Should you run Photoshop on a Lumia phone? No, but someone did anyway

Lumia 950 Photoshop
Lumia 950 Photoshop (Image credit: @imbushuo on Twitter)

What you need to know

  • Someone managed to run Photoshop on a Lumia phone.
  • The phone has been hacked to run Windows 10 on ARM.
  • Adobe recently released a beta version of Photoshop compiled for Windows 10 on ARM.

Yesterday, Adobe released a beta version of Photoshop compiled for Windows 10 on ARM. Adobe is no doubt targetting devices like the Surface Pro X and Galaxy Book S with the rollout of an ARM-friendly version of Photoshop, but someone else decided to go in another direction. Twitter user "imbushuo" managed to get the photo editing app to run on an old Lumia device.

The phone has been modified to run Windows 10 on ARM, so don't go digging through your drawers hoping to replicate the feat with your old phone. There's a passionate community that modifies Lumia devices to run Windows 10 on ARM, and this is the latest fun trick they've pulled off.

Modders and hackers have managed to do all sorts of things with older Lumia hardware, including adding Continuum support, adding a custom phone dialer app, and adding the ability for devices to detect a SIM while running Windows 10.

Projects like this are more for fun, and Photoshop probably doesn't run that well on a modded phone from 2015, but it's nice to see people accomplish feats like this and wonder what might have been.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He's covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean's journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.