n00b question - what is a filter?

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This is phone-related, so I'm posting here instead of in the software section.

I'm part of a beer / banter group on Signal and we often post photos of our drinks. With my photos, I sometimes get asked - what filter did I use? I said I didn't use one, was just using the Samsung stock camera. Any extravagant colours that I deliberately include in my photo compositions come from my stage lighting set-up, as I keep stage lights at home. A hobby that I've had looooong before the lockdowns! So I asked back - what is a filter? They said it's things like greyscale, sepia, sharpen, soften, blur and solar flare. I said you get these in Paintshop Pro and Photoshop and they're called effects.

So is there a difference between effects and filters? What phone apps are people using to add filters? Are filters always done in hindsight like with the Paintshop / Photoshop effects? Or do real-time apps like MSQRD also count? MSQRD is an app where you take a selfie and the effect is added in real time e.g. adding flowers to your head or making you look like an astronaut. On some effects, you can move your lips and the effect will animate in real-time. Once you get the effect and photo composition that you like, you can then save it as a photo or a short video.

Another one is Facebook. I only use FB on the web (desktop), but I presume that most people use FB on their phones as an app. I often see photos / selfies using some soft of effect / post-processing. Sometimes the photo is in a circle border. Sometimes rectangular with rounded edges to make it look like a smartphone photo. Sometimes with the NHS rainbow superimposed on it. Following political events such as Charlie Habdo, I saw a number of selfies with the French flag colours superimposed behind the selfie. Are these filters too?

Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
 
In the camera app on my Samsung phone there's an icon that looks like "touch up" which has filter choices within it. Things like blur, greyscale, various color hues, patterns, etc. Commonly used to make skin look clearer than it is, or used by noobs to feel artistic. Applied in real time. Usually just makes photos worse. Presumably there are ways to get more filters than the default ones if you want.
 
They're the same thing, in the end it's just editing the photo. Apps like Instagram offers you to add a "filter" to your photos before uploading them. Some OEMs have their camera app doing fancy things (a lot of Chinese brands have skin smoothing on by default). Samsung I know offers this too but they're usually off by default.
 
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