What it does
Polish is a mobile-first photo and video editor designed for creating social media-ready content. It combines standard editing tools like cropping and color correction with a heavy emphasis on AI-powered features. Users can remove unwanted objects, enhance photo quality, generate stylized AI portraits, and build complex collages with multiple layers, effects, and text.
Where it shines
Polish excels at making complex editing tasks feel simple and almost magical. The AI Remove tool (02:49) is a standout, allowing users to effortlessly paint over and delete objects like a necklace from a portrait, with the app intelligently filling in the background. The AI Enhance feature (04:05) provides a one-tap solution to improve clarity and lighting, demonstrated effectively with a before-and-after slider. Furthermore, the app's ability to handle layered compositions, such as cutting out a subject and placing it on an entirely new background (08:13), gives users a level of creative freedom typically reserved for desktop software.
UX highlights
- Interactive Demos: During onboarding (00:01), the app uses draggable sliders for its before-and-after screens, letting users actively see the value instead of passively swiping.
- Comprehensive Tooling: The main editor provides a vast number of tools, but organizes them into clear, icon-driven categories to avoid overwhelming the user.
- AI Feedback: When an AI process is running, like object removal (03:17) or enhancement (04:07), the app displays a clear progress indicator with descriptive text, managing user expectations.
- Non-Destructive Previews: Features like filters and effects can be previewed instantly with a slider to adjust intensity before applying, giving users fine-grained control.
- Contextual Tutorials: The app often presents a short, animated guide or tooltip the first time a user opens a new feature set, such as the Collage tool (18:31).
- Saved Creations Hub: The 'My Creations' section (23:36) provides a simple gallery for users to access and manage their saved photos and videos.
Monetization & growth
A paywall is presented early, immediately after the onboarding carousel (00:28). It's a soft paywall with a clear 'X' to dismiss it. The offer is for a 'Polish Pro' subscription, which unlocks all features and removes ads, framed with a 7-day free trial followed by an annual charge of $31.99. The app consistently uses crown icons on premium features throughout the editor to serve as persistent upgrade prompts. After a user saves their work, the app presents a rating prompt (19:20), a common tactic to capture positive sentiment.
Who it’s for
Polish is aimed at social media users, content creators, and casual photographers who want to elevate their photos and videos beyond basic filters. The powerful but accessible AI tools appeal to those without professional editing skills who still want to achieve high-quality results for platforms like Instagram. The collage and template features are perfect for users looking to create engaging stories or celebratory posts, like the 'Happy Easter' template shown at 10:47.
Notes & opportunities
The app is incredibly feature-rich, which is its main strength but also a potential challenge. The main toolbar requires both vertical and horizontal scrolling to access all tools, which could be streamlined. For example, grouping related adjustments under a single 'Adjust' icon could simplify the top-level navigation. The subscription flow shown in the video (00:34 - 00:58) appears buggy, with a failure message followed by a success message, which could confuse and deter potential subscribers. Refining this flow for clarity and reliability would be a key improvement.