Reface Takes a Stand and Gets a Standing Ovation

Ariel Ariel
3/4/22

This is a single insight from This Week in Apps #103 - The Downloads Don't Stop. Check out the full article for more insights.


This week Reface, an app that shapeshifts faces using AI to look like celebrities, went viral after taking a stand to show the invasion into Ukraine, the company's home country.

The app compiled actual videos of local attacks and pushed them to their users in Russia, who aren't able to see independent news coverage, as well as users all over the world.

They managed to not just get the word out to users, but also acquire a lot of news users in the process.

Downloads, which average 40K on a normal day, nearly doubled to 75K on Thursday and continued to grow into the weekend, peaking at more than 200K on Sunday.

In total, our estimates show that Reface added more than a million new downloads since last week.

It's interesting to see how an app that's used for entertainment was able to create such awareness, essentially offering news. This isn't something we see often, but in times like these, it's great to see how developers are leveraging what they have to bring changes.

App Intelligence for Everyone!

The insights in this report come right out of our App Intelligence platform, which offers access to download and revenue estimates, installed SDKs, and more! Learn more about the tools or schedule a demo with our team to get started.

Are you a Journalist? You can get access to our app and market intelligence for free through the Appfigures for Journalists program. Contact us for more details.

All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.

Tagged: #news

Related Resources

WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal Are Out! China Bans Messaging Apps as Demand for VPNs Skyrockets
Insights
WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal Are Out! China Bans Messaging Apps as Demand for VPNs Skyrockets

China is waging war on messaging apps. Not all, but the most popular ones. Late Thursday night, China asked Apple to re...

Why is Paramount+ Shutting Down the Showtime Streaming App?
Insights
Why is Paramount+ Shutting Down the Showtime Streaming App?

Success for a streaming app isn't a matter of luck but rather content (and looooots of marketing). That's why Max (HBO's...