Reviewing Manus in the Storm: From Category Definer to Follower
APPSO · wechat · 2026-08-12
During the five months following the regulatory block on Meta's $2 billion acquisition, AI agent product Manus experienced severe external turbulence, yet its team continued to iterate. The article reviews Manus's key feature updates and its industry positioning during this period.
- Jan 28 - Skills: Launched modular, reusable workflow templates allowing agents to remember past tasks, beating the industry by half a step.
- Mar 16 - Desktop App: Introduced MyComputer, pulling the agent from the cloud to local files/apps, though Anthropic leveled the playing field shortly after.
- Apr 30 - Cloud Computer: Provided a 24/7 cloud machine, simplifying server rentals into natural language commands, despite limitations like lacking a GUI and transparent costs.
- May 12 - Browser Use: Allowed remote triggering of a dedicated Chrome browser, similar to the community's existing Mac Mini always-on mode.
The article argues that despite maintaining a release cadence, Manus has lost its initial category-defining momentum. Compliance and survival consumed bandwidth, shifting its product roadmap from a pioneer to a follower.
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