# Age Filter > Same face, fifty years on. The reaction is the video. Updated Oct 23, 2026 · first seen Jul 2019 · on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, FaceApp. Where it is in its life: Brands (past peak). Past its peak: searches are down from the high; still fine to make, best with your own twist. Also called: aging filter, old age filter, aged filter, tiktok aged filter, age filter tiktok, age filter app, age filter online, ai age progression, old filter, faceapp old age filter, faceapp challenge, snapchat time machine lens, old person filter. Page: https://viralmeme.ai/meme/age-filter ![Age Filter: a frame of a post of the trend by @home.with.stefania on TikTok](https://s.viralmeme.ai/uploads/viralmeme/site/viralmeme/memes/originals/age-filter.jpg) A post of the trend, by @home.with.stefania, on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@home.with.stefania/video/7253420923582237958 The sound: "The Bug Collector" by Haley Heynderickx, on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/music/The-Bug-Collector-6694702985764669441. To post yours with it, open that page in the TikTok app and tap "Use this sound". The song under several of the most-played Aged filter videos in July 2023. ## TL;DR An age filter shows your face decades older, with gray or white hair, wrinkles and softer skin, while keeping your features. FaceApp's old-age filter set off the #FaceAppChallenge in July 2019, Snapchat added its Time Machine lens that November, and TikTok's Aged filter spread on TikTok from July 8, 2023, when a mom's reaction video drew millions of plays. Ours makes an older you from one photo, for adults only. ## What does Age Filter mean? An age filter is a look into the mirror decades from now. It keeps your face shape, eyes and smile, and adds what time usually brings: silver or white hair, lines across the forehead, crow's feet, softer cheeks and a looser jaw. The post is mostly about the reaction: shock, laughter, or a quiet "I look like my mom." NBC News described TikTok's version in July 2023 as a filter that "overlays the face in real time, deepens wrinkles and adds facial sagging." Some people loved their older selves, some were upset, and many saw a parent or grandparent looking back at them. ## Why did Age Filter take off? Everyone wonders how they'll age, and an age filter answers in a second, with your own face. That makes the reveal personal, and the comments fill up with people comparing results: a comment with more than 36,000 likes asked "why did it age you like 10 years and it aged me 70," per NBC News. It also touches real feelings. Creators compared their aged face with a late grandparent, joked about skincare, and some commenters said they bought retinol the day they tried it. Others pushed back: facial plastic surgeon Dr. Monica Kieu answered the trend on July 9, 2023 with "Aging is a privilege! It will happen to all of us." ## Where did Age Filter come from? Aging selfies went mainstream with FaceApp, a photo-editing app that had launched a few years earlier, per ABC30. In July 2019 its old-age filter went viral as the #FaceAppChallenge: ABC30 reported on July 17 that Drake, J.J. Watt and Gordon Ramsay had posted their older selves. The same week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked the FBI and the FTC to look into the Russia-based app's handling of photos, and the app's CEO said most photos were deleted from its servers within 48 hours, per the Mail & Guardian. Snapchat answered on November 21, 2019 with Time Machine, a lens with a slider: drag left to look younger, right to look older, as Engadget reported. The age filter's biggest wave came on TikTok. Know Your Meme dates the Aged filter trend to July 8, 2023, when creators began posting split-screen reactions; @home.with.stefania's video that day, in which she says she was not prepared for how realistic it would be, now shows 31.9 million plays on TikTok. Kylie Jenner joined on July 11, and by July 22 the Sunday Paper said the filter had been used 15.4 million times. - **Jul 17, 2019:** ABC30 reports FaceApp's old-age filter going viral, with Drake, J.J. Watt and Gordon Ramsay posting their older selves. - **Jul 18, 2019:** The Mail & Guardian reports Chuck Schumer's request for an FBI and FTC look at FaceApp. - **Nov 21, 2019:** Snapchat launches Time Machine, a lens with a young-to-old slider, per Engadget. - **Jul 8, 2023:** TikTok creators start posting Aged filter reactions, per Know Your Meme; @home.with.stefania's video goes up. - **Jul 11, 2023:** Kylie Jenner posts her own Aged filter video. - **Jul 16, 2023:** NBC News covers the mixed reactions to TikTok's Aged filter. - **Jul 22, 2023:** The Sunday Paper reports 15.4 million uses of the filter. - **Aug 7, 2023:** Dexerto publishes how to find the Aged filter in TikTok's effects. ## Popular versions of Age Filter ### The split-screen reaction The classic age filter video: your face today on one side, the aged one on the other, and your reaction over the top. It's how the July 2023 wave started on TikTok. ### I look like my mom Many posts compare the aged face with a parent or a late grandparent. NBC News described one creator comparing her Aged face with a photo of her late grandmother. ### The celebrity accuracy test People ran the age filter over old clips of stars and compared it with how they look now. A clip of the Friends cast, posted July 12, 2023, now shows 31.1 million plays on TikTok. ### The skincare panic A joke routine or a promise to start retinol after seeing the result. NBC News quoted commenters who bought retinol the same day. ## How do I make Age Filter? - Photos: 1 photo of you. - Output: image, vertical 9:16, about a minute, 5 credits. - Fixed: The age: always old age, with the rest of your photo kept. ### You get - A picture of you decades older: white or silver hair, wrinkles, softer skin, with your face still clearly yours - Your clothes, glasses, pose and background kept as in your photo - A vertical picture, ready to post next to the original ### Not included - Photos of children: they aren't allowed, it's for adults only - A prediction of how you will really age: it's an AI guess - A video, a live camera filter or an age slider: it's one picture, aged to old age ## How to post Age Filter on TikTok 1. Use a clear, front-facing photo in good light; sunglasses and hats hide what the age filter changes. 2. Post your photo and the aged one side by side, or film your reaction to the reveal. 3. Ask before you post anyone else's aged face, and keep it kind. ## Make your own Put yourself in it from a photo at https://viralmeme.ai/meme/age-filter: an image (5 credits). New accounts that sign in with Google get 10 free credits; a render that fails is refunded. Examples on the page are made with AI, using AI-generated people, and the page says so under them (Image, 1 photo; Image, 1 photo). ## Questions about Age Filter ### How do I get the age filter on TikTok? Open the camera, tap Effects, then the magnifying glass, and search "Aged", as Dexerto described in August 2023. Pick the filter with that name and hold the record button. Local TV guides to the trend suggested searching "old age" in the app instead. ### Is the aging filter accurate? No age filter can know how you'll age; it guesses from your face today. TikTok's version deepens wrinkles and adds sagging, per NBC News, and commenters noticed it aged some people far more than others. People who tried it on younger photos of celebrities found it close, but Know Your Meme notes such filters are often trained on public celebrity faces. ### How many years does the TikTok age filter add? TikTok didn't publish a number, and results vary from face to face. NBC News quoted a commenter who asked why it aged one person 10 years and another 70. ### Is there an old age filter on Snapchat? Yes. Snapchat's Time Machine lens, launched on November 21, 2019, has a slider: drag right to look older, left to look younger. It works with the front and rear cameras, per Engadget. ### What was the FaceApp challenge? In July 2019 people posted their faces aged by FaceApp's old-age filter, celebrities included, as the #FaceAppChallenge. It also raised privacy worries: Senator Chuck Schumer asked the FBI and the FTC to look into the Russia-based app. ### What is AI age progression? AI age progression makes an older version of a face from a photo, the way FaceApp did in 2019. Ours does it on this page: one photo of an adult in, one picture of the same face in old age out. ### Can I use the age filter on a photo of a child? Not here: photos of children aren't allowed. Use a photo of yourself, or of another adult who agrees to it. ### How much does the age filter cost here? Reading is free. Making your aged picture costs 5 credits, and a render that fails is refunded. ## Sources - [ABC30: FaceApp going viral again with feature to make you look older (Jul 17, 2019)](https://abc30.com/faceapp-old-person-filter-app-challenge/5401068) - [Mail & Guardian: US senator calls for investigation into FaceApp (Jul 18, 2019)](https://mg.co.za/article/2019-07-18-us-senator-calls-for-investigation-into-faceapp/) - [Engadget: Snapchat's Time Machine lens lets you slide between young and old (Nov 21, 2019)](https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/21/snapchats-lens-time-machine-aging-selfie/) - [Know Your Meme: TikTok "Aged" Filter](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/tiktok-aged-filter) - [NBC News: The internet is captivated by TikTok's 'Aged' filter (Jul 16, 2023)](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tiktok-aged-filter-mixed-reactions-rcna94547) - [The Sunday Paper: the viral aging filter trend (Jul 22, 2023)](https://mariashriversundaypaper.com/viral-aging-filter-trend) - [Dexerto: How to get TikTok's viral Aged filter (Aug 7, 2023)](https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/how-to-get-tiktoks-viral-aged-filter-2213642) - [10News: How to use that viral TikTok old age AI filter](https://www.10news.com/will-you-look-like-your-mom-how-to-use-that-viral-tiktok-old-age-ai) - [TikTok: @home.with.stefania, Aged filter reaction (Jul 8, 2023)](https://www.tiktok.com/@home.with.stefania/video/7253420923582237958) - [TikTok: @saniezehraa, the Friends cast through the Aged filter (Jul 12, 2023)](https://www.tiktok.com/@saniezehraa/video/7254903282987027717) - [TikTok: @drmonicakieu, "Aging is a privilege" (Jul 9, 2023)](https://www.tiktok.com/@drmonicakieu/video/7253846050778139950) ## What changed on this page - Oct 23, 2026: Page added: the age filter's story from FaceApp to TikTok, with dated sources, and an aging picture you can make from one photo. Spotted a mistake? Use "Report a mistake" at the bottom of https://viralmeme.ai/meme/age-filter: no account or email needed, every report is checked within two days, and a fix is listed above with its date.