If your camera roll is full of pictures of your friends that you’ve been meaning to send but never do, you’re not alone—and someone’s finally trying to fix that.
Mayank Bidawatka, co-founder of the now-defunct Indian social media platform Koo, just launched a new photo-sharing app called PicSee. It quietly dropped on iOS and Android this week, and it might just change how we share memories with the people closest to us.
What Is PicSee, and Why Does It Matter?
At its core, PicSee is built around one simple idea: your photos of your friends shouldn’t stay lost in your endless gallery.
Instead of relying on WhatsApp, Instagram, or other messaging apps where photo sharing is often an afterthought, PicSee automates the process. It finds photos of your friends on your phone and gets them to the people who actually want them — without needing endless reminders or nudges.
Mayank said the idea came from a problem we’ve probably all experienced: “Your friends probably have hundreds of photos of you that you don’t have.” They either forgot to send them or didn’t even realize they had them.
After the shutdown of Koo in 2024, Mayank had time to pick this idea back up. And so, PicSee was born.
How It Works
Here’s how PicSee takes the hassle out of personal photo sharing:
- It scans your phone’s camera roll for your friends’ faces (but all on-device, no cloud snooping)
- You send a sharing request to people you want to connect with on PicSee
- Once accepted, it shows them the first batch of photos you’ve taken of them
- After that, it keeps detecting new photos and prompts you to share
- If you don’t act, the app shares the photos automatically after 24 hours (but only with your pre-approved friends)
- You can still review and cancel any photos before they go out
- Sent something by mistake? You can recall it, and the app removes it from the other person’s PicSee
It’s kind of like having a shared photo assistant quietly working in the background.
A Focus on Privacy, With Some Smart Constraints
PicSee doesn’t mess around with privacy. Everything from face detection to photo management happens on your device. Photos aren’t uploaded to the cloud, and connections are encrypted. It also filters out NSFW content and blocks screenshots.
That said, the app probably isn’t built for sending pics to your entire contact list. It makes much more sense for tight-knit groups — like best friends, families, or couples.
And for now, it doesn’t solve the classic “Hey, can you send me that one photo from the party?” problem, especially from bigger events. But the team is already working on adding smart album creation, duplicate removers, and even Google Photos and iCloud integration.
There’s also a built-in chat, so you can leave comments under shared photos, and plans to support face detection in videos, too.
Who’s Behind It?
The app comes from a company called Billion Hearts, backed by $4 million in funding led by Blume Ventures, with support from General Catalyst and Athera Ventures.
With some of India’s tech veterans behind the wheel, it’ll be interesting to see how PicSee evolves — and if it can find a solid spot in a world where photo sharing already feels, well, covered.
Final Take
PicSee’s not trying to recreate social media. It’s not about likes or followers. It’s about fixing the very real gap in how we share meaningful photos with people who matter most.
Whether it catches on or not, it’s refreshing to see an app that focuses on quality and intention, rather than just more content.
You can try PicSee now on both iOS and Android. And maybe, just maybe, get back those old vacation photos your best friend promised to send you six months ago.
