Mario Bautista
Apple has recently released the latest iOS and iPadOS 18.1 developer betas which includes some new Apple Intelligence features for testing. Chief amongst which is a new Clean Up tool for the Photos app, along with a Google Lens-like “Look Up” feature, and the expansion of summarised notifications to other apps.
Much like Google’s Magic Eraser or Photoshop’s Healing Tool, the new Clean Up tool on the Photos app is basically an object removal tool. According to Apple, it can remove shadows and reflections as well.
To remove unwanted elements, select an image via the app, tap on the Adjustment button, and select Clean Up. From here, highlight the object that you wish to remove by tapping, brushing or circling it, and the system will then remove and replace it.
Having tested it ourselves, we have noticed some things that are worth noting. Apparently, Clean Up isn’t included as part of the beta update and requires a separate download. Once acquired, you can actually use it even if your iPhone or iPad isn’t connected to the internet, which is a good thing.
As for accuracy and quality, results may differ depending on the image that you’re editing. Clean Up will have a hard time when the photo you’re editing has way too many elements present, while simpler ones will look somewhat convincing. When it isn’t dealing with complex imagery, the tool can actually identify people, certain objects and even depth, which are highlighted when you’re editing an image.
Next up is the Look Up tool which, as mentioned earlier, functions similarly to Google Lens. This lets you search the web for further information regarding certain subjects that appear in your photos, though categories are quite limited for now.
While testing, we’ve discovered that the Look Up icon, which is located at the bottom of the screen, only appears when there are landmarks, food, animals, and plants present in photos. Clicking the icon will return different results depending on the subject that’s being focused on, including summaries, Maps shortcuts, similar images found from the web, and so on. Unlike Clean Up, you need to be online in order to get this feature to work.
Last but not least is the expansion of summarised notifications to include apps other than Mail and Messages. With the latest update, you can now also add in third-party applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and more.
Even though all of the aforementioned are included in the latest beta, it is unlikely that they’ll appear in the upcoming public release of iOS 18. As mentioned by the company prior to this, Apple Intelligence features are only expected to roll out in a much later update that’s slated to roll out towards the end of the year.
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