iOS 18.1 Beta 3: Apple releases image cleaner "Clean Up"

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With the third beta of iOS 18.1, Apple has now added a "Clean Up" function for photos to its artificial intelligence called Apple Intelligence. This makes it possible to remove unwanted objects and people from photos by tapping and circling. The AI is supposed to ensure that the newly added background is created in such a way that the removal is not even noticeable.

"Clean Up" is the first image-generating function of Apple Intelligence to be released by Apple. Until now, only text-generating functions such as proofreading and rephrasing text could be tried out. However, testers still have to wait for the personalized emojis (Genmojis) and image generation called Image Wand.

Image editing at the tap of a finger

In our initial tests, "Clean up" works amazingly easily and well. As expected, the result is of course particularly successful with simple backgrounds. But the removal of the Heise company sign on the lawn in front of the headquarters or the removal of lanterns in front of the publishing house also worked surprisingly well, although the backgrounds that had to be created were more demanding in nature.

After installing Beta 3, the AI model first had to be downloaded in the Photos app. From now on, it is possible to select the new "Clean up" tool, which is symbolized by an eraser, in edit mode. The AI then suggests objects that can be removed and gives them a glowing shimmer. However, the user can also select other objects by tapping or circling them.

Where "Clean up" reaches its limits

If an attempt is made to cut out a person who is recognizable in the foreground, the person's face is pixelated. In a number of cases, however, we were able to push "Clean up" to its limits when trying it out. For example, when a person in a group was cut out, it happened that an adjacent person suddenly had an arm that was twice as thick. In some cases, the calculated backgrounds are simply incorrect and immediately recognizable as AI-generated. However, the quality could still improve in the course of the beta.

If you want to include the small video snippets called Live Photos in your photos, you have to make a decision: The video is deactivated as soon as Clean-up is used. Conversely, AI editing disappears when the video is restored. Incidentally, all steps in "Clean up" can be reversed. A note is added to the image's meta information when a photo is changed to indicate that the image has been edited with AI.

Further AI functions

With the third beta, the AI-generated summary of push notifications has also been extended to all apps. In the first betas, users could only display such summaries for Mail and Messages, which should bring more order to the overviews.

Apple Intelligence is expected to be launched with iOS 18.1 in October. As Apple says it still has to clarify regulatory issues, Apple Intelligence will probably not be available at launch in the European Union. At least now, in the beta phase, it cannot yet be officially tested in the EU. However, it is now easier to activate it anyway. In addition to the US English language setting, only a US App Store account needs to be used.

(mki)