The New AI Denoise for Lightroom on iPad Just Made My Camera Bag A Lot Lighter

Last week's Camera Raw and Lightroom desktop update got most of the attention, with Blemish Removal and Generative Expand headlining the release notes. But the August 2026 cycle also brought real changes to Lightroom for iPad and iPhone — including one feature iPad users have been asking for since AI Denoise first shipped on desktop.

AI Denoise on Lightroom for iPad

Until now, Lightroom for iPad couldn't run AI Denoise at all, which was a real limitation if you shoot at high ISOs and travel light. That's fixed with this update, and it works with supported RAW and DNG files, same as desktop.

The workflow is simple. Load a supported file, open the Detail panel in Edit and flip the Denoise switch. The default amount is a solid starting point on most files, but you can control it with the Amount slider, letting you push further for a cleaner result or pull back to hold on to more texture at the cost of some noise. On a noisy high-ISO RAW (ISO 4000, shot with a Sony A1 II and a 400-800mm lens), the difference between untouched and denoised was substantial without the mushy, detail-flattening look you get from some denoise tools.

Two requirements to know before you try it: you need an Apple Silicon iPad (M1 or newer) with at least 8GB of memory, and it currently only works on supported RAW/DNG files. Right now Denoise can be applied one photo at a time, with no batch processing yet. Any Denoise settings you apply on iPad sync to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic like any other edit.

Generative Expand Comes to Lightroom for iOS

Generative Expand — already in Camera Raw and recently improved there — is now built into Lightroom for iOS. It solves a specific problem: you've got a shot where the composition is a little too tight (in this case, a deer photo cropped right at the subject's feet), and you want to open it up without going back to reshoot.

To use it, open Crop and toggle Expand in the bottom left. The canvas turns into a transparent checkerboard around your original frame, and you can then apply an aspect ratio — square for Instagram, for example — and the transparent area fills in automatically. Tapping Generate produces three variations to choose from, each extending the scene convincingly, including matching lighting and depth of field at the edges.

One thing worth knowing before you lean on this feature: each generation uses a generative credit, unless you're on the Creative Cloud Pro plan (formerly called All Apps), which includes unlimited generative use. But, every time you click Generate, that one credit will give you three variations to choose from.

Blemish Removal Moves Into Camera Raw

Blemish Removal itself isn't new — it shipped on Lightroom mobile back at Adobe MAX last October — but it's now been added to Camera Raw as well, which is why it's part of this update cycle.

On mobile, it lives under Quick Actions (the magic wand icon) → Retouch. The tool identifies each person in the frame individually, so with multiple subjects you can dial in skin smoothness separately for each one. If it oversmooths in a spot, or misses one, the Remove and Restore refine tools let you bring back original texture or extend the effect manually.

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