Days seem like numbered for Adobe XD. As noticed by developer Alex Ivanovs, the UX / UI product design platform is now not obtainable as a standalone app beneath Adobe’s Inventive Cloud launcher, successfully sunsetting the software program for people who hadn’t already bought it.
Contemplating Adobe is within the technique of buying Figma, a remarkably related set of design instruments, this information isn’t fully sudden. But it surely doesn’t imply that the Adobe XD app is {dead}. Not but anyway.
Anais Gragueb, Senior Supervisor for Inventive Cloud & Innovation Public Relations confirmed to The Verge that Adobe will proceed to assist Adobe XD for present prospects. When you didn’t buy an XD subscription earlier than it was pulled then the app will nonetheless be obtainable to obtain by the Inventive Cloud All Apps plan. This can be a bundle subscription for over 20 Adobe apps that begins from $54.99 per thirty days (in comparison with the $9.99 per thirty days for the standalone Adobe XD app), although Adobe XD will not be one of many Inventive Cloud apps listed on the landing page.
It’s unclear when the standalone Adobe XD app was really eliminated — again in Might, a member of the Adobe Support Community forums highlighted that they had been unable to discover a obtain hyperlink to put in it, and that it had disappeared from the corporate’s record of Inventive Cloud purposes. An Adobe consultant responded within the discussion board to make clear that Adobe XD was now not obtainable.
Adobe hasn’t disclosed any plans to utterly shut down the Adobe XD app. It gained’t be too shocking if that does occur although — when the corporate introduced it was buying Figma again in September final yr, one specific query (except for the varied considerations relating to creative market monopolization) got here to thoughts: doesn’t Adobe have already got its personal app for this?
Figma was Adobe XD’s largest competitor previous to the acquisition. It’s a extra widespread service for a myriad of causes: It’s web-based, has a free-to-use membership tier, and a few designers argue that it’s merely a extra versatile and highly effective instrument for prototyping designs. In accordance with one study from UX Tools, Figma was dominating a whopping 77 % of the UI design market again in 2021 — and its recognition has solely grown since that time.
It’s seemingly that pulling the standalone Adobe XD app from sale is Adobe’s approach of discouraging individuals away from the service earlier than a full closure. In any case, as soon as its acquisition of Figma is accepted, there’s no purpose to maintain working two related purposes that straight compete with one another. Whether or not it does get approval is a matter for regulators, with the EU expected to launch a formal investigation into the matter that would delay — and even unravel — the $80 billion deal.