What is FaceApp? How to use the popular social media photo editor app

Update:FaceApp has now been updated to add in extra filters, but you’ll need to pay for each with the Pro mode. Read on to learn all about FaceApp and what new features have been included.

If your social media feed has been full of older, younger, and gender-swapped photos of your friends – relax, it’s just FaceApp. This is the perennially popular free photo editor app that can entirely change your look with the press of a button.

FaceApp can create some realistic photos of yourself, your friends and your family by changing their gender, increasing their smile or aging/de-aging them.

The best bit is it’s free, though some features are locked behind a paywall so you may not be able to do everything you want to do with FaceApp without paying extra. There’s also been security and privacy concerns about the app’s data collection, so read up on whether FaceApp is safe to use.

But if you’re eager to play around with photos of yourself and/or friends, read below for how to download and how to use FaceApp.

How to download FaceApp

You’ll be able to find FaceApp on both Android and iOS – you can download it directly from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store now.

Download it just like any other app. You may need to enter your password or register your fingerprint to download the app.

How to use FaceApp

The interface of FaceApp is easy to use and will allow you to edit both new selfie photos taken within the app’s camera or older photos you’ve already got on your phone.

Either is easy to do from FaceApps home screen. You can select a photo by pressing ‘All Photos’ along the bottom of the screen or line your face up to take an image within the app’s camera.

The image you select will start off on a filter called Original, but if you scroll right you’ll have options such as Smile, Smile 2, Spark, Old, Young, Female and Male.

Both Smile options will open your mouth and include some teeth, while Spark will smooth your skin tone. There’s also male and female options to give you more masculine or feminine features.

The funniest options are old and young though that will either supply you with wrinkles or make you look like a child.

If you scroll to the left you’ll also find options to make GIFs and collages of your photos so you can show off multiple edited pictures together in one shareable photo.

How to share FaceApp photos

Once you’ve created your masterpiece, sharing icons will appear under the image. The down facing arrow at the bottom will allow you to download the picture while there are also options to post to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

There’s also an option to share across other apps such as WhatsApp and messaging platforms too.

What do I have to pay for?

There has always been a paid option for FaceApp, but it originally didn’t offer many more features over the free version of the app. The app has been updated to FaceApp 3.4 with even more style and beauty filters, but you’ll need to pay to access them.

The new filters will allow you to smooth out your skin tone, give yourself facial hair or even give yourself a more dramatic kawaii look.

Pricing for the new features comes in at $20 (about £15) when originally the pro version of the app was listed at £3.99/$3.99. The upgrade will also take away ads and allow you remove the watermarks from the bottom of images, but it’s still expensive for that.

To pay for it, you want to head into the Settings section of the app and press the buy button. The app will then redirect you to the Google Play Store or App Store to help you finish off your purchase.