Adobe is putting generative AI in the hands of mobile creatives with the launch of its new Adobe Express app for iOS and Android. The app, currently in beta, integrates many of the company’s powerful AI tools alongside traditional design capabilities, allowing users to generate and edit assets on the go.

At its core, the new Adobe Express app enables creatives to craft assets like social media graphics, digital ads, and website imagery from their mobile devices. It shares the same back-end architecture as the recently revamped desktop Express experience, complete with collaboration tools for team-based projects.

However, the true star of the show is Adobe’s cutting-edge Firefly AI technology. These generative AI capabilities, previously limited to web apps, have now found their way into a full-fledged design tool on smartphones and tablets.

Some of the AI-powered features available in the Express beta include:

• Generative Fill: Generate new image elements based on text descriptions to expand compositions
• Text to Image: Create entirely new visuals from textual prompts
• Background Removal: Automatically erase and cut out background elements from images
• And more creative Firefly effects

These capabilities tap into Adobe’s cloud-based AI models, giving even modest mobile hardware enough muscle for complex generative tasks.

The Adobe Express mobile beta is free to download today on Android via the Google Play Store. iOS users can request access through a special sign-up page due to beta user limits on Apple’s platform.

Once out of beta testing, the app will continue to offer a free tier with essential editing capabilities. However, Premium features like the AI-powered Firefly tools will require an Adobe subscription, with paying users receiving monthly generative AI credits based on their plan.

For now, all Express mobile beta testers receive 25 complementary Firefly credits per month to explore the app’s innovative AI toolset.

While a noble first step, Adobe’s new Express app will face hurdles in its quest to become the go-to mobile AI creativity.

Adobe will also have to fend off competitors like Canva, whose own “Magic Studio” generative AI suite has yet to make the leap to mobile devices. If Express can lead that charge, it could cement Adobe as the standard for on-the-go AI-powered creativity.