Adobe Lightroom for Android has received a major update, adding support for HDR images. This means that users can now edit and export their HDR images directly from the app, without having to use a separate program.
The news was shared directly by
Adobe via their help site while singing praises to High Dynamic Range (HDR) and the impact it has on photos. However, there are a couple of limitations to the app’s support of this format.
While you will now be able to capture, edit, and export HDR photos within the Lightroom Android app (v9.0.0), you will only be able to do so on supported devices running
Android 14. Right now, the list of devices is pretty limited, including only the
Google Pixel 7,
Pixel 7a, and
Pixel 7 Pro.
Currently, there is no mention of the newly released
Pixel 8 series on the Adobe help page or the
Play Store release notes, but presumably that won’t be the case for long. Google’s newest phones will be the first to support the new Ultra HDR feature for
Android 14, which will allow users to capture and edit HDR images with an even wider range of dynamic range. Surprisingly, though, the barely four-month-old
Google Pixel Fold is not supported as confirmed by its omission from the device support list and my own testing with the device.
For supported devices, using the new HDR feature within Lightroom is easy. Simply open an HDR image within the application, go into “Edit” mode and select the “Light” tool. Next, scroll to the bottom and toggle on the “Edit in HDR Mode” option. You will then see an HDR logo on the top right that you can tap to view the histogram and adjust your image. Don’t forget to check the “HDR Output” box when you are ready to export!
The addition of HDR support to Lightroom for Android and Google’s upcoming Ultra HDR feature are great news for Android users who enjoy taking and editing HDR photos, but don’t want to switch back and forth between applications to do so. Hopefully, we see support for this format expand to more devices and third party image editing apps.
