Most smartphone camera apps come with beauty modes. These beauty modes or beautify filters smooth out pimples, freckles, wrinkles, and other details in your face. But it could be bad for your mental health.
There are a few studies that confirm the negative impact of beauty filters on mental health. This is the reason Google has also decided to turn off face retouching on its own phones. The company also encourages other OEMs to do the same.
Several smartphones by default turn on face enhancements or beauty filters in the camera app without notifying users. Google’s research was mostly on these photos. Google claims that more than 70% of photos on Android are selfies. These selfies are making people dissatisfied with their own appearance. Because what they see in the mirror isn’t as good as what they get in selfies by using beauty filters.
“We conducted multiple studies and spoke with child and mental health experts from around the world, and found that when you’re not aware that a camera or photo app has applied a filter, the photos can negatively impact mental wellbeing. These default filters can quietly set a beauty standard that some people compare themselves against,” said Google.
Filters that use terminology like “beauty,” “beautification,” “enhancement” and “touch up” also make people feel that there’s something wrong with their physical appearance. Most people end up thinking they actually look bad.
Google has also created documentation for best practices to implement face and beauty filters. The documentation is for developers to make them understand how they can take care of mental wellbeing while developing their apps. Google wants developers to give users the control of whether they want to face retouching or not.
