Yesterday's Top Launches: 5 Tools from February 22, 2026 | thistools

Yesterday brought another wave of digital tools and creative platforms, continuing February's trend of impressive new developer tools and consumer apps landing in the wild. If you felt a shift in the tech atmosphere, it might have been the collective launch of five distinct products, each aiming to solve a different kind of problem. From AI-driven identities to streamlined video editing, here’s a look at what just went live.

Pika AI Selves

Imagine creating a persistent digital version of yourself that can handle conversations, manage social posts, and even learn from its interactions. That’s the core premise behind Pika AI Selves. It’s designed for anyone who feels stretched thin by the demands of a constant online presence—content creators, busy professionals, or even people who are just curious about digital identity. You essentially train an AI to act as your stand-in, capable of growing and adapting over time.

The "living" aspect is what sets it apart from static chatbots. It’s not just programmed with responses; it’s meant to evolve. The freemium model makes it easy to dip a toe in the water without commitment, though one has to wonder about the long-term implications. How much of our digital interactions are we comfortable automating? It’s a fascinating, if slightly unnerving, step toward a future where our online selves might have a life of their own. For now, it’s a web-based experiment in outsourcing your persona.

Moonlight

In an age where our camera rolls are overflowing with thousands of photos, most of which we never see again, Moonlight offers a refreshingly simple solution. This mobile app ditches complex albums and AI-based face grouping for a straightforward, chronological view of your library. Its main feature is surfacing a curated selection of your past photos each day, turning your personal history into a series of full-screen stories.

The beauty of Moonlight is in its restraint. It doesn’t try to be a powerful editor or a social network. It just wants to help you rediscover moments you’ve forgotten. This is perfect for anyone who feels overwhelmed by their photo library or nostalgic by nature. By presenting just a few photos at a time, it encourages a more mindful and enjoyable viewing experience, free from the endless scrolling through thumbnails. The fact that it’s completely free removes any barrier to giving it a try.

Prism Videos

The process of creating a short-form video can be a logistical nightmare, often involving hopping between an AI image generator, a video editor, a music library, and a captioning tool. Prism Videos aims to collapse that entire workflow into a single, web-based platform. You can generate assets using multiple AI models directly within the tool and then assemble everything on a familiar timeline editor.

This is squarely aimed at social media managers, marketers, and solo creators who need to produce engaging video content quickly. The freemium model suggests there’s a powerful tier for heavy users, likely involving more generations or higher-quality exports. The promise of an all-in-one solution is compelling, though the real test will be in the execution—can its built-in editor and AI models compete with the best-in-class standalone tools? For rapid prototyping and simpler projects, it could be a huge time-saver.

Rork Max

For developers focused on the Apple ecosystem, Rork Max presents itself as a significant leap forward. It’s an AI-powered tool that claims to build mobile apps with "superior design and incredible performance" across every Apple platform: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and even iMessage apps. The underlying tech stack it leverages is impressive, including native frameworks like SwiftUI, ARKit for augmented reality, and Metal for high-performance graphics.

This isn’t a simple drag-and-drop app builder; it seems to be targeting professional developers who want to accelerate their workflow while maintaining the quality of a natively built application. The ability to generate code that integrates deeply with iOS-specific features could save countless hours. The freemium structure is smart, allowing developers to evaluate the output quality before scaling their use. If it lives up to its claims, Rork Max could become an essential part of the toolkit for anyone building within Apple’s walled garden.

Lyria 3

Google’s Gemini project has unleashed Lyria 3, a high-fidelity music generation model that feels like a notable step up from previous AI music tools. You can feed it a text prompt or even an image, and it generates a complete 30-second track complete with instrumentals, vocals, and coherent lyrics. The idea of turning a photo from a vacation or a simple feeling into a personalized soundtrack is instantly appealing.

This free tool opens up music creation to a massively broader audience. Imagine content creators scoring their own videos, game developers prototyping soundscapes, or individuals creating a song to commemorate a special event. The inclusion of vocals and lyrics is a key differentiator, as many AI music tools struggle with this element. While it’s unlikely to replace professional composers for high-stakes projects, the barrier to creating emotionally resonant, original music has never been lower.

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