What is the Lensa app? How to use revealed as AI selfies take the internet by a storm

Lensa, an AI-powered avatar-making and photo editing app, has created a sudden wave of AI-generated selfies on social media. The app allows users various fine-editing tools, such as removing objects or blemishes from photos.

Though the app has been in existence since 2018, its new AI selfie generator called the Magic Avatar feature has now gone viral, boosting the app's ratings.

Swarms of AI-generated selfies from Lensa are being shared across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

The magic avatar comes with several tools. It allows users to retouch a picture, making one's skin look flawless. They can either change or blur the background. They can also choose an artsy effect. These options can be auto-adjusted.

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How to generate an avatar with Lensa?

After downloading the app, one needs to create an account or opt for the one-week trial option. The app will then ask the user to select 10-20 photos based on certain criteria – once it is met, the photos will be imported.

The next step is to select a gender from the given options. Then one needs to choose the number of avatars they want. It must be noted that users have to pay for the avatars even if it's a free trial. The prices are set at $2, $3, and $4 for 50, 100, and 200 avatars, respectively.

After selecting the number of avatars, users must tap on the purchase option at the bottom of the screen. The AI will take some time to generate the avatars. Once the process is finished, press the smiley in the upper-left corner of the page. Tap on the pack of avatars to view them.

The results look like digital art, and they come in several categories, including sci-fi, superhero, mystical, horror, anime, and more.

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Is the app free?

Lensa doesn't provide a completely free service. Albeit their free trial option, one must enter their debit or credit card details to proceed. Otherwise, the magic avatar feature cannot be used. Its monthly and yearly charges are $7.99 and $39.99, respectively.

One can, however, cancel their subscription at any time before the expiration of their trial period. The app doesn't charge any compensation fee for it.

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A look at the recent spike in Lensa's popularity

SensorTower, an app analytics firm, reported that Lensa had been downloaded about 22.2 million times since its launch in 2018. With its new feature - the magic avatar - being included in November this year, there has been a significant spike in its downloads and consumer spending. In October, there were 21,900 downloads, whereas, in November, it increased to 1.6 million.

The U.S. usually generates 58% of Lensa's consumer spending as the AI's largest market. However, lately, its popularity has also increased in Brazil, with 31% percent of the app's downloads emerging from the country.

Usually, these editing apps that go viral tend to be malware or vectors. Often, users have expressed concern about the photos remaining stored in the app's cloud once uploaded.

When FaceApp, the Russia-based AI editor, went viral, the app's developer said that they might store the photos in the cloud uploaded on the app for "performance traffic reasons." But they claimed to have deleted most of the images within 48 hours. It still wasn't very reassuring, and the entire deal left users quite exposed to the risk of their pictures being misused.

However, Prisma Labs, the technology company that developed Lensa AI, declared that Lensa uses AWS cloud services for processing users' photos. After the AI model finishes tracing a user's photo, the images are immediately deleted.