My Experience with Hair Color Changer: Hairstyles
What surprised me most was how quickly a silly idea turned into a real frustration. Last Thursday night, my eight-year-old, Chloe, was begging to cut bangs. Instead of a firm no, I thought it’d be a fun compromise to show her with the app. We grabbed a clear selfie on my iPhone 15 Pro and dove in. For about three minutes, we were laughing, sliding through colors from pink to purple. Then, just as I was trying to neatly place a virtual ponytail overlay, a full-screen ad for a puzzle game blasted its music. It startled us both. When I closed it, all our work was gone. The app had kicked us back to the home screen. That moment of shared fun was completely shattered, and Chloe just wanted to go watch TV instead. That’s the real problem here—it’s not built for a relaxed, family-friendly experience.
Features Worth Noting
When the app actually lets you use it, there are some decent tools. The automatic hair detection is pretty clever on a good photo. I took a picture of Chloe against a plain wall in the kitchen, and it outlined her hair perfectly for quick coloring. The manual brush and eraser tools are necessary but they work well enough for fixing little mistakes around her ears. I have to admit, the sheer number of colors is impressive. We found every shade of the rainbow, plus some natural browns and blondes that looked almost real from a distance. The hairstyle library is the main reason I downloaded it. They have a good selection of bangs, different lengths, and even some updos. It’s the closest thing to a virtual “try-on” for a haircut without actually committing.
What Needs Work
The biggest issue, hands down, is the ad bombardment. It feels predatory. You get a banner ad stuck to the bottom of the screen at all times. Then, between almost every action—switching a color, selecting a new hairstyle, trying to save—you’re hit with another video or interactive ad. It makes the app feel cheap and stressful to use. Beyond that, the results often look fake. The colors can look blocky and pixelated, especially where her hair meets her forehead. It ends up looking like she’s wearing a brightly colored swim cap rather than having dyed hair. The hairstyle overlays often don’t align right unless your photo is perfectly straight-on, which is hard with a wiggly kid.
Pricing
The app is free, but you pay for it with your time and patience. There’s an option to pay a one-time fee to remove ads, which I seriously considered after that Thursday night disaster. I think it was around five bucks. But I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Paying for an app that feels this aggressive and whose core feature (the realistic coloring) is just okay didn’t sit right with me. It feels like they make the free version miserable on purpose to push you to pay. For a parent, that’s a red flag. I’d rather spend that money on a different, higher-quality app or just save it for a real treat.
Developer Notes
Looking at the app store page, the developer is Smart Dev Group. Their update notes are always the same: “Bug fixes and performance improvements.” I haven’t seen any mention of reducing ads or improving the privacy stuff, which are the two biggest complaints in other reviews. It gives me the impression they’re not really listening to what users are saying. They have a bunch of other similar “changer” apps, so this seems like one of many in their catalog, not something they’re passionately improving. That lack of care shows in the user experience.
Security & Privacy
This is the part that made me delete the app after my two-week experiment. I got curious about what happens to our photos. Their privacy policy is vague and mentions they might collect and use your images for “service improvement” and even share data with third-party advertisers. I’m not comfortable with that at all. My daughter’s photo isn’t data for some ad company. The app also asks for full photo library access right away. There’s no option to just select one picture. For a family-focused user like me, that’s an instant deal-breaker. I don’t know where our pictures go, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take for a bit of silly fun.
What kind of hairstyles and colors can I try with Hair Color Changer?
The app offers a huge rainbow of colors, from bright pinks and purples to natural browns and blondes, plus a hairstyle library with bangs, different lengths, and updos. It works best on clear, straight-on selfies, and the automatic hair detection can outline hair quickly on a good photo.
How does the manual brush and eraser tool work for fixing mistakes?
The manual brush and eraser let you touch up areas the auto-detection misses, like around ears or flyaway hairs. They work well enough for small fixes, but the final colors can look blocky or pixelated, especially around the hairline, giving a slightly fake appearance.
Why does the app keep showing ads and erasing my work?
The app has aggressive ads—a persistent banner at the bottom plus video ads between almost every action, like switching colors or saving. These ads can unexpectedly reset your progress, kicking you back to the home screen, which makes it frustrating for relaxed use.
How can I avoid losing my edits when using the app?
To minimize lost work, try saving your photo frequently after each major change, though even that can trigger an ad. The only reliable fix is paying the one-time fee of around five dollars to remove all ads, which stops the interruptions and resets.
How does Hair Color Changer compare to other virtual hair try-on apps like YouCam Makeup?
Hair Color Changer has a more extensive hairstyle library for trying on cuts and updos, but its color results often look blocky and fake, like a swim cap. YouCam Makeup tends to produce more realistic color blends and has fewer intrusive ads, making it a better choice for a polished, family-friendly experience.
