Applications
The Meitu App to wow Indian users with the launch of its new ‘Animate’ feature
MUMBAI: Leading global innovator in mobile photo and video technology, Meitu is set to disrupt India’s photo-editing app segment by unveiling its newest Animate feature. Using AI technology, Animate brings pictures to life with a variety of dazzling effects. Whether it’s floral aura, vanishing heart, flying butterfly, flowing hair, petal burst, flame nebula, color filter overlays, or other motion filters, the Animate feature turns your imagination into reality in just one tap.
Reports indicate that Indian users spend several hours on selfie-editing apps each day, with as many as nearly 2 million people using animated effects for their photos. The Meitu App which has garnered a 435% increase in daily active users (DAU) in India in June has been found to be particularly popular in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh, which substantially contribute to the Meitu App’s overall growth in the market. In this way, the Animate feature speaks to India’s fascination with photo-editing tools that enhance users’ social media posts in exciting new ways.
Chen JianYi, head of the Meitu App, said, “We believe in turning the extraordinary into reality. Today’s users are always seeking new ways to retouch their photos, but are typically limited to basic filters and editing options. Our extensive research into consumer behavior and preferences shows that users want more out of their photo editing experience. For this reason, we have created a feature that offers a broad range of opportunities for users to explore their creativity by turning their static photos into dynamic flowing worlds.”
Instantly turn static photos into magical flowing worlds
The Animate feature adds motion to regular photos, turning them into a visual delight. Inspired by some of the world’s most beloved tales of magic and fantasy, the Animate feature allows users to experience the feeling that they are the masters of their own dynamic universe, just like the wizards and witches of fantastical realms. Not only does the Animate feature create magical portraits instantly, but it may also be used on landscapes, objects, group photos, full body portraits, and more.
Smart Mode: Ready-to-use templates for the ultimate photo editing experience
The Animate feature offers a quick tutorial to help users navigate its many possibilities. Simply open the Meitu App, and select a photo and magical template to create a customised animated image. Smart mode is extremely easy-to-use, and offers a range of effects such as Bling Bling, Sakura Beam, and more. Each effect includes different templates to meet users’ needs with multiple scene features.
Manual Mode: Allows more advanced users to fully explore their creative potential
More advanced users have the option to use manual mode to explore their creativity with the freedom to edit their photos manually. In this way, users can adjust their photos as they see fit, to create stunning and personalised works of art.
Meitu’s AI technology creates stunning film-quality effects
The Meitu App's Animate function uses a combination of cutting-edge AI technologies from MTLab that include instance segmentation and portrait area in-painting technologies. Its portrait segmentation technology is able to handle complex scenarios with multiple people and complicated backgrounds. Not only can it segment humans from scenery, it may also be used to add customised details to individuals within a group.
Using portrait segmentation technology, Animate’s portrait area in-painting function is able to give portraits entirely new backgrounds. Animate offers a number of background effects, such as Sparkly Locks, Magical World, and Angelic, to add even more enchanting ambience to images that have been enhanced with AR or particle effects.
Upcoming versions will allow users to apply unique effects to individuals within a group picture in Smart Mode. The Meitu App’s superior instance segmentation algorithm will also continue to improve the processing speed, robustness, precision of different kinds of images.
Create dynamic fantasy worlds in just one tap with Animate!
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
