Adobe just bought Sayspring, a program for creating voice-control apps

After teasing the possibility of photo editing via voice control and adding voice searches to Lightroom CC on Android, Adobe is now the owner of a software company that allows creatives to build with voice apps without learning code. On Monday, April 16, Adobe announced the acquisition of Sayspring, a 2017 startup that develops software supporting voice technology apps for use with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Employees of the New York-based Sayspring will be joining Adobe staff beginning on April 17. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Adobe says that it will be integrating Sayspring into the Adobe product portfolio, but the company hasn’t shared additional details on just what that integration will look like. Founder and CEO of Sayspring Mark Webster says that Sayspring will continue to be developed under Adobe, with new features.

While Adobe hasn’t shared details on what’s changing, the acquisition could also impact existing apps. Adobe previously teased the possibility of a Lightroom capable of editing by voice, but so far has only launched a voice-based search in Lightroom CC using Google Assistant on Android devices. Adobe has good reason to experiment with voice — the company cited a study that suggests 55 percent of households in the U.S. are predicted to own a smart assistant by 2022.

“The way we interact with our devices is at a significant inflection point,” Abhay Parasnis, Adobe executive vice president and CTO, said in a blog post. “We’re moving beyond the keyboard and mouse and even our touchscreens to using something that is even more natural — our voice — to interact with technology. Voice tech is growing fast, and we strongly believe it must become an integral part of Adobe’s portfolio moving forward. We’re excited to welcome Sayspring to Adobe, and we’re looking forward to putting the technology to work to empower more people to create next-generation voice experiences.”

Current Sayspring users will still have access to the app as the program is absorbed into the Adobe family — and the software is even making the premium features free in the meantime. New users can now only join Sayspring though an invitation, which can be requested from the Sayspring website.