The mustache obsession continues with a new iOS app. Stachify is the creation of mobile developer Shane Vitarana, who helmed 2008’s popular Drum Kit app. His newest creation hit Apple‘s App Store last week, allowing mobile photographers to snap photos of their friends and automatically affix their stache of choice to their upper lip.
The $0.99 app includes a whole slew of classy mustaches, including the Pencil, Gentleman, Bostonian, and Ranger. Vitarana said he got the idea for a mustache-centric application after Apple introduced the iPhone’s new face detection feature at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference last year.
“I knew face detection would open possibilities for all kinds of cool apps,” Vitarana said. “I initially started working on an app called InstaMorph that had all kinds of facial effects, like pirate hats, glasses, etc. The amount of development involved got a bit overwhelming so I decided to strip it down to the minimum viable product.”
Living in eccentric facial hair capitol of the world, San Francisco, Vitarana had plenty of inspiration when trying to decide how he would narrow down the scope of his original idea. “It was probably a combination of Movember [an event where mustaches are grown throughout the month of November] and living in the Mission district,” he said. “They are also personally intriguing to me, as I’ve been experimenting with my own facial hair.”
Vitarana said that his new app was “heavily influenced” by the success of Instagram, admitting that while he’s happy for the founders, at the same time the company’s $1 billion acquisition by Facebook was “a little outrageous.”
“A camera app is hard work though, so I have much more of an appreciation for apps of the like,” he said. “Instagram nailed the workflow; I don’t think it can get much better.”
According to Vitarana, users are loving his latest app, with more than 500 photos stachified since its launch last week. In terms of the future of the Stachify, Vitarana said there will definitely be a beard update of some kind. “Maybe even a beard pack,” he said. “I’m planning on adding some in app purchases.”
