Quick Links
I usually use Adobe Express Mobile to create fun image designs from my phone, but it’s missing one major thing compared to the Adobe Express desktop browser tool.
Adobe Express Add-Ons Rock
Adobe Express has lots of cool features, such as Animate All,AI Text Effects generator, and howit connects to other Adobe tools. But, my favorite feature is the Add-Ons.
Adobe Express Add-Ons work like third-party plugins—similar toCanva Apps built into Canva. Add-Ons provide tools to improve designs, videos, management, and creativity in Adobe Express in ways native tools don’t. These extra features elevate Express into an even better tool.
Some great Express Add-Ons include, TikTok Symphony Assistant, Google Suite integration, Accessibility Checker, Attention Insight, and Icon Generator.
Adobe Express Add-Ons Are a Desktop-Only Feature
Adobe Express’s mobile app is easy to use and navigate—and it has some awesomeAdobe Firefly AI tools—but I thought I was losing my mind when I couldn’t find the Add-Ons menu. Found in the left-hand menu on the desktop, it’s not available from my iPhone, Android, or iPad.
Adobe Express Add-Ons are only available from the browser version. This adds complexities if any of my mobile designs require something an Add-On could benefit. I have to open my laptop and access my work from the computer—although, Adobe Express makes it easy to work cross-platform. You can access your files on both mobile or browser.
Canva has a similar blip in its mobile features; however, Canva Apps are only limited on mobile, rather than entirely unavailable. Adobe Express Mobile doesn’t even have a menu option for Add-Ons.
I understand that mobile apps are not as powerful or easy to navigate as their browser or desktop counterparts, but Adobe Express Mobile users would benefit from at least a handful of Add-Ons.
Add-Ons Aren’t Available for All Plans
Student, educational, or enterprise subscriptions—whether you pay for it yourself or it’s offered by your school or workplace—have a severely limited amount of Add-Ons available. And they don’t seem relevant to education or workplaces, either.
Anyone with a free or Premium Adobe Express account that’s not connected to a Creative Cloud subscription can access all Add-Ons. This means those on educational or enterprise plans can create a new Adobe Express account to have access to all Add-Ons instead. It’s hugely inconvenient and seemingly pointless.
Why doesn’t Adobe just allow all Creative Cloud plans to have access to all Add-Ons if they’re not stuck behind a paywall anyway?
Luckily, I don’t have huge uses for most Add-Ons, and I benefit more from being able to connect other Adobe tools through my Creative Cloud plan—such as Acrobat or Illustrator—but these issues with Add-Ons are easy fixes that I think would vastly improve the user experience of Adobe Express for everyone.
