’s histograms and metadata. The edits are synced in real-time, and while editing, holding down three fingers shows the original.

The company is shifting attention to the Android eco-system, as it also recently released its video-editing app, Adobe Premiere Clip, in early December.

The app is currently in Google’s curated list of the Best Apps of 2015. You can follow the links to grab Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Android, as well as for iOS.

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Julian Chokkattu

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

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