For creatives, iPad users have a major advantage over Android tablets: lots of professional apps are only available on Apple's slates. However, that advantage might not last for much longer.
During the Galaxy S22 launch event, Samsung announced its new tablets, the Galaxy Tab S8 line, would soon get compatibility with Lumafusion, which is one of only a very few top-end video editing apps available to mobile devices.
Lumafusion is currently only available on the App Store for Apple devices (where it will set you back $29.99 / £25.99 / AU$46.99), but it'll be coming to the Galaxy Tab S8 family in the first half of 2022, Samsung confirmed. Its Android price is yet to be confirmed.
We knew LumaTouch, the company behind the app, was working on Android and ChromeOS versions of its software, but we didn't know when these were coming.
Like iPads, the new Galaxy Tab S8 devices have stylus compatibility and top-end screens, but the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has the advantage of being much bigger than even the iPad Pro 12.9, with a giant 14.6-inch display.
Such a big screen will be really useful for video editing, so you can see a timeline, preview and media pool all at once.
Analysis: Androids will be better creative tools
This news is bigger than it seems though - Lumafusion is one of the flagship iPad apps. When Apple unveiled its iPad Pros with the M1 chipset, the video editor was one of the tools chosen to showcase all the new processing power.
With many editing tools that you can't find on other apps, and a layout more akin to editing platforms on computers, Lumafusion is a really important app. Multiple members of the TechRadar team use it for their own workflows.
By no longer being exclusive to Apple's hardware, LumaTouch is suggesting that Android slates are equally useful for creative and professional workflows as iPads. We could see more apps follow suit in the near future.
At TechRadar, we've previously had trouble recommending top-end Android tablets for creatives, as the bigger selection of useful platforms on iPad make them the hardware of choice for many functions. Perhaps that won't be the case for much longer though, which could mean great things for Android slates.
When LumaFusion might arrive on other Android tablets, however, is unclear. LumaTouch co-founders Chris Demeris and Terri Morgan sent TechRadar this statement:
"As you know, just about every Android mobile device is different and has different requirements so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. However it is our goal to make LumaFusion available to the widest possible array of devices, but we won’t do so until we’ve thoroughly vetted and tested those devices - again, it’s about creating the best LumaFusion experience possible for users and we don’t compromise on that priority."
And while the Samsung Tab S8 edition's basic functionality will match that of LumaFusion on iOS, LumaTouch's founders told TechRadar that the Android version is based on LumaFusion 2.4, which means it will lag behind the 3.0 edition currently available on iOS. There will also be some limitations on the Tab S8 Android app "like supported frame rates, supported media, and the number of tracks available for particular devices." However, the company told us it's already working on ironing out those issues.
LumaTouch hasn't announced LumaFusion for Tab S8 pricing but tells TechRadar it expects to be in line with LumaFusuion's iOS app price.
