Adobe is adding a suite of generative AI tools to Project Indigo, its experimental smartphone camera app, in a feature set called AI Playground. This marks a shift for the app, which originally focused on giving mobile photographers a "natural SLR-like look," and now embraces AI-driven editing and creative assistance at the point of capture. It matters because it signals Adobe testing how far AI can go in shaping photos before and after they're taken, potentially changing what users expect from a camera app.

AI Playground has four sections: Object Editing (removing distractions like people or cars, and blurring backgrounds), Styles (transforming photos into "pen and ink" or drawing-like effects), Photo Guidance (offering critiques and shooting suggestions), and Custom Edit (prompt-based alterations, such as repositioning a subject and changing lighting). Adobe's Nextcam Team said it currently runs the feature using Google's Nano Banana model but may switch providers later. The tools are free for now but limited to a small percentage of users for a few weeks, with Adobe indicating a paid version could follow if the feature proves popular.