Two former TikTok employees have launched an iOS app called Superpose that uses AI to help users pose for photos. Melody Chu and Jing Liu released the app in July 2026, and it has since been downloaded more than 22,000 times, with users generating over 190,000 poses.
Superpose functions as a camera app. Users take a selfie or a photo of a friend, and the app generates four potential poses using AI. A match-pose feature then helps users position themselves in the frame based on those suggestions. Users receive five free generations per day, with additional packs available for purchase — five generations for $2.99 or 20 for $9.99.
Chu, who previously held product roles at Meta, Nextdoor, Roblox, TikTok, and Slack, said the idea came from a personal frustration. “My husband just takes awful photos of me. It was a true pain point in our marriage where I don’t understand how he gets me to look just so terrible all the time,” she told TechCrunch. Liu, Superpose’s co-founder, was previously a founding engineer at a 3D face-scanning startup and later worked on image and video models at TikTok.
Chu said the company intends to keep its focus on real-life portrait photography rather than AI-generated backgrounds or fantastical imagery. “We want to lean into the core of memory capture versus, say, putting you in a fantastical place that you’ve never been,” she said. The team is also working to improve pose generation quality, which Chu acknowledged can sometimes appear uncanny.
Superpose is not alone in the AI-guided photography space. Google released a Camera Coach feature on Pixel phones, and Adobe added AI photo critique tools to its experimental camera app in July 2026. Chu said Superpose’s aim is to become the best camera app specifically for AI-directed portrait photos.
The startup has raised $2.2 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, selfie app maker Meitu, and OVTR VC.
Source: TechCrunch