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The former Googler team is behind 3D design applications rooms from Stuff, Inc It came out with its latest project: a fun AI-powered photo editor called mixup. The iOS-only app lets anyone create new AI-generated images using “recipes,” which is Mad Lib-style, prompting you to fill in the blanks for your photos, text, or graphics.
For example, you can ask mixup To transform your written drawing into a beautiful Renaissance painting, or to reimagine your pet in a funny Halloween costume. You can use a selfie to see how you would look with a different hairstyle, or create something a little more clever – like imagining a friend transforming into a Italian brain.
The app is built on top of Google’s Nano Banana, but the “recipe” format opens up a new way to interact with the model — turning a generative tool into a multiplayer online game.
“The thing that[Nano Banana]did that no model has done before is that it can take your image and hold it in a convincing, non-intimidating way,” said the founder and CEO of Things, Inc.. Jason Tuffwhose background includes working on experimental apps within major tech companies like Google and Meta, as well as time spent in product management at Twitter.
But what makes Mixup especially fun to use is that the app’s “recipes” — user-generated AI prompts — are shareable.
“Generative AI is very powerful, and yet, most of the time, you go into these tools and it’s like, ‘Here’s your text box — come up with something creative. And what do you write?’ Toff said, speaking about the shortcomings his team has seen in the current AI landscape.
“So, instead of having to be creative and think about what to create, you see something that worked, and you can just fill in the blanks,” he added.
After users create a new prompt in Mixup, they can choose to publish it with the resulting image to a public feed or download it for personal use only. From the feed, other users can view the photo and click the button next to it to “try the recipe.” This allows anyone on the app to reuse the recipe to create an image using their photo, text, or doodle. (The latter can be done via a simple drawing feature within the app.)
The team believes that seeing an image alongside the recipe you’ve created could also help address the unpredictable nature of generative AI images.
“Another problem (in generative AI) is what we used to refer to internally as the ‘slot machine’ problem, where you press a button, and something comes out, and then you press it again, and something different comes out, and you don’t feel like you’re controlling the output,” Tuve explained.
However, in Mixup, users can see the image and the prompt that created it in one place, giving them an idea of what their results will look like. They can also toggle a button to see the before and after photo, if the creator chooses to leave this setting turned on.
Additionally, similar to OpenAI’s Sora video app, users can upload their own photos to Mixup for use in their AI images. If you choose to do so, anyone you follow in the app can also create AI photos that look like you — a feature it calls “mixables.”
The company imagines that groups of friends will follow each other to take advantage of this feature, but it’s also possible that a category of content creators will emerge on the platform – if they don’t mind seeing themselves mashed up in weird ways. (Of course, if you don’t want your photo published, don’t upload it or don’t follow anyone.)
The app also uses OpenAI technology to address some of the expected moderation concerns around AI photos, but Toff admits that Mixup also relies heavily on Google’s built-in controls within its image model to restrict things like sexual content or violence.
At launch, Mixup was optimized for iOS 26 but is supported on iOS 18 and later. If successful, a web version or Android app may be added later.
Free users get 100 points, which is equivalent to $4. Meanwhile, the cost of producing images is approximately 4 cents. When they run out of credits, users can sign up for different tiers that offer 100, 250, or 500 credits per month.
The app will launch at midnight on November 21 on the App Store globally, but will require an invitation to enter. TechCrunch readers can use code TCHCRH (while supplies last) to enter. Mixup is available for pre-order ahead of its launch.
This post was updated after publication to note that the app will launch on November 21, not November 20 as previously reported.