Shuffles, a collage-making application from Pinterest, is released to the public

Shuffles, a new collage-making app from Pinterest, is now accessible to everyone after earlier this summer’s invitation-only test period. The app gained a following among Gen Z users, who made “aesthetic” collages using the creative expression tool and shared them publicly on TikTok or privately with their friends or the Shuffles community. As a result, Shuffles soared to the top of the Lifestyle app charts in the American App Store in August.

Since then, the app’s reputation has slipped. According to data from Sensor Tower, Shuffles has fallen to No. 228 while Pinterest’s flagship app is still the top Lifestyle app in the U.S. at this time. Shuffles had 20,000 downloads last month, a significant decline from the 211,000 iOS Downloads it received during its initial month on the App Store in July 2022.

Shuffles’ lack of widespread acceptance might in part be a result of the app’s continued invite-only status while it was gaining popularity as a result of viral videos. You would need to obtain an invite code from a current user or sign up for a waitlist in order to use the app. Although there was some early demand among young people due to this exclusivity, it is not a sustainable way to spark interest in a new product.

An app must eventually go live and test its independence. It is now the strategy.

The social network’s TwoTwenty team at Pinterest created the app with the intention of encouraging more internal experimentation and quickening the speed of invention. The Pinterest TV live shopping function was also introduced by this group. However, Shuffles was the first independent app to appear from this group.

Users create collages using Shuffles by taking pictures of the items they want to add with their iPhone’s camera or from Pinterest’s own photo collection. Additionally, Pinterest developed a tool that enables users to extract items from their own images, their boards on Pinterest, or by looking for brand-new Pins. The iOS 16 picture cutout functionality, which lets you copy and paste an object from a photo into other apps, functions similarly to this. This cut-out process is made a little easier by Shuffles, which recognizes the object in the photographs automatically and makes them ready for pasting into your collages. Your photos can also be given motion and effects to make them shake, spin, pulse, swivel, and more. Additionally, these effects can be used on a single item. An image of a record player, for instance, might be added and animated to spin.

The photo collage could then be downloaded to your phone or shared on social media, with friends, or with the Shuffles community.

The application is connected to Pinterest, and not just as a repository for images. Users can touch on products they like in the collages and view them immediately in the Pinterest app, where they can even make purchases if they are listed for sale on a retailer’s website. The items in the collages are connected back to Pinterest.

Shuffles initially became popular because it catered to a younger audience that frequently uses social media for creative, self-expression, rather than just networking. After Apple introduced the ability for users to add widgets in iOS 14, which allowed for the creation of customized iPhone Home Screens, Pinterest itself attracted the attention of this group in September 2020. As a result, there was an explosion of Home Screen designs featuring widgets, unique icons, and complementary wallpapers.

Shuffles may have been influenced by Landing, a more modern firm that developed a digital platform for creating vision boards that has acquired popularity among Gen Z consumers.

With the release of Shuffles to the general public, Pinterest is no longer requiring a waitlist sign-up or an invite code to gain access. The business claims that Shuffles is still in a “test phase” though.

The U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand will all have access to the iOS-only app.