Adobe is adding AI-powered features from Firefly to its new Express mobile app.

The app is available in a free trial version on iOS and Android devices, allowing mobile users to collaborate with desktop-certified designers on the same projects once again.

Adobe has released a new app for Adobe Express, a cloud-based mobile design platform, offering the same creative and editing AI features supported by Firefly that desktop users on iOS and Android devices enjoy. The new Adobe Express app, available for free trial today, allows users to easily produce creative assets such as social media posts, stickers, and web banners, with Creative Cloud members able to access and edit Photoshop and Illustrator files directly from within the mobile app.

The trial version of Adobe Express serves as a free download, with Premium features (which will eventually require a $9.99 monthly subscription) like scanning and background removal tools available at no extra cost during app testing. However, Firefly-powered AI generative features, such as generative fill effects and text-to-image transformation effects, will require Adobe generative credits. Users of the Adobe Express trial version will receive 25 points per month. The number of monthly credits received will be linked to the user subscription layer when the mobile app is publicly available.

Adobe Express users will not see their projects from the current mobile app in the new trial app on the first day. However, when the new app leaves the trial version, all historical data will then be seamlessly migrated from the old app in a migration process, according to Ian Wang, Vice President of Product at Adobe Express.

The new trial version of Express mobile subscribes to the same core system as the updated desktop version released last year, meaning collaborative workflows are restored if you’re using the trial app – allowing teams to work together on the same creative projects across both desktop and mobile devices. Anyone still using the current Adobe Express mobile app won’t be able to use these features.

Generative AI features processing relies on the cloud rather than the device itself, but not every smartphone is compatible with the new trial version. Here’s where you can check out the devices that are supported. The trial version of the Adobe Express mobile app is available on the Google Play Store for Android devices, but iOS users will need to register here due to restrictions imposed by Apple on the number of trial users.

Adobe Firefly AI features have been available as standalone web apps since September 2023 (accessible on mobile devices), which are good enough for experimentation but not suitable for use in design workflows. In contrast, the new trial version of Express is the first mobile app to feature these alongside other design tools, giving it an edge over Canva – a competing design platform that hasn’t provided its “Magic Studio” AI features to mobile users.

Correction, March 7, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time: The original Adobe press release stated that “premium features are available for free” during the fast trial version. After we published the article, the company clarified that these top-notch features don’t cover generative AI tools. Those tools operate on a separate credit-based system.”