# Blur background. — Portrait mode

> AI-powered app to add portrait-style blur to photos. (iPhone/iPad app by Alexander Sukhanov.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-background/id1436050646 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Alexander Sukhanov](https://appshunter.io/developer/1170659765)
- Category: Photo & Video
- Price: Free (on sale, was $0.99)
- Rating: 4.40/5 from 334 App Store ratings · 51 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 19 MB
- Languages: American English, Russian
- Released: 2019-05-10
- Data updated: 2026-08-25
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-background/id1436050646/reviews.md

## What is Blur background.?

PTMD is an application that allows you to add blur background on photo, similar to phones with two cameras. The app is based on machine learning.

• Add blur background on old photo or photos taken with one camera in one moment.

• The application provides several blur styles (Bokeh, Box, Motion, Crystallize, Pixelate).

• Choose the intensity of blur using the slider.

## Key features

- Add blur to any photo
- Machine learning based
- Multiple blur styles (Bokeh, Motion, etc.)
- Adjustable blur intensity
- Enhance single-camera photos

## What do users think of Blur background.?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- ✨ Great bokeh effect
- 🐶 Portrait mode for pets
- 🎛️ Adjustable blur background
- 👍 Easy to use (for some)
- 💯 Does what it says (for some)
- 🔥 Impressive results (for some)

**Cons**

- ❓ No instructions provided
- 🚫 Lacks back/next buttons
- 😵 Difficult to navigate
- 📸 Fails to detect subjects
- 🖼️ Blurs entire photo
- 💾 No way to save photos
- ❌ No cancel or exit options
- ⏳ Long lag when opening photos
- 📉 Imprecise effects
- 😵‍💫 Unintuitive interface
- 🚫 Not compatible with iPad
- 🤔 Unclear UI
- 💸 Charged twice
- 🤷‍♂️ Hopeless and unusable

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App freezes on startup
- Fails to access photos
- Unresponsive touch controls
- App crashes
- Incompatible with iOS 15
- Photo arrives already blurred
- Subject not recognized
- Unable to delete photos

**Most requested features**

- Add instructions
- Improve subject detection
- Add save functionality
- Make app universal for iPad
- More intuitive interface
- Add more editing functions
- Improve edge detection
- More gradual blur fall-off
- Option to go back and start new pic

## Recent user reviews (10 of 51)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-background/id1436050646/reviews.md

### 5/5 — super easy to use and great UI

*2025-05-29*

and completely free yet super high quality!

### 5/5 — Great For Pet Portrait Mode

*2025-04-08*

So the iPhone SE third generation will do portrait mode but only if there's a person in the photo. I take a lot of photos of my dogs and I want to be able to do portrait mode with them. This app will change any photo where it can detect anything in the foreground and do a great bokeh effect. Looks exactly like the built in portrait mode. And you could choose how much of the blurred background you want from 0 to 100%. It was a little tricky to learn how to use it at first since there's no instructions, but it's really easy once you figure it out. Only problem is, looks like the developer is no longer supporting it since the last version came out 4 years ago as of April 2025.

### 1/5 — App Doesn’t Have Back Buttons or Next

*2024-07-20*

I just downloaded this app onto my iPhone 12 Pro Max:
•  1st No Instructions on how to use the App, most are fairly easy to figure out, but not when there ARN’T ANY FORWARD OR NEXT ARROWS OR BUTTONS.   
•. 2nd  I wanted to load a picture of my new pug puppy and it wouldn’t take it.  I gave the App permission 3 times, having to exit the App each time, then go back in to perform the same request for access and actually select my picture before it finally took it.  
•  3rd  It took my picture; now what, no commands appeared in the screen, my picture just sat there and I had no way to do a thing.  All I could do was close the App, which I did. 
• 4th  I counted to 10 and opened  the blur App again.  It opened on the screen showing my picture on an otherwise blank black screen.  I began tapping across my whole screen once then twice; hoping to see an < or next pop up for me to push, I would have even been happy with an x or the word Done, just to properly exit the App and my picture wouldn’t show up again.   Nope;  nothing, I closed the App again and counted to 10, when I opened it I was shocked.  
•  5th  My picture was on a screen to select the picture size, as well as, if the picture was going to be horizontal or vertical.   Again no instructions.  I’d already cropped and adjusted my lighting of my picture, so I just really wanted to skip this part.  I couldn’t.   After several trial and error’s of selections, I was able to crop my picture to the exact size of my current photo.   Now what?  At this point a Cancel and a Done appeared at the top of the screen.  I was hesitant to hit Done, but I was finished cropping my photo, so I tapped Done.  I was frustrated and hit Done AGAIN, NOTHING, so I went ahead and hit CANCEL.  I mean why not, I’d gotten ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE WITH THE SO CALLED HELP OF THIS APP.   What happened when I hit Cancel?  You got it; not a DARN THING, I hit it again and NOTHING, so I hit it ONE MORE TIME FOR GOOD MEASURE.   NOTHING⁉️   Closed it and counted to 10. 
•  6th  When I reopened the App my picture was on a new screen.   There were 2 large white dots sitting next to each other.   Below the dots it said to pinch the dots to zoom my picture out, and it showed two black arrows moving the dots away from each other.  Well I didn’t want to do this, since I already cropped my picture and had a close up on my little pugs face, holding her bowl in her mouth.  She was done eating and the little piglet wanted more; actually she gets a greenie treat after dinner, to brush her teeth, and that’s how she lets me know she’s ready.   So cute, and pretty smart.  
•  7th   I tried to move to a different screen by closing and reopening a couple of times without zooming my picture, and a couple of times after zooming it as far as I could, and retain the picture I’d taken and wanted to preserve.   
     Unfortunately  I haven’t  been able to get beyond the zoom screen and I’m ready to delete the App, unless I can get some help that will be of use and get me some good pictures that I’ve been anticipating.   
     If that happens, I would be happy to change my stars and review, for now it remains at a one star.   This is the first time I have given such a negative and LONG REVIEW, but this FRUSTRATED ME TO NO END !    It TOTALLY WASTED MY TIME in both trying to use the App AND IN WRITING THIS BLASTED REVIEW, I’VE EVEN MISSED DINNER!   You don’t or wouldn’t understand; I’m compelled to do this, as I had a big stroke that affected both my mind and body, the part of my mind that regulates what you say in certain situations is shut off now.  I’m actually glad about it, I wouldn’t always speak up in the past, but now I have no problem at all in pointing out flaws and injustices.

### 4/5 — Blur

*2024-06-28*

Great blur app easy to use 🩵‼️

### 5/5 — Love it

*2023-03-11, version 2.0*

Easy to use and does a great job. Thanks!

### 2/5 — Not newbie friendly.

*2023-01-23*

No idea how to use it.

### 5/5 — Very good

*2022-09-14, version 2.0*

Very good

### 1/5 — No way to save?!?

*2022-05-28*

No instructions, no cancel or many navigation features. I figured out how to load a picture and it did do a good job of blurring the background quickly and seemed to look great. HOWEVER- I can locate no way of actually SAVING the modified photo. Can’t even cancel and go back to the prior screen. It just sits there. 

iPhone 12 Pro

### 1/5 — Very bad!

*2022-05-08*

Works terrible on iPad iOS15.  Sometimes it fails to find subject.  Then, it pixelates/blurs my entire photo, rather than finding subject (face) and blurring background.  Needs fixing!

### 1/5 — bug et bug

*2022-03-18*

ne fonctionne pas avec ios 15. 
nul !!

## Frequently asked questions about Blur background.

### What does this app do?

This application allows you to add a blurred background to your photos, similar to the portrait mode found on phones with dual cameras. It uses machine learning to achieve this effect, enabling you to enhance older photos or images taken with a single camera.

### What are the key features of this app?

The app's main features include adding blur backgrounds to existing photos, utilizing machine learning for accurate effects, offering several distinct blur styles like Bokeh, Box, Motion, Crystallize, and Pixelate, and providing a slider to control the intensity of the blur.

### Is this app free to use?

Yes, based on the provided information, the application is free to use. It does not have in-app purchases or advertisements, indicating a completely free experience for users.

### Can I use this app on photos taken with a single camera?

Absolutely. One of the core functionalities of this app is to add blur backgrounds to old photos or photos taken with a single camera, effectively simulating the portrait mode effect.

### What kind of blur effects can I apply?

The app offers a variety of blur styles to choose from, including Bokeh, Box, Motion, Crystallize, and Pixelate. You can also precisely control the strength of the blur effect using an intuitive slider.

## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 2.0 — 2021-01-20

◉ Improve model AI

◉ New UI/UX

○ Adapted for iOS 14

○ Bugs fixed

### 1.0 — 2019-05-10

No release notes.

## Apps similar to Blur background.

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Blur Photo Editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-photo-editor/id1048928936) | 4.4 (10,531) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Blur Photo](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-photo/id768624029) | 4.4 (31,496) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Blur Background Photo Editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-background-photo-editor/id1601094450) | 4.5 (577) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Background Editor: Blur App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/background-editor-blur-app/id1046592156) | 4.2 (3,237) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Blur Photo: Portrait Mode Blur](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-photo-portrait-mode-blur/id1175414340) | 4.5 (14,052) | Free | Photo & Video |
| [Blur Photo Effect Background](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blur-photo-effect-background/id1032201599) | 4.7 (27,047) | Free | Photo & Video |

## More apps by Alexander Sukhanov

- [Photo Editor Exposure](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/photo-editor-exposure/id1332496160)
- [Light \| Long Exposure](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/light-long-exposure/id1369253556)
- [Resizable - Photo size](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/resizable-photo-size/id1472484390)
- [Autograph  - Sign & Edit Docs](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/autograph-sign-and-edit-docs/id1478304479)
- [Astrophoto](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrophoto/id1485112570)

All apps by Alexander Sukhanov: https://appshunter.io/developer/1170659765

## Related topics

[portrait mode](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/portrait-mode) · [fab focus](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/fab-focus) · [blur background free](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/blur-background-free) · [bokashimaru](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/bokashimaru)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*