Pool has launched a new iOS app that uses AI to organize screenshots into searchable collections, helping users find saved recipes, products, travel ideas, quotes, and other items stored in their Camera Roll.
The app asks users for permission to access their photos, then moves screenshots into categories it calls “pools.” These collections are based on the products, places, or other items a user has saved, so each person’s pools are different.
Screenshots Become Searchable Items
Pool focuses on screenshots rather than general bookmarks. Once the app imports screenshots, it can track down the original link connected to a saved image.
For example, if a user saved a product screenshot, Pool can link back to the retailer’s website. If the screenshot came from a recipe on Instagram, the app can surface the ingredients and instructions shared by the creator.
Users can search inside Pool or ask its built-in AI assistant to help find something. The app is available now as a free download on iOS.
Founders Built Pool After Facing The Same Problem
Pool was co-founded by Maxime Junique and Piet Terheyden, who met years ago in a co-working space. Junique told TechCrunch that both founders often took screenshots of things they wanted to remember, then struggled to find them later.
“It sounds pretty obvious, right now, when we say it, but it’s something that we do so naturally — you don’t notice it, necessarily,” Junique said.
The founders asked friends about the same issue and found that they also saved screenshots and forgot them later. Those screenshots included design ideas, shopping inspiration, and other saved references.
AI Helped Revive The Original Idea
Pool first emerged around three years ago from Spinoff Studio, the founders’ product and design studio. The first version was built in Lisbon over a few weeks while the founders lived out of a van.
They later paused the app and shifted to B2B SaaS products that could generate revenue. The studio went on to build Waitless, a CRM software product that was acquired last year.
The founders returned to Pool after AI tools became more capable of handling personal and unstructured datasets. Junique said many AI products focus on productivity data such as emails, bank transactions, and chat logs, while screenshots represent a personal dataset that has received less attention.
Pool Plans A Second AI App
Pool also treats screenshots like memories, meaning some become less relevant over time. A screenshot of an event barcode could disappear after the event passes, while an event flyer could be used to find the ticketing site.
The founders plan to build a second app based on this concept. Pool’s rubber duck mascot, which users press and drag across the screen to enter the app at launch, will become part of the brand for the planned AI assistant app.
Pool previously raised just over $2 million in a pre-seed round from General Catalyst, Kima Ventures, Paris-based Source Ventures, and angel investors including Winston Du, Julian Blessin, and Thomas Ricouard.
Featured image credits: Magnific.com
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