Aura, a digital photo frames company founded by early Twitter employees, is introducing the latest model Aspen, which adds new technology to devices and accompanying mobile apps. In addition to hosting digital photos on a 12-inch HD display, this device now allows you to add captions to photos when they appear in frames. Meanwhile, the mobile app has added a search feature for people that makes it easy to find the photos you want to view.
Aura was founded by former Twitter employees Abdur Chowdhury and Eric Jensen. Its vision was to provide a more elegant and upgraded digital frame to display digital photos of people in their homes, and a well-designed software platform to manage frames.
Ahead of the Aspen launch, Aura offered other frames in a variety of sizes and styles, including carver and walled Walden. Its mobile app has over 6 million users, providing a sense of user-based scale.
Enjoy digital photos from home today and attract customers you want to share with friends and family through a private social network where members can provide photos to your frames. This may appeal to those looking for ways to connect with people outside of traditional social media, but it loops through older families by allowing younger, more tech-savvy people to manage the elders' frame on their behalf.
Last year, Aura says customers shared 784 million photos on the frame, up 55% from the previous year. Additionally, the private social network, built by sharing photos between family, friends and other invited members, helped to drive 50% of Aura's annual sales in 2024.
Image credits: Aura
One day, the company also pointed out that Aura Frame displays a cumulative 5 billion photos and videos.
The latest addition, the $229 Aspen frame, is currently the company's thinnest, 0.5 inch edge. The 1,600 x 1,200 HD anti-glare display and 4:3 aspect ratio also helps showcase a person's mobile phone photo in the best light calibrated for sparkle, contrast and color.
However, one of the other big draws for Aura's devices is that the software for frame management is not an afterthought.
Image credits: Aura
The accompanying Aura Photo-Sharing app prevents users from connecting to their home Wi-Fi network and quickly adding photos to the frame in just a few steps. The app itself is as well built as the social apps you already have, with tests found, accessing different frames in the left navigation, and two tab interfaces to add new photos and manage existing photos on the device, plus a variety of frames.
Usually, when you add a photo to an Aura frame, you browse your camera roll or other photo album to find and select your favorites. However, the app's new People search feature allows you to tap on the photo you want to prioritize. These suggested people will be found consecutively at the top of the “Add Photo” screen. (Unfortunately, if you took your own photos while playing other photo apps, they are not ruled out. You must do so manually.)
This new search feature runs locally on the user's device to protect privacy, Aura notes.
Image credits: Aura
Additionally, users can now add context to their photos by entering captions that contain information such as date, location, or other personal notes, and entering captions that may appear in the frame.
The aspen frame comes in two colors, ink or clay, and includes a metal stand, a matte paper texture, decorative trim, and cords wrapped in a fabric that gives the device a more luxurious feel. Like other Aura Frames, it includes ambient light sensors that turn the frame off at night when the room gets darker, and other technical features that allow you to scroll through photos and adjust settings without leaving fingerprints on the frame's display.
Supported by $60 million in growth capital from the Lago Innovation Fund, the company is profitable and still grows in 2024.
Corrected: This article originally said that the frame costs $299. It's $229. The article has been updated.