Did You Know Apple Has A Tool To Edit Items Out Of Your Photos?

You know when you take a perfect photo, only to realize the background ruins it? Maybe your adorable shot from the dog park accidentally includes another pup peeing, or your relaxing vacation actually looks chaotic thanks to crowds of tourists. Finally, there’s a fix.

In October, Apple released a tool in the Photos app called Clean Up as part of its iOS 18.1 update. It uses machine learning to identify any potentially distracting objects, and then lets you delete them by circling, tapping, or brushing each item.

Before you ask, no, you probably can’t erase your ex. They’re stuck in your sister’s wedding photos (that is, unless you crop them out). Clean Up was designed to get rid of stray items, not a prominently featured subject. If you try, the tool might leave behind glitchy streaks.

But for true background noise —for example, a random bystander in the distance or a Diet Coke can you forgot to toss — it’s an easy way to make a photo look nice and neat.

Before & After Clean Up

For example, I loved this photo from my trip to Paris this summer... until I noticed the garbage bin. It just wasn’t cute. Now that I have Clean Up, I can get rid of it. While I was at it, I removed the people sitting outside at the café behind me.

I never posted this photo to Instagram because, well, Paris is charming and trash is not. But if I’d had Clean Up earlier this year, it would’ve gone straight to my grid.

How To Use Clean Up

In order to use the feature, you need a fairly recent device and operating system. Clean Up is available with:

• iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max
• Any iPad with A17 Pro or M1 and later
• Mac with M1 or later
• iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1

Open the photo you’d like to tweak. Tap the edit icon at the bottom of your screen (the three horizontal lines with circles). Select the Clean Up tool, which looks like an eraser.

Your phone will highlight some distractions with a pulsing rainbow effect. From there, you can tap, brush, or circle anything you want to remove — even items that haven’t been automatically selected. For extra precision, you can pinch and zoom in. Tap “Done” in the upper right-hand corner to save your work.

iOS 18.2: Genmoji, ChatGPT, & More

Clean Up works thanks to Apple Intelligence, the brand’s AI system. It debuted with iOS 18.1 earlier this fall, and 18.2 dropped on Dec. 11 with a whole host of new features. Here are my favorites:

Genmoji

For years, I’ve yearned for a happy crying emoji. How else am I supposed to properly celebrate my friends getting engaged? With Genmoji, I can make it a reality.

To use Genmoji, type a description into the emoji keyboard and a few options will pop up. I tried variations of “happy crying,” “heart eyes tears,” etc., and had dozens of options to choose from. These two spoke to me and are now saved to my keyboard.

ChatGPT

There are few things I love more than a great dinner out with friends, but I find sifting through lists of restaurants so tedious. ChatGPT is now integrated into Siri, so with one verbal request, I managed to make plans that accommodated everyone’s needs tonight: somewhere in lower Manhattan that takes walk-ins and is great for vegetarians.

Writing Tools

The update also includes Writing Tools, which upgrades your communication in Messages, Notes, Mail, and more. On top of proofreading and summarizing text, the feature also rewrites your ideas to strike the right tone.

Take the last text I sent my sister:

Should I get Jeffrey this book for Christmas? Or maybe something else? Help

It’s not terrible, but I sound a little rushed and short. I asked Writing Tools to transform this into something friendlier:

I’m thinking of getting Jeffrey a book for Christmas, but I’m not sure if this one is the best choice. Any suggestions?

I asked for something funnier:

Should I wrap up this book for Jeffrey for Christmas, or should I just give him a gift card and let him pick his own adventure? Maybe I should just get him a sock puppet — he seems to enjoy those more! Help!

I will not be getting Jeffrey a sock puppet. However I will use this feature to finetune important work emails and navigate awkward conversations.