You may not know this, but Microsoft offers a camera app for iPhone that it says provides big advantages over the stock app. This week, the firm updated this app, called Pix, to support effects that turn your photos into digital paintings.

You know, like Prisma. And 100 other apps that do this kind of thing.

“Microsoft Pix is a smart camera app that automatically helps you take better photos without extra effort,” the Microsoft Pix website explains. “It’s built with serious intelligence behind the lens to ensure people and scenes look their best.”

I wrote about Microsoft Pix last summer, but as is so often the case with iPhone camera apps, I found myself drifting back to the stock camera app. But that’s probably more me than the app: In my testing, it did provide a lot of neat functionality. And now it’s gotten even better of course.

And to be fair to Microsoft, apps like Prisma may let you add painting-like effects to your photos, but they’re not built into the camera app. And according to Microsoft, this app is AI-powered. Which, when you think about it, is the buzz phrase of the year.

“Pix Styles transforms pictures into styles inspired by popular works of art or adds an effect such as making the picture look like it’s on fire,” the firm notes. “And Pix Paintings creates a time-lapse of the picture being painted in the artistic style selected, allowing users to see their masterpiece come to life.”

Anyway, it’s worth checking out. You can download Pix for iPhone from the Apple App Store.

Tagged with Microsoft Pix