Adobe just launched Project Indigo, a free iPhone camera app developed by the creator of Google’s Pixel camera. Discover how it brings DSLR-like quality to mobile photography.
By Hemim Sekh | June 2025
Adobe has just made a major splash in mobile photography with the release of Project Indigo, a free computational photography app for iPhones that aims to rival traditional DSLR cameras. But what really makes this app buzzworthy is the brain behind it: Marc Levoy, the former Google engineer responsible for the Pixel camera’s breakthrough image quality.
What Is Project Indigo?
Project Indigo is Adobe’s latest experimental app, released under Adobe Labs. It’s currently available for iPhone 12 Pro/Pro Max, 13 Pro/Pro Max, and all iPhone 14 and 15 models, though Adobe recommends using an iPhone 15 Pro or newer for best results. Even more impressive? No Adobe login is required to use the app — a rare move for the creative software giant.
Rather than snapping a single image, Indigo uses computational photography to capture a burst of photos, which it then combines into one high-quality image. The result is a photo with less noise, better dynamic range, and a natural, SLR-like finish, all processed in real-time.
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The Pixel Legacy Comes to iPhone
One of the app’s most notable features is its natural aesthetic, something Levoy and senior scientist Florian Kainz have worked hard to replicate. Levoy, now an Adobe Fellow, famously helped pioneer computational photography at Google — transforming the Pixel camera into an industry benchmark.
Now at Adobe, he’s working toward a universal camera experience that leverages AI and advanced imaging pipelines. Indigo is the first step in that journey.
According to Adobe’s blog post authored by Levoy and Kainz, the goal is to provide casual mobile photographers with beautiful, realistic photos, while still offering advanced users full manual control over shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus.
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What’s Under the Hood?
Project Indigo isn’t just a sleek interface — it’s backed by a deep image-processing pipeline. Levoy explains how Indigo optimizes image quality with the same intensity you’d expect from Adobe’s flagship products. From handling high dynamic range scenes to suppressing noise in low-light environments, Indigo does a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes — all without user friction.
- Some of the standout features include:
- Burst-mode image stacking
- Advanced white balance control
- Manual focus and exposure control
- A natural SLR-like tone curve
And while it doesn’t currently offer portrait mode or video recording, those features — along with an Android version — are reportedly in the works.
More Than Just an App: A Testbed for Future Adobe Tools
Levoy and Kainz make it clear that Project Indigo is not just an app — it’s a testbed for new technologies that may find their way into Adobe’s core ecosystem. One such experimental feature? A button to remove reflections from images, which could be a game-changer for everyday smartphone photography.
Their vision? A seamless, AI-powered mobile camera and editing experience that caters to both hobbyists and professionals.
“This is the beginning of a journey for Adobe,” said the creators. “We hope Indigo will appeal to anyone who wants stunning mobile photos with either full control or zero effort.”