Uniform UI

Actually I think these applications are as consistent as can be reasonably expected.

You didn't mention Lightroom. That's where I think you do have a good case! I wouldn't mind seeing Lightroom move in the direction of Photoshop - most urgently, giving it an option for a light interface.

If some consistency could be added that would be great.

By @Daveb21st

Some consistency has been added over the years, DaveB.

As @D Fosse said, these applications were developed by different individuals (or a team in the case of InDesign.) They were also developed in different years and had nothing to do with each other at the time. I'm including Aldus PageMaker because InDesign was developed by the engineers at Aldus and was based on PageMaker.

• Aldus PageMaker: 1985 (Paul Brainerd)
• Illustrator: 1987 (John Warnock)
• Photoshop: 1990 (Thomas and John Knoll)
• InDesign: 1999 (Aldus engineers)

These applications were very, very different in those days. It wasn't until Adobe began shipping them at the same time in suites (Creative Suite) that Adobe began the process of standardizing keyboard shortcuts, where the zero point was, and things like that. And everytime they made a change, those who were affected let out screams and wails that could be heard around the world.

Jane

These are all different teams, working with different programming interfaces. Even if somebody decided they should be similar, it might not be possible within the current frameworks.

Personally, I like an immediate visual feedback telling me which application I'm in.