Adobe made its name here on restraint. Project Indigo, the experimental iPhone camera app it launched a year ago, sold photographers a natural, SLR-like look. It skipped the heavy processing that most phone cameras bake in by default.
The latest update points the other way. Version 1.1 adds a set of generative AI tools that can restyle a photo, strip objects out of it, and critique your composition. Adobe calls the bundle the AI Playground.
A camera app that grades your photos
The most novel part is the critique. Press a button and a large language model reviews your shot, with a “professional” opinion on framing, lighting, colour, and emotional impact. A second button suggests how to reshoot or edit it.
The timing is the point. Because Indigo is a camera app, the advice arrives while you still stand in front of the scene. The man leading the project, Marc Levoy, explained the thinking in an announcement blog.
