AI-powered
photo management app Zyl is going back to the drawing board with a streamlined,
more efficient redesign. The app is now focused on one thing only — resurfacing
your old memories.
Taking
photos on a smartphone is now a daily habit. But what about looking back at
photos you took one year, three years or even eight years ago? It can pile up
quite quickly. Zyl thinks there’s emotional value in those long-forgotten
photos.
Before this
update, Zyl helped you delete duplicates, create smart photo albums based on
multiple criteria and collaborate on photo albums. In other words, it was a
utility app.
But when the
company started talking with some of their users, they realized that one
feature stood out and had more value than the rest.
Applying
those AI-powered models to your photo library is a great way to find interesting
photos. But nobody was really looking at them.
When you
open the app, you get a view of your camera roll with your last photos at the
bottom. There’s also a big green button at the bottom. When you tap on it, Zyl
creates a satisfying animation and unveils an important photo.
If you took
multiple photos to capture this moment, the app stitches together those photos
and create a GIF. You can then share this Zyl with a friend or family member.
But the true
magic happens if you try to get another Zyl. You have to wait 24 hours to
unlock another photo. The next day, the app sends you a notification when your
photo is ready. You can always open the app again and look at your past Zyls in
a new tab with your most important photos.
Unlike
Timehop or Facebook’s “On This Day” feature, Zyl doesn’t look at your social
media posts and focuses on your camera roll. Zyl isn’t limited to anniversaries
either.
Just like
before, Zyl respects your privacy and leaves your photos alone. They’re never
sent to the company’s server — Zyl uses the same photo database as the native
one on your iPhone or Android phone so it doesn’t eat up more storage.
Over time,
the app could give you more options by leveraging facial recognition and the
intrinsic social graph of your photo library. Maybe you want to see more photos
of your brother as his wedding is coming up.
And that notification can be a powerful nudge. I
keep opening the app and sharing old photos. Zyl is a good example of the
combination of something that you care about combined with an element of
surprise.
Comments