App Showcase: Crushon AI

What it does

Crushon AI is a platform for chatting and roleplaying with AI-powered virtual characters. Users can browse a vast library of pre-existing characters created by the community, engage in open-ended conversations, or even build their own AI companions from scratch. The app emphasizes personalization and immersion, allowing users to customize their chat experience and share noteworthy interactions with others.

Where it shines

The app's strength lies in its deep customization and community features. The character creation process (08:06) is extensive, giving creators multiple fields to define an AI's personality, background, and even example dialogue. This results in a diverse and interesting character library. Furthermore, the "Scene Card" feature (01:45) allows users to set a custom background for each chat, significantly boosting the feeling of immersion. Finally, the public "Memories" feed (05:32) is a clever social layer that turns private chats into shareable content, providing both social proof and a powerful discovery tool.

UX highlights

• Rich Discovery Filters: The app provides a powerful filtering system with dozens of tags (06:50), enabling users to find hyper-specific characters that match their interests.
• Swipe-based Discovery: A secondary discovery mode (05:03) uses a Tinder-style swipe interface, offering a faster, more serendipitous way to find new characters.
• Contextual Options: Tapping a character's avatar in a chat brings up a menu with relevant actions like saving memories, sharing, and personalization (02:50), keeping controls close at hand.
• Profile Cards: During onboarding, users create a 'Profile Card' (01:13) instead of a generic profile. This reframes data input as an act of character creation, aligning with the app's core loop.
• Clear Monetization Cues: Premium features are clearly marked with a 'VIP' tag (02:25), so users understand the value of a subscription before hitting a paywall.
• Creator-Centric Profiles: Creator profiles (03:39) showcase all the characters they've made, encouraging users to follow creators who build AIs they enjoy.

Monetization & growth

Monetization is primarily handled through a multi-tiered subscription model. Users encounter soft paywalls when attempting to use premium features like group chats (02:26) or custom chat bubble themes (03:28). The subscription page (02:33) presents four distinct plans: Free, Standard, Premium, and Deluxe, each with a clear list of features. Discounts are offered for yearly plans to incentivize longer commitments. The app also has a coin-based economy, with daily check-in rewards (11:16) that can likely be used for messages or other small perks, encouraging daily engagement.

Who it’s for

Crushon AI is designed for individuals interested in roleplaying, creative writing, and companionship through AI chat. The extensive library of anime-style characters and fantasy-related tags suggests a target audience familiar with gaming and fandom cultures. It appeals to both consumers who want to chat with existing characters and creators who enjoy the process of building and sharing their own AI personalities.

Notes & opportunities

The app is feature-rich, but the sheer number of options could be overwhelming for new users. The main feed presents many categories and filters at once, which could benefit from more progressive disclosure. Additionally, the character creation process is powerful but long. A simplified 'quick create' mode could lower the barrier to entry for new creators. Finally, the distinction between 'Profile Cards' for the user and 'Scene Cards' for the chat background could be made clearer with a brief tutorial.