Face Shield finds every face in a photo and mosaics them before the picture is saved, so you can post family photos without exposing anyone. Everything runs on your iPhone — no uploads, no accounts, no analytics.
Some faces are very small, heavily angled, or partly covered, so one mosaic pass may not be enough to make them unrecognisable to a face detector. Face Shield automatically re-blurs those areas. If a face is still flagged, cover it yourself with Add a spot before saving — a mosaic that a detector can still read is not a mask, so the app refuses to export while any face survives.
Mosaic gives the classic pixelated tiles; Solid is an opaque block, which is the safest choice for very small or blurry faces. Both go through the same verification pass.
Both start from “mask every detected face”, because a missed face is the only mistake you cannot undo.
Masked images are saved as new photos at the top of Recents in your Photo Library. Location data (EXIF GPS) is stripped from the masked copy. Your originals are untouched — the app holds add-only photo permission, so it cannot modify or delete anything you already have.
No. There is no backend and no network permission in the app. The only connection it ever makes is Apple’s own StoreKit call when you buy or restore an unlock.
You can mask and save 3 photos for free, with no sign-up. After that: $4.99/week, $24.99/year (with a one-month free trial), or $59.99 one-time lifetime. Prices may vary by store region.
Tap Restore at the bottom of the unlock screen. Purchases are tied to the Apple Account that made them, so make sure that account is signed in on this device. If it still fails, email us with your App Store receipt and we will sort it out.
Subscriptions are billed by Apple. Cancel or manage them in iOS Settings → App Store → Subscriptions. Refund requests go through Apple Support at reportaproblem.apple.com — we never see or hold your payment details.
Version 1.0 is iPhone-only (iOS 16.0 or later). iPad support is planned.