Face filters have always had a very special place in social media; first with Snapchat, one of the pioneers in this field, and now with Instagram. They are almost as old as the platforms that designed them, and have steadily won popularity over the years.
In 2017, with an update of the iOS operating system, Apple included a curious new functionality: thanks to its AI-based facial recognition, any iPhone user could recreate his or her face in an animated, emoji-like version, named by the Cupertino company as “memoji”.
In the midst of 2021, it’s no surprise that apps like ToonMe or DollToon, which are designed to give real photographs the appearance of your favorite cartoons, are so popular.
Photographs become cartoons with the power of artificial intelligence
As iPhones do, these apps use artificial intelligence to transform real images into The Simpson’s caricatures.
Not only does ToonMe transform all types of photographs, it does it in a huge array of styles, from anime that looks like it was drawn by Studi Ghibli’s one and only Hayao Miyazaki, to esthetics that recreate the look of cartoons like Rick and Morty.
So powerful is its AI that the cartoonization takes just a couple of minutes; however, it is still a work in progress, as its development team points out.
As for Dolltoon, the app focuses entirely on the well-known Simpson esthetics, and although it competes with ToonMe in certain aspects, its free version is somewhat limited.
Thanks to their versatility and ease of use, both apps are a sensation on social networks, where the Toonme Simpson’s style challenge is quite viral. This cartoon has quite a big fandom and with the app photographs can become Simpson’s cartoons.
On the PlayStore alone, ToonMe has been downloaded more that 10 million times, while Dolltoon, with a more specific audience, has around 500,000 downloads.
A revolutionary filter, dozens of options and free versions
ToonMe and Dolltoon have won their share of popularity because of their easy-to-use interface and free versions. With ToonMe, we are talking about dozens of different options and a versatile free mode.
Just download them from the Google PlayStore and install them on your device. They both share a similar and quite straightforward browsing: just choose the photo you want to use from your gallery or take one to cartoonize it.
With ToonMe you have access to 5 different cartoons, but you can unlock more options in the Labs tab. Dolltoon, on the other hand, focuses only on giving your picture the Simpson’s look.
There’s no doubt that both ToonMe and Dolltoon (although to a lesser extent), are much more than a filter app: they are a way to immerse yourself in the esthetics of the cartoons you love and share this passion with others. This is why there is such a boom on social media.
