P: Lightroom iPad/iPhone Device overheats & brightness dims

[Driven Media Works]

I haven't found anything related to this in online searches, so i thought i would ask Lightroom users.

I have Lightroom mobile installed on my iPhone 7 and when i use it, the phone gets very hot. If the ambient temp is 90 or better (which happens quite often here in Florida), the phone will overheat and shut down after a while. I used it without that happening yesterday (ambient temps around 75), but the phone was still quite hot. I have a pretty thin Spigen case on the phone, and it doesn't get hot with anything other apps.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks,

Steve

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Updating Status to Investigating

[tomb52886260]

This is a widespread proglem it happens on my iPad Pro M2, iPhone 15 Pro Max and my previous iPhone 12 Pro Max. Many of my friends in the photography community also have this issue. The battery saver mode being an inconvenient workaround just evidences that this is a coding and optimisation issue. I am very unhappy with how Adobe are handling this and I simply do not believe anyone who says it only affects a small number of users there are thousands of results on Google evidencing affected users.

[Yousuf32212362w87p]

I guess we can choose to have the option to be able to cook an egg on our tablet while working in Lightroom, or work in battery saver mode. Because Adobe already has our money and doesn't care about fixing the actual issue. I guess when the subscription runs out it is time to find a better alternative that doesn't turn my tablet into a radiator. 

[Pictorial Alchemist]

This has been an ongoing issue. I had to go to Lightroom on desktop For the health of my iPad but that is not ideal for me. I might have to leave LR behind. I've trusted Adobe for a long time so I hope it can be resolved immediately. Overheating issues start for basically anything on my iPad Pro m1 Using Lightroom. And I know these Devices are OP. It's not my first iPad or pro.
The heating starts when making adjustments. Particularly masking. The lag gets more obvious once it's already heating and I'm zooming in select masks. Once it's heated, the battery starts to drain fast. I use basically all masking options. My devices literally heat up enough for my hands to gets warm. 

Can someone give me hope? I'm already looking into other surfaces. 

[CHARNZ]

iPhone12proで編集中に本体が異常に発熱します。

一枚編集すると手で持っていられないぐらい熱くなります。

本体の再起動、Lightroomアプリの再インストール済み、本体のバッテリー容量は98%で正常、iOSは最新バージョン。

以前はこんな不具合はありませんでした。

改善して欲しいです。

[Wongasaur]

Hardware Limitations

I got lots of issues with Adobe (not a fanboy) and I don't mean to propagate consumerism or gear lust, but if you want to process RAW images quickly without generating as much heat, I'd recommend getting more powerful hardware like the new series M of apple silicon or a newer phone. It's the reality of computing. 

CPUs in computers, macs, laptops, phones, & ipads generate heat when they handle large amounts of data quickly. 

Processing raw images has historically been done on computers with fans and cooling systems to dissipate this heat. They've been known to generate quite a bit of heat in order to keep up with the speed at which creatives manipulate their images or data etc. 

If you refer to recommended system specs for PCs here: 

https://helpx.adobe.com/sg/lightroom-cc/system-requirements.html

You'll realise that older iPhones like the iPhone 7 or XS do not meet the minimum hardware requirements. Importantly in RAM, Processor & GPU. I'd compare it to towing a trailer with a car that's underpowered. You'll use a lot more fuel (battery) and generate a lot more heat, trying to punch above your device's weight. 

Software Limitations/Safeguards 

Further to this issue, Apple has engineered safeguards to prevent thermal runaway from your processor from affecting the lithium ion battery inside your iPhone/iPad (which is highly flammable AND inefficient at higher temperatures). These safeguards lower your screen brightness in an attempt to prevent overheating over a certain temperature. Older logic boards (motherboards) sometimes short circuit with age, generating excess heat. Older batteries are less efficient as well & generate more heat for the same energy expenditure - it's just li-ion battery chemistry. 

Potential Solution

Some mobile gamers who put a big strain on their phones during long gaming sessions have started strapping aftermarket cooling solutions to their phones to prevent this drop in performance & screen brightness. I've tried something like this to prolong the life of my hardware & increase how quickly I can process images. It's a bit of trouble but I think it's well worth it to make sure your phone performs well and its battery lives a long life - they're not cheap. 

I got lots of issues with Adobe (not a fanboy) and I don't mean to propagate consumerism or gear lust, but if you want to process RAW images quickly without generating as much heat, I'd recommend getting more powerful hardware like the new series M of apple silicon or a newer phone. It's the reality of computing. 

[Elijah36692119idgv]

Hey Adobe, i have a iphone 14 pro and the moment i open lightroom and lightroom only, after about 5 minutes of starting to edit photos my phone heats up and then dims the screen and runs extremely slow, this doesn't happen with any other app other then, lightroom Mobile and it's really a struggle 

[CHARNZ]

私も同様の現象が発生しています。

[Matt Silverman]

here's my suspicion. Lightroom mobile was one of the first adobe apps ported to iOS. They were still hot on Flash and Air. I bet this is an Air app running in emulation. Needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. 

[Pictorial Alchemist]

This actually makes more sense. It's incredible. I've been using Affinity now.
JUST for comparison guys,

 5 photos, 2 hours.
Used up about 17% battery from 100% 

(cloning, healing brushes, liquifying, having 5+ layers, lighting)

I think until then, I'll just have to pick up a few new habits. Sorry, Adobe. 

M1 iPad Pro User. 

[DVMZCS]

Thank you for that tip @Pictorial Alchemist, I will give it a try, Lightroom is such a P in the A, adobe is such a big company and yet can't fix this issue, time so stop giving them money with subscriptions and switch to another editor, more customer oriented.

[DVMZCS]

Btw, I bought a cooling pad for small computers and attached to the back of my iPad, it seems to work...not ideal but yeah, while I switch to another app

[rdk500]

I've got the iPad Pro M2 and have been experiencing this ever since we started Lightroom CC on mobile. I shoot with a Nikon Z9 and editing the raws with the iPad Pro is sluggish. The screen dims every 5-10 min with just simple color corrections. I have to go back to editing on the PC to not experience this.

When I was originally syncing my RAWS through Lightroom Classic for Desktop, the smart previews would just sync to Lightroom CC from my understanding. That workflow was far better in performance than having the ipad try to render full resolution. I highly suggest the developers allow us toggle our library to smart previews only. I personally do not need the orignal file to be rendered real time on the iPad.

The reason I switched to Lightroom CC exclusively was because that at random time when Lightroom Classis would sync with the edits from Lightroom CC, all of the editing would be magically be erased. This was an absolute nightmare to go through.

[Yousuf32212362w87p]

If people are having issues with ipad pro, than it is only understandable
that ipad Air is also having the same issues. I think the problem with
Lightroom is that it is just not very optimized (pretty obvious actually).
I don't have the same issues with Photoshop it even other CPU intensive
software. I have issues with Lightroom even on my PC, and people actually
need high-end specs in order to run it well.

As for the previews comment. You can sync your library or specific
collections and they will will be available to your Lightroom (cloud
version) as previews. That way you can edit them and they also do not count
towards the cloud storage.

[rdk500]

Yup, I mentioned that was my original workflow. I originally imported photos through Lightroom Classic Desktop and then have it sync the previews to the cloud. But the biggest issue I would face multiple times is that my edits would start being undone when I open Lightroom Classic to have everything synced. But I digress and that is a completely separate issue. I'm hoping Adobe can fix the Lightroom Mobile performance issue soon.

[Alexandre35944838f90c]

Unfortunately, since the issue has been around for years, I don't really believe Adobe can fix it. It's not entirely their fault; those devices are clearly too powerful to be fanless. Even the MacBook Air starts to throttle when it gets hot. The only solution I found is to use a strong phone cooler, like the Razer Cooler Chroma. You'll need a power bank to run it, but it's still very portable and ensures that your iPad will not overheat.

[Yevheniia37133000mjjv]

Hi everyone! 
I need help! 
I took my photos on camera, then download them to Lightroom and edit them on my IPhone 13 Pro Max. As soon as I start editing , the screen goes dark, so dark that I can not continue my editing. It happens ONLY when I am using Lightroom. 
Is anybody else have this problem? 
Any suggestions? 

[Matt Silverman]

Yes. This thread started 7 years ago and adobe has yet to do anything except delete my replies like this one. 

[Yousuf32212362w87p]

Welcome to the dark side (of Lightroom).

If you browse the rest of this thread or others like it, you will see that
you are a new addition to the family suffering from this issue for years.

[Hanna27830174fr0l]

Every time I use Lightroom and start editing photos, I can feel the ipad heating up VERY quickly. 

The main reason for buying this device was the frequent use of Lightroom for photo editing. These high temperatures make me afraid to use Lightroom because it could destroy my battery life.  Using other programs it happens that the ipad gets a little warm but not that much... I think, while editing photos, I could fry eggs on it! All I have to do is start applying some masks, using brushes, applying saved filters and voilà. 

I have the latest version of iPad OS 17 as well as the latest version of Lightroom. With previous versions of ipad OS 17 as well as Lightroom also experienced overheating 

[Hanna27830174fr0l]

I have the same problems on Ipad Pro 3gen. It overheats and brightness dims

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings all,

Adobe Lightroom Mobile product updates have been released. The May 2024 updates contain changes to address this issue. 

Updates will be available via the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and the Galaxy App Store. Note that it can take several days for some customers to receive a notification of an available update via their App Store.

Thank you for being so patient.

[tomb52886260]

I just updated to 9.3 on my M2 iPad Pro and indeed after 5-10 minutes of playing around with Fuji raw files it appears you have fixed the issue. No screen dimming and the rear surface of the iPad doesnt heat up like it used to.

Well done for sorting this but it's remains dissapointing how long it took for you guys to even acknowledge the problem let alone work on a fix. I'll leave this message with a thank you... we got there eventually!

[ak39527375]

I have the same problems on new Ipad air 2024. It overheats and fast mow battery. 

I have the last version of Lightroom Mobile, so that was not the solution.

[Charlie.D]

Hello @ak39527375 

It would help if you could provide more details.  What specific steps, activities, edits, etc were you using?  

Thank you!