Face Blur AI vs HEIC Direct
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Face Blur AI
Easily obscure faces in photos and videos with advanced AI detection and manual tools. Offers various blurring and pixelation styles, with a strong focus on privacy and offline processing. Includes options for creative edits and full-body anonymization.
- Automatic face detection
- Manual brush tool
- Multiple censor styles (blur, pixelate, bar)
- Video blur with auto-tracking
- Batch processing
- Metadata stripping
- Live camera blurring
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Blur faces in photos with one tap. Auto face detection, manual brush, and three censor styles. Fully offline, no upload, no account, no ads. Face Blur AI is the fastest way to hide faces in your photos before you share them. Open a photo, tap a face, and it is blurred. No servers, no sign-up, no waiting. CORE FEATURES - Auto face detection. On-device AI finds every face instantly. Works offline. - Manual brush. Paint over anything you want to hide. License plates, screens, signs, text in documents, or a face the AI missed. - Three censor styles: smooth Gaussian blur, classic pixelate mosaic, and solid black bar. - Intensity slider for how strong the blur or mosaic looks. - High resolution export back to Photos. No compression. - EXIF and GPS metadata stripping. Remove location data before sharing, or keep it if you prefer. Your call. - Live Camera mode. Faces are blurred in the camera preview before you take the shot. - Share Extension on iOS. Use Face Blur AI from Photos, Files, or Safari without opening the app first. - On Mac, drag and drop a photo into the window, or use Services and Quick Action right from Finder. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything runs on your device. Your photos never leave your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. There is no server, no cloud upload, no account. The AI face detection happens locally. A privacy app that actually protects your privacy. PRO FEATURES - Batch processing. Blur faces in dozens of photos at once. - Video blur. Auto track faces across frames with manual keyframe fallback for tricky moments. Up to 5 minutes per clip. - 4K export for photo and video. - Selective face blur. After auto detection, tap to choose which faces to blur and which to leave visible. Great for group photos when only some people need privacy. - Face-Shape Blur. Instead of a plain rectangle, the blur follows the natural contour of each face. Cleaner edges, more professional look, no awkward squares over heads. - Whole Person Blur. Hide an entire person, not just the face. AI segments the full body silhouette so clothing, hair, and outline are blurred as one. Useful for true anonymization in street photos and surveillance footage. - Emoji and sticker overlays. Cover a face with an emoji instead of a blur. Nice for social posts and kid birthday photos. - Aesthetic blur effects: bokeh, motion blur, and tilt-shift. For creative photo edits, not just censorship. - Extended censor styles: gradient blur, hexagon mosaic, scribble, and paint smudge. - Custom shapes. Blur in the shape of a star, a heart, or any path you draw. - Live Photo support. Keep the Live Photo motion intact instead of flattening to a still. - Project history. Save edits as a project and come back to them later. WHO USES IT Parents share kid photos without exposing their children's faces. Journalists and vloggers anonymize bystanders in travel videos and news clips. Teachers post classroom moments while protecting student privacy. Marketplace sellers redact license plates and screens. Photographers hide strangers in street shots. People comply with GDPR before sharing event photos to social media. WHY THIS APP Most photo editors hide face blur three menus deep. Face Blur AI does one thing and does it well. The auto detection catches every face in group photos. The brush handles small details. The contour follows the actual face shape, not a square. Full person blur hides whole silhouettes when a face alone is not enough. Export stays at full resolution. Nothing ever leaves your device. Subscription Terms: Payment charged to iTunes Account. Auto-renews unless disabled 24 hours before period ends. Manage in Account Settings. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy - All processing happens locally on your device. No data is sent to servers. Your photos stay completely private.
HEIC Direct
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Convert HEIC photos to JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, SVG, or AVIF directly on your iPhone or iPad. HEIC Direct combines fast batch conversion, photo collages, grid slicing, face blur, and PDF redaction in one private, on-device app. Your photos and documents are never uploaded. PDF TOOLS • Turn photos into multi-page PDFs with page size, orientation, and margins • Scan documents with your camera and crop borders • Merge PDFs into one document with Pro • Mark up pages and add watermarks with Pro HEIC TO JPG AND IMAGE CONVERTER Convert one photo or an entire batch: • HEIC to JPG or JPEG • HEIC to PNG • HEIC to WebP • HEIC to TIFF • HEIC to SVG • HEIC to AVIF with Pro Choose the format, quality, dimensions, and metadata settings that fit your workflow. Export individual files or package a batch in a ZIP. FAST BATCH CONVERSION • Convert multiple HEIC and HEIF photos at once • Import from Photos, Files, iCloud Drive, or the Share Sheet • Drag and drop files on iPad • Preview estimated output file sizes • Resize by percentage, exact dimensions, or longest edge • Remove GPS location and EXIF metadata • Add a custom filename prefix with Pro FACE BLUR AND PRIVACY REDACTION Protect faces and sensitive information before sharing. • Detect faces using Apple Vision on your device • Blur, pixelate, or cover selected faces • Redact text, signatures, account numbers, and other private details • Redact photos and multi-page PDF documents • Sample a background color with the magnifier eyedropper • Choose from eight privacy styles: Mosaic, Gaussian Blur, Frosted Glass, Bokeh, Crystal Prism, Motion Streak, Solid Black, and Whiteout PHOTO COLLAGE MAKER Combine 2 to 16 photos into a single collage. Customize spacing, corner radius, inner borders, and background transparency. Export transparent designs as PNG when supported by the selected content and settings. SLICE PHOTOS INTO GRIDS Split an image into 2×2, 3×3, 3×1, or custom grids for profile feeds, carousel posts, and photo puzzles. Reverse ZIP export places the slices in a convenient posting order. REUSABLE PRESETS Save frequently used conversion settings and apply them in one tap: • Web Sharing • Print Quality • Email Friendly • Your own custom workflows PRIVATE BY DESIGN Conversion, face detection, collage creation, grid slicing, and redaction run locally using Apple frameworks. No account is required. Your photos and PDFs are not sent to a conversion server. FREE AND PRO Free: convert up to 5 photos at a time to JPEG, JPG, PNG or WebP; quality and metadata controls; collages of up to 4 photos; standard grid slicing; HEIC to PDF; scan and crop; face blur and redaction for photos. Pro unlocks: unlimited batch size, TIFF, SVG, AVIF and PDF export, resize on export, filename prefixes, saved presets, larger collages and collage ZIP export, extra-large and custom grids, merge PDFs, edit and watermark PDFs, and redacted PDF export. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS HEIC Direct Pro is available as a 6-month subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The yearly plan includes a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. The 6-month plan and the lifetime purchase do not include a free trial. Prices vary by region and are shown before you buy. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://biswajitnk.com/heic-direct/privacy Terms of Use: https://biswajitnk.com/heic-direct/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: HEIC Direct at every 2 weeks against Face Blur AI's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Face Blur AI sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and HEIC Direct sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 6 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Face Blur AI ships an update every 3 weeks, HEIC Direct every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Face Blur AI | HEIC Direct |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Igor Bidenko | Biswajit Nayak |
In-app purchases
Face Blur AI
- Face Blur AI$4.991 Month
- Face Blur AI$19.991 Year
- Face Blur AI$29.99
HEIC Direct
- Pro Access (6 Months)$2.996 Months
- Pro Access (Yearly)3 Days trial$5.991 Year
- Lifetime Pro Access$9.99









