It's been a big year for digital creativity. As a creative software editor for TechRadar ProI've spent the last 12 months covering the seemingly constant stream of updates, beta launches, platform overhauls, and the evolution of AI tools from commonplace to essential for professional workflows. And these are the 8 most interesting updates I've seen in 2025.
From one of best photo editors becoming completely free from the emergence of generative AI models that are easily integrated into existing pipelines, the creative application space continues to change dramatically. These new tools mean it's never been easier to imagine, generate, and collaborate on creative endeavors—whether you're a solo content creator or a creative professional working in a team.
Affinity goes free
Probably the best news I've covered all year – Affinity is now completely free for everyone (and if you pay for a Canva Pro subscription, you get a few more tools too).
Rumors began long before the reveal when the site blocked the ability to purchase its apps and then made all apps free for iPad users. Then came the news that yes, all Affinity apps would be combined into one platform and would be free for everyone.
Affinity Photo, Publisher and Designer have long been some of my favorites. Adobe Photoshop alternativesInDesign and Illustrator. It may not be as multifunctional as Adobeproprietary creative software, but it will fit most creators in every way.
Considering what's on offer and what I expect to see in 2026, I still can't believe it. But this cannot be missed. Affinity CEO Ash Hewson explained this TechRadar Pro his arguments for the abolition of all lifetime licenses in This article.
Adobe Premiere comes to mobile devices
Adobe Premiere Pro is the king of the video editing world, and I was over the moon when I saw that a nearly fully functional version had arrived on the App Store, along with the promise of an Android version coming soon.
Known as Adobe Premiere, it easily ranks among best video editing apps around, especially since it's free to use (though, as usual with Adobe tools, a subscription unlocks even more tools). Even though it's an iPhone and iPad app, we found that it provides extensive editing capabilities, including multi-track editing, color correction, and a variety of audio processing tools. our review.
Adobe Premiere truly seems to be the future of mobile video editing for creators, and I can't wait to see what else it has to offer in 2026.
Arrival of Nano Banana Pro
No look at 2025 would be complete without at least a passing mention of AI. And in the creative field, the outstanding event for me this year was the graduation GoogleNano Banana Pro. Designed for Gemini 3 Pro users, it greatly outperforms the competition in AI-powered image creation and editing.
Connecting to Google Search's knowledge base for real-time insights, Nano Banana Pro boasts context-rich visuals, more accurate and legible text than its predecessors, improved consistency and blending, and studio-quality control over your images.
You can find out more at our article is here.
Canva launches its creative operating system
Canva has had a big year in content creation thanks to its world tour and the opening of Creative operating system is a space that seamlessly combines design, collaboration and publishing on one platform.
The core update brought a refreshed design to Visual Suite, a superior video editing tool, as well as editable AI output trained to understand design complexity. When I spoke with Anna Wood, Head of Product Marketing at Canva This articleshe explained the idea behind Creative OS.
“It's no longer just a tool for creating one graphic. We are creating something much greater. We like to think of it as an all-in-one platform that covers the entire creative journey, from your first idea to publishing and tracking performance. Whether you're designing, collaborating with a team, running a campaign, teaching in the classroom, or using AI to speed things up, it all happens in one place.”
Photoshop appeared in ChatGPT
Adobe dominates the creative software space, so I wasn't shocked to see tools appear in ChatGPT – it's a natural fit for apps already loaded with AI.
Open ChatGPT and now you can use photoshopExpress and Acrobat PDF editor right on the platform. What really struck me here is that you don't need to know the ins and outs of using each app. Using natural language, simply describe what you want to achieve and wait for the results. AI will do all the work for you.
We ran a demo of Photoshop running inside ChatGPT and the results were impressive. Drag the image onto the tooltips panel, describe the edits you want to make, and… that's it, job done. You can then use the built-in sliders and controls to further refine the output.
Edit YouTube short films in Adobe Premiere
Shortly after the launch of Adobe Premiere, the video editing app received its first big update, adding a space specifically designed for video creation. YouTube Shorts.
What's more, the update addresses one of the biggest problems we've had with Premiere: the lack of transitions.
So what can you expect from this update? In addition to these additional transitions, there are several exclusive effects, title presets, the ability to create and customize your own templates, and the ability to easily share your videos directly to YouTube—all within the Premiere app.
You can read more in my article is here.
Figma is seriously expanding its design tools
This year I attended Figma's annual FigJam conference, where the company unveiled a series of major expansions to the popular design platform.
You can find out all the details in my lighting is herebut key highlights include the inclusion of content ideation platform Figma Make, AI-powered website builder Figma Sites, Figma Draw – a variation of Adobe Illustrator – and Figma Buzz for creating social media assets.
On top of that, at the end of 2025, in an effort to expand the capabilities of creating and editing images, videos, animations, motion graphics, and visual effects creation and editing on the platform, Figma bought node-based AI editing tool Weavy and renamed it Figma Weave. The same powerful tool that is now part of one of the best design tools.
Freepik Spaces launches
AI was on the agenda at this year's Freepik Upscale conference. it was everywhere I looked. But the big news was the launch of Freepik Spaces.
Instead of an endless mass of small updates to AI models, this was a full-fledged product that allows users to create and collaborate on an infinite browser-based canvas. Its node-based workflow is very easy to use (everyone from creative professionals to non-designers can use these tools), allowing anyone to create AI-powered images and videos that are suitable for business.
In the article I summarized 5 Key Takeaways Creative Teams Should Know About Freepik Spaces.
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