# Engineering Real-Time Animated Profile Pictures

DevFeed: [Engineering Real-Time Animated Profile Pictures](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/engineering-real-time-animated-profile-pictures-38367.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://cyrilmottier.com/posts/2025/engineering-real-time-animated-profile-pictures/>)

Author: Cyril Mottier

Published: 2025-02-16T13:21:47Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Cyril Mottier Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/cyril-mottier-blog.md>)

Topics: [real-time face tracking](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/real-time-face-tracking.md>), [Playback](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/playback.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [Caching](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/caching.md>)

Tags: [article](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/article.md>), [caching](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/caching.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [playback](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/playback.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/real-time.md>)

## AI overview

This engineering article explains how amo apps implement transparent animated profile pictures called "Your Face." It covers recording with real-time face detection and selfie fragmentation, encoding the original video and mask in H.265, and queue-based playback that applies the mask and cycles decoded frames for back-and-forth real-time animation. The system has run on Android and iOS for over a year.

## Source excerpt

This article was initially published as a thread of posts on X. For the sake of readability and long-term availability, it is now available here as a single-page article. Post 1 In the amo apps, profile pictures are done a bit differently. You record "Your Face", a transparent animated boomerang-like cutout. It feels more personal. You see your friends come to life on-screen, not through overly curated or filtered camera roll photos.