Another AI application tops the charts in the app store.
This app is called EPIK, a photo editing application where users can create nostalgic, 90s-style "yearbook" photos for themselves.
Another AI photo editing app has gone viral, with similar features to the popular MiaoYa Camera that took the internet by storm not long ago.
This app is called EPIK and has skyrocketed to the top of the App Store rankings in the past week. Users can generate nostalgic, 90s-style "yearbook" photos for themselves, among many other templates available.
Similar to other popular AI apps, EPIK works by allowing users to upload a series of selfies, which EPIK then uses to generate nostalgic yearbook photos of the user in different poses, appearances, and hairstyles.
Developed by Snow Corporation, a subsidiary of the Korean internet search engine giant Naver, EPIK is the same company behind the AI makeover app Snow. In recent weeks, as social media influencers from around the world started sharing their AI-generated photos, EPIK gained attention on the App Store.
EPIK is currently ranked number one on the US App Store, although its popularity on Google Play is not as high, ranking at number 37.
According to market intelligence company Apptopia, EPIK has been downloaded a total of 92.3 million times since its debut in August 2021, including 4.7 million times in the US. However, the company stated that the app only started gaining attention on September 19th, with a rapid increase in interest 10 days later.
To use EPIK's yearbook feature, users need to upload 8-12 selfies, which are then used to create the AI-generated photos.
While the app itself is free to download, users must pay for the AI outputs. They can also choose to pay for faster photo generation—the standard generation (USD 3.99) has a waiting time of up to 24 hours, while the quick generation (USD 5.99) has a waiting time of less than two hours.
EPIK is not the first AI photo app to go viral. Previous popular AI apps like Lensa (offering AI-generated "magical portraits") and Remini (topping the app store charts this summer with its professional AI portraits) have also had their moments of fame.
However, many AI portrait apps lose their appeal after a while. A report released earlier this year by Apptopia found that the first wave of AI photo generators that became popular last winter had lost consumer interest.
For EPIK, this means that its current popularity could be short-lived if users move on to the next AI trend.