FaceApp

Is five minutes of fun worth your data?

Free Developer Wireless Lab OOO, faceapp.io Platform iPhone Requirements iOS 8.0 or later

Chances are you were unaware of FaceApp prior to the facial transformation software’s own metamorphosis into a social media sensation, hounded by accusations of racism. It seems the artificial intelligence at the heart of the app had a habit of giving folks with darker skin a mid-90s Michael Jackson makeover when applying the “Hot” filter, which is intended to make a subject more attractive. Ouch.

Obviously feeling the heat, the Russian developers behind the mobile sensation rebranded the filter Spark prior to removing it entirely from the app to retool the so-called “neural network” that caused the unfortunate side effect. (At the time of this review, the filter was MIA.) As a result, FaceApp is now marketed strictly as a tool for adding a smile, swapping a subject’s gender, or making someone look younger or older.

Controversy aside, the app does what it promises and requires minimal effort from you to perform its magic. Tap the desired look – Smile, Smile2, Old, Young, Female, or Male – be amused by the results, and share with friends via social networks. The results are usually hilarious — we made a toddler look like a senior citizen, and added a much-needed smile to friends and family who usually sport a sourpuss look in photos.

FaceApp now includes Duo and Collage buttons for creating images with two or four photos combined into one, as well as an option to convert transformations into a morphlike animated GIF. The free app includes banner ads across the bottom as well as a watermark on processed photos, but a $3.99 in-app purchase removes these intrusions, and adds the ability to select the face you want to process.

The Pro upgrade also promises faster processing times, although we didn’t notice a huge difference; the app takes a few seconds to transmit image data to an AI-based server, then serves up the results. After that, switching between filters to compare the results happens in an instant.

There are potential privacy risks with this, of course – critics have taken the developer to task for having free rein to do whatever they want with your image data.

the bottom line. A silly bit of AI parlor trickery. What’s all the hype about?

Mac|Life editors old and new. It’s probably best if we say nothing at this point.

Sadly there’s no filter to remove trees growing from heads.