Apple Introduces AI-Powered Photo Clean-Up Tool in iOS 18.1 Beta

iOS 18.1 Beta 3 Brings AI-Powered 'Clean Up' Tool in Photos App

Apple released the third developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 Sequoia. The update brings one of the much-awaited Apple Intelligence features to the Photos app. The AI-powered 'Clean Up' tool can identify and remove distracting objects from a photo while keeping the subject intact. The Clean Up tool appears as a new option (eraser-style icon in the bottom toolbar) when you edit an image in the Photos app. Apple says Clean Up uses advanced detection and multiple machine learning models to identify distractions, locate the edges of unwanted objects, and seamlessly replace them. The Clean Up tool can intelligently detect unwanted objects in an image and remove them without affecting the overall picture. You can also tap, brush, or circle, over an unwanted object to remove it. This feature uses AI to generate a complementing background when you remove an object from a picture. Apple said that the Clean Up tool identifies even shadows or reflections of an object and takes care of it while filling in the background. You can also zoom in on an image and use your finger as a brush to remove smaller blemishes and fix other minute details of the image. The tool is intelligent enough that it won't remove part of a person or the main subject even if you've selected it. It's worth knowing that the Apple Intelligence Clean Up tool works on all images in the Photos app, including older images and pictures captured by another phone or a DSLR camera. Apple's Clean-Up tool is similar to Google's Magic Eraser feature that's available for free to all Google Photos users. The AI-powered Clean Up tool is available in the third beta of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 Sequoia, which is now available for developers. If you've got an Apple Intelligence-supported device, You can get your hands on this tool once Apple rolls out the stable, public version of its OSes. If you wish to try this feature right now, here's how to install iOS 18 developer beta and macOS Sequoia developer beta. Besides the Clean Up tool, the new iOS 18.1 developer beta brings Apple Intelligence-powered notification summaries for additional apps beyond Mail and Messages.

Apple Intelligence's Photo Clean Up feature arrives in iOS 18.1 betas

The latest developer beta of iOS 18.1 brings with it Clean Up for Photos, an Apple Intelligence feature that can remove unwanted elements from photographs. One of the main features of Apple Intelligence at the time of its announcement was the ability to use AI to remove items from photos. On Wednesday, it finally became something developer beta testers could try out. Included in the developer betas of iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18., the Photos feature is available within the Photos app. It appears as a new option when you go to edit a photograph, with the name Clean Up. The function takes advantage of the generative AI capabilities of Apple Intelligence. After selecting an object, the feature then fills up the now-empty pixels in an image to match the rest of the scene. On first usage, you're advised to with tap, brush, or circle the item you want to remove from the image. It also has to download the Clean Up function to the iPhone or iPad before it works. Depending on the technique, you can achieve different results with Clean Up. If you use your finger to brush over the image and surrounding elements, it will handle the specifically-drawn area completely. While you can go over the edges of the object and those elements will be removed, you could also brush over part of the object for the tool to partially hide a subject. Going for the looping technique engages the object detection elements of the feature, with it singling out what it thinks you've circled for removal. In initial testing of the feature by AppleInsider, it has been shown to accurately detect the unwanted elements from the scene. Filling the void also works well, though it can be tripped by things like shadows. Clean Up can also automatically highlight objects in a scene that you may want to remove. In those cases, a simple tap will eradicate them from the scene. As with all edits in Photos, the changes can all be reverted back to a previous state, without damaging the original image. While Apple will be introducing the iPhone 16 on September 9, buyers won't be able to try out the Clean Up function in Photos right away. Aside from enrolling in the developer beta, users may have to wait until the iOS 18.1 update before they can get rid of photobombers and other unwanted imaging artifacts.

iOS 18.1 Adds Photo Clean Up & More Apple Intelligence

Apple's latest developer beta, iOS 18.1, is set to transform the way you interact with your photos and notifications. This new beta brings a range of new features, with a particular emphasis on advanced photo cleanup capabilities and enhanced Apple Intelligence summaries. These tools aim to streamline your digital life, making it easier to manage your images and stay on top of important information. The video below from Stephen Robles gives us a look at the new Photo Clean Up feature and also more information on Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1. Unleashing the Power of Photo Cleanup The crown jewel of iOS 18.1 is undoubtedly the innovative photo cleanup tool. This feature empowers you to effortlessly remove unwanted subjects from your photos with just a few taps, brushes, or circles. By harnessing the power of innovative photo AI technology, the tool intelligently fills in the background where subjects have been removed, creating a seamless and natural-looking image. While the photo cleanup tool excels at handling photos with a limited number of subjects, it may encounter some challenges when dealing with larger groups. Nevertheless, this feature represents a significant leap forward in mobile photo editing, providing you with unprecedented control over your images. Streamlining Notifications with Apple Intelligence Summaries In addition to the photo cleanup tool, iOS 18.1 introduces enhanced Apple Intelligence summaries. This feature provides you with concise and informative summaries for text messages, emails, and notifications from various apps. By allowing these summaries in the notification settings for all apps, you can stay informed without feeling overwhelmed by a constant barrage of notifications. Apple Intelligence summaries are particularly useful for apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams, which often generate a high volume of notifications. With these summaries, you can quickly grasp the essential information without having to read through entire threads or messages, saving you valuable time and mental energy. Enhancing Your Podcast Experience iOS 18.1 also brings improvements to the Apple Podcasts app, introducing enhanced chapter markers that provide both visual and haptic feedback. This feature allows you to easily navigate through your favorite podcasts, making it simpler to find specific segments or moments within an episode. Availability and Release It is important to note that the photo cleanup feature and Apple Intelligence summaries are currently part of the iOS 18.1 Developer Beta 3. These features are expected to be made available to the general public later in the year, giving developers ample time to test and refine them before the official release. iOS 18.1 represents a significant step forward in mobile operating systems, focusing on enhancing your user experience through improved photo editing capabilities and more efficient notification management. By leveraging advanced AI technologies and intuitive design, Apple aims to simplify and streamline your digital life, allowing you to focus on what matters most.

Apple introduces AI-powered object removal in photos with the latest iOS update | TechCrunch

Apple released the new developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1 Sequoia. With this update, the company is launching new Apple Intelligence features including the ability to remove objects from photos. The feature, called Clean Up, lets users identify and remove an object from the photo without effecting the picture. The system uses AI to generate background when you remove an object from an image. Apple said that the system understands even shadow or reflection of an object and handles it while filling in the background. Users can select an object using the smart detection feature to remove it with just one tap. People can also circle or brush over any unwanted objects to delete them from the image. Apple's rival Google made a similar feature called Magic Eraser available to all Google Photos users for free earlier this year. In July, Apple rolled out the first set of Apple Intelligence features with iOS 18.1 dev beta. These features included writing tools, notification summaries for SMS and Mail, natural language search and memory creation in Photos, transcription for calls and voice recordings in notes, and summaries and smart replies feature in Mail. Apple Intelligence is only available to users in English with their region set to the U.S.

See the Apple Intelligence Photos App 'Clean Up' Tool in Action

Apple today provided developers with the third beta of iOS 18.1, and it adds Clean Up, a new Apple Intelligence tool created for the Photos app. With Clean Up, you can remove unwanted objects from your photos, but its performance is hit or miss right now. You can tap on the highlighted object to remove it, and it works like magic. If there isn't something automatically highlighted, don't worry, you can circle or scribble on any object in the photo to use Clean Up on it. With the automatically highlighted objects, Clean Up works well. Apple has already done all the work in the background to find depth information and to calculate the fill the object should be replaced with. When you're selecting your own objects, it can be a little more difficult to get a clean look. Clean Up works best when there's a clear, uncluttered background behind the object that you want to remove, and the smaller the object the better. Trying to remove a whole person from the foreground of image (such as in a group shot) with a lot going on in the background doesn't work super well, but it's really more designed for small, unwanted objects in the background of images anyway. You can go through multiple iterations of Clean Up to try to get it to look better, and to remove small areas, just zoom in and then circle. Clean Up can't be used on Live Photos, and when you use Clean Up, it turns off Live Photos. You can turn Live Photos back on, but then you lose the Clean Up edit. You also can't use Clean Up on videos, but it does work on all other kinds of images, including screenshots, old photos, and photos you didn't take with your iPhone. For quick edits on an iPhone, Clean Up works well. It's not on par with some other desktop tools at this time, but Apple will undoubtedly make improvements going forward. Also, when you use Clean Up, a note is added to the metadata that lets you know that an AI edit has been made, so people will be able to see that it's been modified. All Clean Up edits are reversible, so if you want to get back to your original image, you can revert at any time. Along with Cleanup, iOS 18.1 beta 3 adds a couple of other features. The notification summary feature that was previously working for Mail and Messages now works for all of your apps, so you can see summaries of both multiple incoming messages and single notifications, giving you more information at a glance. Also, in the Messages app, you can now use third-party stickers in-line like emoji. This was a feature in prior betas, but it only worked with stickers from Apple apps and stickers you created from photos.

iOS 18.1 labels images edited with Clean Up in the Photos app

Apple on Wednesday released the third beta of iOS 18.1 with Apple Intelligence, and this one added the Clean Up feature to the Photos app. For those unfamiliar, Clean Up lets users delete objects and people from a photo using AI. To avoid controversy, the system will label photos edited with Clean Up - but most users probably won't even know about it. Unlike other AI tools for editing images, Apple's Clean Up can only be used to remove people or objects from photos. There's no way to add new elements or modify things like a person's appearance. Still, removing someone from a photo can be enough to change its meaning, and we've seen a lot of controversy recently when it comes to AI-generated images. As promised by Apple's VP of software engineering Craig Federighi, iOS 18 will label images generated or edited by Apple Intelligence - and this applies to the Clean Up feature. Those running the latest beta of iOS 18.1 will notice the new label in the additional information shown by the Photos app. When you see a photo that has been edited with Clean Up, the app shows that it has been "Modified with Clean Up." This is certainly a way of letting users know about a modified image, but it's also super easy to miss the label. First, only Apple devices running iOS 18.1 beta 3 or macOS 15.1 beta 3 currently show the Clean Up label in the Photos app. The photo's EXIF data does indeed include the label "Apple Photos Clean Up," but this requires using a computer or special software to find this information. Sending the photo via AirDrop or iMessage will keep the Clean Up label in the EXIF data, but sending it via apps like WhatsApp and Telegram won't. Of course, this is the first beta with Clean Up, and Apple still has some time to make this information more visible to users. More importantly, the company should provide a way for third-party apps to detect and keep this tag on photos.