The ex-Googler workforce behind the 3D design app Rooms from Things, Inc. is out with its newest venture: a playful AI photograph editor known as Mixup. The iOS-only app lets anybody create new AI-generated photographs utilizing “recipes,” that are like Mad Lib-style, fill-in-the-blank prompts on your photographs, texts, or sketches.
As an illustration, you might ask Mixup to show your scribbled sketch into an attractive Renaissance portray, or to reimagine your pet in a humorous Halloween costume. You can use a selfie to see what you’d appear like with a special coiffure, or create one thing even sillier — like envisioning a good friend remodeled into the type of Italian brainrot.
The app is constructed on high of Google’s Nano Banana, however the “recipe” format opens up a brand new solution to work together with the mannequin — turning a generative instrument into a web based social gathering recreation.
“The factor that [Nano Banana] did that no mannequin did earlier than was that it may take your picture and keep it in a convincing approach that wasn’t creepy,” stated Issues, Inc. founder and CEO Jason Toff, whose background contains engaged on experimental apps inside Large Tech firms like Google and Meta, in addition to time spent managing product at Twitter.
However what makes Mixup significantly enjoyable to make use of is that the app’s “recipes” — the user-generated AI prompts — are shareable.
“Generative AI is so highly effective, and but more often than not you go to those instruments and it’s like, right here’s your textual content field — give you one thing artistic. And what do you write?” Toff stated, talking to the shortcomings his workforce noticed with the present AI panorama.
“And so, somewhat than having to be artistic and take into consideration what to create, you see one thing that labored, and you’ll simply fill within the blanks,” he stated.
After customers create a brand new immediate in Mixup, they will select to publish it together with the ensuing photograph to a public feed or simply obtain it for private use. From the feed, different customers can view the photograph and faucet the button subsequent to it to “Attempt recipe.” This enables anybody on the app to reuse the recipe to generate a picture utilizing their very own photograph, textual content, or doodles. (The latter may be made through a easy, in-app drawing characteristic.)
Seeing a photograph alongside the recipe that created it could additionally assist tackle the unpredictable nature of generative AI photographs, the workforce believes.
“One other drawback [with generative AI] is what we have been referring to internally as a ‘slot machine’ drawback, the place you push the button, one thing comes out, you push it once more, one thing totally different comes out, and also you don’t really feel like you will have management over the output,” Toff defined.
In Mixup, nonetheless, customers can see each the photograph and the immediate that created it in a single place, giving them an thought of what their output would appear like. They will additionally toggle a button to see each the earlier than and after picture, if the creator opts to depart this setting on.
Plus, just like OpenAI’s AI video app Sora, customers can add their very own photographs to Mixup to make use of of their AI photographs. In case you select to take action, then any individual you comply with within the app may create AI photographs together with your likeness — a characteristic it calls “mixables.”
The corporate imagines that teams of associates would comply with one another to benefit from the characteristic, however a creator class may additionally doubtlessly emerge on the platform — in the event that they don’t thoughts seeing themselves mashed up in weird methods. (In fact, if you happen to don’t need your picture on the market, both don’t add it or don’t comply with anybody.)
The app additionally makes use of OpenAI know-how to deal with among the anticipated moderation considerations round AI imagery, however Toff admits that Mixup additionally leans closely on Google’s built-in controls inside its picture mannequin to limit issues like sexual content material or violence.
At launch, Mixup is optimized for iOS 26 however is supported on iOS 18 and up. If it takes off, an internet model or Android app could also be added later.
Free customers obtain 100 credit, which equates to $4. In the meantime, photographs value almost 4 cents to supply. When the credit run out, customers can subscribe to totally different tiers providing 100, 250, or 500 credit monthly.
The app launches at midnight on November 21 on the App Retailer globally, however would require an invitation to get in. TechCrunch readers can use the code TCHCRH (till it runs out) to get in. Mixup is accessible for preorder forward of its launch.
This publish was up to date after publication to notice the app launches Nov. 21, not Nov. 20 as beforehand acknowledged.
