Apple Launches iOS 18.1 Beta 3 with New Photo Cleanup Feature, Allowing Users to Remove Specific Elements from Photos

Apple introduced iOS 18.1 Beta 3 to developers last night, featuring a standout Clean Up tool for photos. This feature helps users eliminate specific items from their pictures.

For example, if you're taking photos at the beach and a passerby accidentally walks into the frame, you can now use the Clean Up feature to select and delete the unintended subject.

When processing the element for removal, the system automatically detects the surrounding colors, filling in the deleted section with adjacent colors to make the modification nearly undetectable.

However, if the colors around the element being removed are complex, there might be issues. The system's color filling might incorporate some unreasonable shades, making the altered area noticeable upon close inspection.

Apple claims the Clean Up function is powered by artificial intelligence technology, handled by Apple Intelligence. Consequently, images modified with Clean Up will have a tag added to their EXIF attributes, indicating the alteration.

The reason for adding a tag is Apple's concern over the potential misuse of this feature for image forgery. Thus, the tag allows others to recognize that the photo has been altered. For instance, when viewing an edited photo on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other photo-editing software, the EXIF attribute will reflect the modification.

Essentially, this approach by Apple could be seen as a way to avoid misuse, as the tag can easily be removed. However, by implementing a tagging mechanism, Apple can argue it is not associated with any misuse if forged photos emerge in the future.

Finally, the new Clean Up feature is part of Apple Intelligence and will be available in the official releases of iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 later this year. Apple Intelligence requires an iPhone 15 Pro or higher, or an iPad and Mac equipped with the M1 chip or later.