What FaceApp Does and Who It’s For
FaceApp is a photo editing app built around one-tap facial retouching. Instead of manual photoshopping, it applies photorealistic filters that can add makeup, change hair color and style, add a beard, swap gender, age you up or down, or smooth skin and remove blemishes. It’s aimed at casual users who want Instagram-ready selfies without learning real editing software, and at anyone curious about novelty transformations like the aging or gender-swap filters that made this app go viral in the first place. If you just want a quick, fun edit before posting a photo, this is the kind of app built for that exact moment.
Where the Editing Tools Actually Impress
When it works as intended, users genuinely enjoy it. One reviewer said they could finally try new hairstyles and hair colors without committing to anything permanent, calling out the makeup, eye color, and lip color tools as the most useful part of the experience. Another reviewer with a 4-star rating praised how easy the app is to navigate, noted the free trial and easy cancellation, and appreciated the lack of ads along with a setting to correct gender-detection errors. For quick, low-stakes experimentation, the filters clearly deliver on the fun factor the store listing promises.
The Hair Color and Precision Editing Problems
The tools aren’t as precise as they should be. A 3-star review with over 2,000 helpful votes points out a genuine gap: when the hair color tool misses spots, you can erase the extra tint but there’s no way to actually paint color back into the missed areas, leaving some edits looking incomplete or patchy. That’s a real functional limitation, not just a nitpick, since hair color is one of the app’s headline features.
Subscription Confusion and Surprise Charges
This is where the reviews turn sharp. Multiple users describe being blindsided by billing. One reviewer says they were charged $101.64 just three days into a trial, despite having uninstalled the app, and called the experience ‘pretty disappointing’ due to freezing and failed photo uploads. Another describes paying for FaceApp Pro three separate times in under a year, including losing access to a purchase they say was originally sold as a one-time payment. A different 1-star review says a previously enjoyable free-with-ads experience was suddenly replaced by having ‘EVERYTHING’ locked behind a Pro subscription overnight. A 4-star reviewer even flagged this as an ongoing issue, saying the app ‘can’t make up their mind about which features are pro features and which aren’t.’ If you plan to subscribe, read the trial terms carefully and set a calendar reminder to cancel if you’re not staying long-term.
Usage Limits Even Paying Users Run Into
Paying doesn’t fully solve the friction either. A 3-star Pro subscriber said the cost feels reasonable for how often they use the app, but noticed what appears to be an undisclosed cap on how many photos can be edited in a given period. A long-time subscriber of almost five years reported hitting a ‘Too many requests’ warning for the first time after editing just eight photos, and said they were reconsidering the subscription entirely because of it. These aren’t isolated complaints about missing features — they’re paying customers hitting walls they didn’t expect.
The Verdict: Who Should Actually Download This
FaceApp is worth having on your phone if you want occasional, fun, one-tap edits and you’re realistic about sticking to free features or a short trial you’ll actively remember to cancel. The core editing filters, especially hairstyle, hair color, and makeup tools, genuinely work well for casual use, and the interface is easy enough for anyone to pick up immediately. But if you’re considering a long-term Pro subscription, go in with eyes open: billing complaints, sudden feature lockouts, and unexplained editing limits show up repeatedly even among people who’ve paid for years. Treat any free trial as a real deadline, watch your card statement afterward, and don’t expect unlimited edits just because you’re a paying subscriber.
